The score of conflictive encounters between the English and the French, referred to collectively as the Hundred Years' War, was started by the resentment felt by the English, due to the fact that Phillip VI failed to honor the pledges he had made to restore a part of Guienne to England. The English King Edward III and his armies first took control of the English Channel, and then invaded France from the Low Countries. Edward III of England assumed the title of king of France.

This was a devastating time for France and the war left a lot of misery in the land, with the war, famine and plague taking its toll on the population.