Divided Houses: Hundred Years War III by Jonathan Sumption - review by Maurice Keen

Maurice Keen

Men At Arms

Divided Houses: Hundred Years War III

By

Faber & Faber 1,024pp £40 order from our bookshop
 

This third volume of Jonathan Sumption’s history of the Hundred Years War covers the period from the reopening of the war in 1369 (and the consequent collapse of the peace terms agreed at Brétigny in 1360) down to the deposing of Richard II in 1399. Since so many other European confrontations were drawn, over these years, into the orbit of the great Anglo-French struggle, this is a particularly complicated period in the history of the war.

Already before 1369 the English and French royal houses had become embroiled in another dynastic dispute, between King Pedro of Castile (backed by the Black Prince of England) and his half-brother, Henry of Trastámara, who ousted him with French support. John of Gaunt’s marriage in 1371 to the

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter