Recent History
The Last Ninety Years (Or So)
1253
King Henry III of England met with English nobles and church leaders to reaffirm the validity of the Magna Carta.
1254
King Louis IX of France, having exhausted his funds and being needed at home, abandoned the Seventh Crusade (which he had conducted first in Egypt and then Syria) and returned to France.
1254
King Louis IX of France expelled all Jews from France.
1254
In England, an important step in the evolution of the Parliament and Peerage occurred, as lesser barons were replaced on the King's Council by elected representatives from shires and cities.
1258
King Henry III of England was forced by seven powerful barons to accept the Provisions of Oxford, effectively ending the absolute monarchy in England by requiring the calling of a parliament.
1259
Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agreed to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounced his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.
1261
King Henry III of England obtained a papal bull releasing him from the Provisions of Oxford, setting the stage for a civil war over the power struggle between the crown and the aristocracy.
1263
King Alexander III of Scotland defeated the Viking armada of King Haakon IV of Norway in the Battle of Largs.
1264
In Spain, King James I of Aragon reconquered the cities of Orihuela in Alicante and Elx in Valencia from the Moors, ending over 500 years of Islamic rule.
Before May - The Second Barons' War began.
May 12 to May 14 - The Battle of Lewes was fought between Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and King Henry III in Sussex. By the end of the battle, de Montfort's forces captured both King Henry and his son, the future King Edward I, making de Montfort the "uncrowned king of England".
June 18 - The Parliament of Ireland met at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.
The title Baron de Ros, the oldest continuously held peerage title in England, was created by writ of summons.
1265
January 20 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducted its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster.
July - Edward escaped captivity.
August 4 - The Battle of Evesham was fought in Worcestershire, with the army of Edward defeating the forces of rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort and killing de Montfort and many of his allies.
1266
The war between Scotland and Norway ended as King Alexander III of Scotland and King Magnus VI of Norway agreed to the Treaty of Perth, which ceded the Western Isles and Isle of Man to Scotland in exchange for a large monetary payment.
In the Battle of Benevento, an army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeated a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred was killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invested Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
October - The war winds down as supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort make an offer of peace to the king in the Dictum of Kenilworth.
1267
The Second Barons' War ended, as the rebels and Henry III agreed to peace terms as laid out in the Dictum of Kenilworth.
Henry III acknowledged Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's title of Prince of Wales in the Treaty of Montgomery.
1268
Pope Clement IV died; the following papal election failed to choose a new pope and does not for almost three years.
October 29 - Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors, was executed along with his companion Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily, a political rival and ally to the hostile Catholic church.
1269
King Otakar II of Bohemia inherited Carinthia and part of Carniola, making him the most powerful prince within the Holy Roman Empire.
1270
The Eighth Crusade was called.
The cathedral on the Rock of Cashel in Ireland was completed.
Crucial aspects of the philosophy of Averroism (itself based on Aristotle's works) were banned by the Catholic church in a condemnation enacted by papal authority at the University of Paris. A second condemnation followed in 1277.
1271
July 2 - Kings Otakar II of Bohemia and Stephen V of Hungary signed the first Peace of Pressburg, settling territorial claims following the failed invasion of Hungary by Otakar II.
Charles I of Anjou, King of Naples, occupied Durres in Albania and established an Albanian kingdom.
King Alphonso III of Portugal eliminated the last Moorish community in Portugal at Faro.
The County of Toulouse passes to the French crown via the Treaty of Languedoc.
Marco Polo departs from Venice with his father and uncle on his famous journey to Kublai Khan's China.
The construction of Caerphilly Castle, the largest in Wales, was completed.
1272
Henry III died and was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward.
The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers received the right to regulate the leather trade in London, England.
1273
September 29 - Rudolph I of Germany was elected King of Germany over rival candidate King Otakar II of Bohemia. Otakar refused to acknowledge Rudolph as the new king, leading to the outbreak of war in 1276. Rudolph was the first of many Habsburgs to hold the throne.
King Otakar II captured Bratislava from Hungary.
Thomas Aquinas quit his writing of Summa Theologica — a work considered within the Church to be the paramount expression of its theology — leaving it unfinished after having a mystical experience during Mass.
1274
The diet at Nuremberg ordered that all crown estates seized since the death of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, be restored to Rudolph I of Germany; almost all European rulers agreed, with the notable exception of King Otakar II of Bohemia, who had benefited greatly by conquering or otherwise coming into possession of many of those lands.
The first main survey of the Hundred Rolls, an English census seen as a follow up to the Domesday Book completed in 1086, was begun; it lasted until 1275.
The Second Council of Lyon, held by the leadership of the Church convened to consider the conquest of the Holy Land via Crusades and address the East-West Schism with the Byzantine church. The Council eventually approved a tithe to support efforts to conquer the Holy Land from Muslims, and reached apparent resolution of the schism which ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Edward I enforced a decree requiring all English Jews to wear yellow badges
1275
Eleanor de Montfort was captured by pirates in the employ of Edward I Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales; she was used as a bargaining chip over the coming years in Edward's attempts to subjugate Llywelyn and Wales.
Scottish forces defeated the Manx of the Isle of Man in a decisive battle, firmly establishing Scottish rule of the island.
April 22 - The first of the Statutes of Westminster were passed by the English parliament, establishing a series of laws in its 51 clauses, including equal treatment of rich and poor, free and fair elections, and definition of bailable and non-bailable offenses.
Jean de Meun completed the French allegorical work of fiction, The Roman de la Rose, with a second section; the first section was written by Guillaume de Lorris in 1230.
1276
King Rudolph I of Germany declared war on King Otakar II of Bohemia, a political rival; by November, Otakar II was forced to cede four important territories as demanded by the diet of Nuremberg in 1274.
Four different men were pope over the course of the year, as Popes Gregory X, Innocent V, and Adrian V all died in quick succession.
1277
Llywelyn ap Gruffyd is subdued by King Edward of England in the first Welsh War.
1278
August 26 - Kings Rudolph I of Germany and Ladislaus IV of Hungary defeated King Otakar II of Bohemia in the Battle of Marchfield, a match of over 80,000 men and knights. The battle ended a power struggle between Rudolph and Otakar over the fate of central Europe, with the spoils going to the Hapsburg family.
An edict by Pope Nicholas III required all Jews to attend conversion sermons.
1279
The first of the Statutes of Mortmain were passed under Edward I, which prevented land from passing into possession of the church.
The second of two main surveys of the Hundred Rolls was begun; it lasted until 1280.
The Royal Mint of England moves into the Tower of London.
1280
Edward I formed the Court of King's Bench to hear petitions for justice instead of the king hearing them himself.
The final expansion of Lincoln Cathedral was completed.
1281
Pope Martin IV authorised the Ninth Crusade against the newly re-established Byzantine Empire in Constantinople; French and Venetian expeditions set out toward Constantinople but were forced to turn back in the following year.
1282
Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother to Prince of Wales Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, attacked an English castle; his brother felt compelled to support him despite poor preparation for war, quickly leading to the final English conquest of Wales by Edward I.
The Sicilian rebellion known as the Sicilian Vespers began against the rule of Angevin King Charles I of Sicily; over the next six weeks, thousands of French were killed. The rebellion forced Charles to abandon the Ninth Crusade while still en route to the target city of Constantinople, and allowed King Peter III of Aragon to take over rule of the island from Charles (which in turn led to Peter's excommunication by Pope Martin IV).
Hertford College was founded at the University of Oxford.
The Archbishop of Canterbury ordered all synagogues of London to close, and forbade Jewish doctors from practicing on non-Jews.
1283
Death by drawing and quartering was first used as a form of capital punishment (for the newly created crime of high treason) by Edward I in the execution of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last ruler of an independent Wales.
Construction of Caernarfon castle, Conwy Castle (completed in 1289), and Harlech Castle was begun in Wales by King Edward I of England as a system of defenses against possible future Welsh uprisings.
King Philip III of France caused a mass migration of Jews when he outlawed their residence in the small villages and rural localities of France.
1284
The Statute of Rhuddlan was created, formally incorporating Wales into England in the entity England and Wales.
The writ Circumspecte Agatis, issued by Edward I, defines the jurisdictions of church and state in England, thereby limiting the church's judicial powers to ecclesiastical cases only - see Benefit of Clergy.
Peterhouse College, the oldest college at the University of Cambridge, was founded by Hugo de Balsham.
1285
The Second statute of Westminster was passed in England, reforming various laws; it included the famous clause De Donis Conditionalibus, one of the fundamental institutes of medieval law in England.
October 5 - King Philip III of France died.
1286
King Alexander III of Scotland died in a horse accident with Queen Yolande de Dreux's unborn child and the 3-year-old Margaret, Maid of Norway as heirs; this set the stage for the First war of Scottish Independence and increased influence of England over Scotland.
King Rudolph I of Germany declared all Jews to be "serfs of the Treasury", thus negating all their political freedoms.
1287
December 14 - A fringing barrier between the North Sea and a shallow lake in Holland collapsed during a heavy storm, causing the enormous flood which created the Zuider Zee inlet and killed over 50,000 people; it also gave sea access to Amsterdam, allowing its development as an important port city.
The English city of Old Winchelsea on Romney Marsh was destroyed by catastrophic flooding during a severe storm; a new town of the same name was later constructed some two miles away on higher ground.
Edward I arrested the heads of Jewish households, and demanded their communities pay hefty ransoms for their release.
1288
John I of Brabant defeated the duchy of Guelders in the Battle of Worringen — one of the largest battles in Europe — thus winning possession of the duchy of Limburg. The battle also liberated the city of Cologne from rule by the Archbishopric of Cologne; it had previously been one of the major ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire.
Pope Nicholas IV proclaimed a crusade against King Ladislaus IV of Hungary, who had lost credibility by favoring his semi-pagan Cuman subjects and in general refusing to conform to the social standards of western Europe.
The Scottish Parliament creates a law allowing women to propose marriage to men during leap years; men who refuse such proposals are required to pay a fine to the spurned bride-to-be.
1289
Jews were expelled from Gascony and Anjou in France.
1290
July 18 - Edward I banished all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England.
November 28 - Eleanor of Castile, queen of Edward I of England, died. Edward I brought her body back to London from the north and had crosses erected at each place they stopped for the night - they became known as the Eleanor Crosses.
Construction of Llandaff Cathedral was completed in Cardiff, Wales, 170 years after it was begun.
The second of the Statutes of Mortmain were passed under Edward I, which prevents land from passing into possession of the church. The statute Quia Emptores was also passed, reforming the feudal system of land leases and allowing the sale of fee simple estates.
1291
May 10 - Scottish nobles recognized the authority of Edward I in mediating resolution of the succession crisis created by the death of King Alexander III of Scotland and his child heirs five years prior.
Pope Nicholas IV confirms the independence of San Marino via papal bull.
June 26 - Eleanor of Provence, queen of Henry III and mother of Edward I, died.
1292
November 17 - John Balliol was selected as King of Scotland from among 13 candidates by Edward I; Edward then treated John as a puppet ruler and Scotland as a vassal state, eventually leading to the Wars of Scottish Independence which began in 1296.
April 4 - Pope Nicholas IV died.
October 25 - Robert Burnell, Lord Chancellor of England, died.
December - John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, died.
1294
July 5 - Pope Celestine V succeeded Nicholas IV as the 192nd pope.
In response to the actions of new royal administrators in north and west Wales, Madog ap Llywelyn led a revolt against his English overlords.
December 24 - Pope Boniface VIII succeeded Pope Celestine V as the 193rd pope after Celestine V abdicated the papacy on December 13, only five months after reluctantly accepting his surprise election on July 5, wishing to return to his life as an ascetic hermit.
John Balliol, King of Scotland, decided to refuse Edward I's demands for support in a planned invasion of France, and instead informed the French of Edward's plans and negotiated an Alliance with France and Norway.
England and Portugal entered into the first iteration of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.
1295
Edward I summoned the Model Parliament.
1296
March 30 - Edward I stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then Scottish border town with much bloodshed. He slaughtered almost everyone who resided there, even if they fled to the churches.
April 27 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots were defeated by Edward I.
May 19 - Pope Celestine V died.
June 5 - Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III and youngest brother of Edward I, died.
1297
The English Church refused to pay taxes, resulting in something of a crisis.
Louis IX of France, was Canonised.
August 28 - Edward I unsuccessfully invaded Flanders.
September 11 - The Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scots of Andrew de Moray and William Wallace defeated the English army.
1298
22 July - Battle of Falkirk - Edward I defeated a Scottish army led by William Wallace.
A fire causes severe damage to the Palace of Westminster.
1299
The house of Holland became extinct. The County of Holland afterwards became a part of a personal union with the County of Hainault.
Another serious fire occured at Westminster Palace.
1300
February 22 - The Jubilee of Pope Boniface VIII was celebrated.
Philippe IV of France began his attempt to annex Flanders.
Wenceslas II of Bohemia became King of Poland.
1301
February 7 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) is made the first English Prince of Wales.
1302
July 11 - Battle of the Golden Spurs, a major victory of Flanders over the French, took place.
Boniface VIII published the bull Unam Sanctam.
1303
October 11 - Pope Boniface VIII died.
The avoirdupois system of weights and measures introduced to England and Wales.
Edward I reconquered Scotland.
October 22 - Pope Benedict XI succeeds Pope Boniface VIII as the 194th pope.
1304
20 July - Fall of Stirling Castle - Edward I of England took the last rebel stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Holland and Zeeland are occupied by duke John II of Brabant and Guy of Dampierre but Count John II recovered the counties in the same year.
1305
June 5 - Pope Clement V, formerly the Archbishop of Bordeaux Bertrand de Got, succeeds Pope Benedict XI as the 195th pope.
August 5 - English troops captured William Wallace and executed him.
Wenceslas III becomes king of Bohemia.
Philippe IV of France accused the Knights Templar of heresy.
April 4 - Joan I of Navarre, queen of Philip IV of France, died.
1306
March 25 - Robert Bruce became King of Scotland.
Philippe IV of France exiled all the Jews from France and confiscated their property.
In London, a city ordinance decreed that heating with coal was forbidden when parliament was in session - the ordinance was not particularly effective.
1307
September 5 - Pope Clement V confirmed the Knights Hospitaller possession of Rhodes, although only Feracle had fallen to their attacks.
October 13 - Friday the 13th: All Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Philippe IV, to be later tortured into "admitting" heresy.
On the death of King Edward I, Edward of Caernarvon became Edward II.
April 7 - Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I of England, died.
July 4 - Rudolph I of Bohemia, died.
1308
January 25 - King Edward II of England married Isabella of France.
February 25 - Coronation of King Edward II of England.
Henry VII was elected as king of the Holy Roman Empire.
1309
March 9 - Pope Clement V settled the papal seat in Avignon, following a visit.
August 15 - The city of Rhodes surrendered to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights established their headquarters on the island, and renamed themselves as the Knights of Rhodes.
1310
May 11 - In France, 64 members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake for heresy.
1311
A committee of twenty-one English barons draw up a series of ordinances, which substituted Ordainers for the King as the effective government of the country.
1312
Pope Clement V forcibly disbanded the Knights Templar.
November 13 - Edward de Windsor, eldest son of Edward II and Isabella, was born.
June 19 - Piers Gaveston, favourite of Edward II, is executed.
August 27 - Arthur II, Duke of Brittany, died.
1314
March 18 - Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned at the stake. He called a curse on the Pope and the French king, saying each of them would stand before God before the year was out. His "curse" came true.
June 24 - Battle of Bannockburn. Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II of England. Scotland regained its independence.
April 20 - Pope Clement V died.
November 29 - King Philippe IV of France died.
1315
August - Louis X was crowned King of France at Reims.
Louis X of France married Clemence d'Anjou.
1316
The Great Famine of 1315-1317 reached its peak.
The revolt of Llywelyn Bren broke out in Wales.
August 7 - Pope John XXII succeeds Pope Clement V as the 196th pope.
1317
William de Ros, 2nd Baron de Ros, claimant to the crown of Scotland (founding his claim on his descent from his grandmother Isabel, the bastard daughter of William of Scotland), died.
1318
April 1: Berwick-upon-Tweed was retaken by the Scottish from the English.
Eleanor de Woodstock, eldest daughter of Edward II and Isabella, was born.
Llywelyn Bren was captured and executed.
1320
April 6 - The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.
1322
March 16 - Battle of Boroughbridge, where Edward II defeated Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. On March 22 the Earl of Lancaster was executed.
1326
November 26 - Hugh the younger Despenser was executed.
1327
January 25 - Edward II is overthrown by Isabella and Mortimer and Edward de Windsor became King of England as Edward III, with Mortimer as regent.
Edward II died.
Elizabeth de Burgh, queen of Robert of Scotland, died.
1328
May 1 - The Treaty of Northampton - England recognised Scotland as an independent nation after the Wars of Scottish Independence. The treaty is not popular and seen as a betrayal by Mortimer.
February 1 - King Charles IV of France died leaving no male heirs. King Philip VI of France was crowned on May 27th.
1329
Antipope Nicholas V is excommunicated by Pope John XXII.
June 7th - Robert of Scotland died, and his son David became King of Scotland as David II.
1330
March 19 - Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, son of Edward I and brother of Edward II is executed by Roger Mortimer.
October 19 - King Edward III of England started his personal reign, having deposed (in person with the company of some trusted companions) and executing his regent Roger Mortimer on several counts of treason on November 29th.
1331
24 September - Edward Balliol was enthroned as King of Scotland in the Second Scottish Wars of Independance. David II and his wife, Joan of the Tower (Edward III's sister), are sent to France for safety.
1333
Antipope Nicholas V died.
1334
December 20 - Pope Benedict XII succeeded Pope John XXII (who died on December 4th) as the 197th pope.
1335
November 30 - The Battle of Culblean was fought in Scotland.
Pope Benedict XII begins to reform the Cistercians.
1336
Aberdeen was burned by the English.
1337
March 16 - Edward, the eldest child of Edward III, was created Duke of Cornwall, and became the first English Duke.
June 7 - William III, Count of Hainault died.
1338
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, appointed Edward III as a vicar-general of the Holy Roman Empire. Louis supported Edward's claim to the French throne under the terms of the Treaty of Koblenz.
Philippe VI of France besieged Guienne in Southwest France and his navy attacked Portsmouth.
Thomas de Brotherton, Uncle of Edward III and 1st Earl of Norfolk, died.
1340
January 26 - King Edward III of England was declared King of France.
April 5th - The Archbishop of Canterbury, William de Melton, died.
June - The King of France, Philip IV, paid homage to the pope at Avignon in a public show of piety and fidelity. Some said that this was in direct response to concerns voiced that the papacy was dominated by Philippe VI and aimed at placating the papally favoured crusading orders.
June 24th – the Battle of Sluys resulted in the near total destruction of the French navy by England.
The Countess of Norfolk married the Duc de Lorraine, and Sabella of Lancaster, the sister of the 4th Earl of Lancaster, married the Earl of Desmond, securing his control over Ireland.
September 13th - vicious skirmishes launched by the Scots at Carlisle and Berwick caused English fear at a full-scale assault, but proved to be a show of strength led by the Guardian of Scotland, John Randolph of Moray. There were losses on both sides but it was deemed an English victory with the capture of Moray at Berwick. Robert Stewart, the son of Marjorie Bruce, was declared Guardian of Scotland in his place. The attacks were useful in allowing a small band to cross the border.
September 30th - Margaret de Bruce and the Countess of Fife were rescued from England and returned to Scotland.
November - Robert Stewart married his mistress, Elizabeth Mure, and legitimised their children.
The fiscal pressure on England caused by Edward III's expensive alliances and the general opinion that the Scots posed more of a threat to England than the French led to discontent at home. In response he returned unannounced on 30 November. Finding the affairs of the realm in disorder, he purged the royal administration. These measures did not bring domestic stability, however, and yet another standoff ensued between the king and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Fearing arrest John de Stratford fled to Canterbury, and entered upon a violent war of words with the king, and by his firm conduct led to the establishment of the principle that peers were only to be tried in full parliament before their own order. Good relations were soon restored between the two, as was the way between them, but the Archbishop lost a large amount of political authority.
1341
April 1341 - In order to placate his Barons yet still pursue his own ends, Edward III returned to France with his levies and, in a surprise move, laid siege to Château-Gaillard, catching the French off-guard and threatening David II of Scotland, resident there. The open warfare between the Count of Armagnac and the Count of Foix entangled French forces attacking English held Gascony, and prevented a rapid response. Queen Joan sued for mercy for the limited garrison of Château-Gaillard and the lives of those they were protecting. Being the sister of Edward III, her pleas were readily granted and she and her husband, the King of Scotland, were taken hostage and sent to England. Queen Joan was made welcome at court and officially placed in the residence of Queens Philippa and Isabella, and David II took up residence in the Tower of London. Although emboldened by the return of Princess Margaret, the Scots come to an immediate (uneasy) ceasefire with the English.
The Queen's College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, was founded.
The Breton War of Succession began over the control of the Duchy of Brittany.
1342
May 7 - Pope Benedict XII died and Clement VI succeeded him as the 198th pope.
July 16 - Louis I became king of Hungary.
August 15 - Louis "the Child" became king of Sicily and duke of Athens.
September 4 - John III Comnenus became emperor of Trebizond.
The 4th Earl of Lancaster, Henry of Grosmont, spent time throughout 1342-1344 in Spain, France and Flanders on diplomatic missions.
1343
January 27 - Pope Clement VI issued his Bull Unigenitus, defining the doctrine of "The Treasury of Merits" or "The Treasury of the Church" as the basis for the issuance of indulgences by the Catholic Church.
August 15 - Magnus II of Sweden abdicated from the throne of Norway in favor of his son Haakon VI of Norway. However Haakon is still a minor, allowing Magnus to remain de facto ruler.
Truce of Malestroit (1343–1345) - The official reason for such a long truce was to allow time for a peace conference and the negotiation of a lasting peace, but both countries also suffered from war exhaustion. In England the tax burden had been heavy and in addition the wool trade had been heavily manipulated. Edward III spent the next years slowly paying off his immense debt.
In France, Philip VI had financial difficulties of his own. France had no central institution with the authority to grant taxes for the whole country. Instead the Crown had to negotiate with the various provincial assemblies. In accordance with the ancient feudal customs, most of them refused to pay taxes while at truce. Instead Philip VI had to resort to manipulation of the coinage and other unpopular measures. Also the French nobility was not impressed by how the war had been fought. In their eyes, Edward III had behaved like a true king by boldly marching forth, while Philip VI had cowardly avoided battle. Many had bankrupted themselves on expensive war equipment. In a defensive war there would be no plunder, without battles there could be no ransoms either.
In 1343 Oliver Ingham was recalled to England and Nicholas Beche was appointed Seneschal of Gascony in his stead. He upheld the truce as best he could. No major campaigns were fought, but he failed to restore the civil peace. The Gascon nobility considered private war an old privilege, and as the French financial situation deteriorated, the war merged with outright banditry. The first bands of routiers began to appear at this time. These were large, organized bands of soldiers only nominally under English control. Typically, they would seize by surprise a town or castle of local strategic importance. From this base they would plunder the surrounding areas until nothing of value remained, and then move on to places more ripe. Not only did this utterly devastate the country where they had passed, it also made the local populace concentrate their resources on local defence and thus further drain revenue away from the central administration at Paris.
1344
King Edward III of England introduced three new gold coins, the florin, leopard, and helm. Unfortunately the amount of gold in the coins did not match their value of 6 shillings, 3 shillings, and 1 shilling and sixpence, so they had to be withdrawn and mostly melted down by August.
