What If The Hundred Years' War Had a Different Outcome?

The Actual History

The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) stands as one of the most protracted and consequential conflicts in European history. This series of intermittent battles and campaigns between the House of Plantagenet, rulers of England, and the House of Valois, rulers of France, originated from the English monarchs' claim to the French throne following the death of Charles IV of France in 1328. When Charles died without a direct male heir, Edward III of England, as Charles's nephew, asserted his right to the French crown. However, French nobility invoked Salic law, which prohibited inheritance through the female line, and instead crowned Philip VI of the House of Valois.

The war unfolded across three main phases. The first phase (1337-1360) saw significant English victories at Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), where English longbowmen proved devastatingly effective against French knights. These victories culminated in the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), which granted England expanded territories in France while Edward III renounced his claim to the French throne.

The second phase (1369-1389) reversed many English gains as Charles V of France, with his constable Bertrand du Guesclin, employed guerrilla tactics against English holdings. By the time of the Truce of Leulinghem in 1389, England retained only Calais and parts of Gascony.

The final and most dramatic phase (1415-1453) began with Henry V of England's stunning victory at Agincourt in 1415, where outnumbered English forces decisively defeated the French. This victory led to the Treaty of Troyes (1420), which disinherited the French dauphin (later Charles VII) and named Henry V as the heir to the French throne through his marriage to Catherine, daughter of Charles VI of France. When both Henry V and Charles VI died in 1422, Henry's infant son, Henry VI, was proclaimed king of both England and France.

The tide turned dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc in 1429. This peasant girl convinced the disinherited dauphin to allow her to accompany French forces to the besieged city of Orléans. Her inspiration led to a French victory that reversed English momentum. After Joan's capture and execution by Burgundian allies of England in 1431, the French cause continued to strengthen. Charles VII was formally crowned at Reims, and French forces methodically reconquered Normandy by 1450.

The final blow came with the Battle of Castillon in 1453, where French artillery proved decisive against English forces. This battle marked the end of the war, with England losing all continental territories except for Calais (which would itself fall to France in 1558). The Hundred Years' War accelerated nationalism in both countries, contributed to the decline of feudalism, and transformed military tactics with the increasing prominence of infantry and artillery over mounted knights.

For England, the war's conclusion helped precipitate the Wars of the Roses, as the returning nobility and the financial strains of the lost war created domestic instability. For France, victory enabled centralization of power under the monarchy, laying groundwork for France to emerge as a dominant European power in subsequent centuries.

The Point of Divergence

What if the English had prevailed in the Hundred Years' War? In this alternate timeline, we explore a scenario where the course of the conflict fundamentally changed, resulting in lasting English control over significant portions of what we know today as France.

The most plausible point of divergence occurs in the early 1430s, shortly after the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431. While Joan's inspiration had already lifted the siege of Orléans and enabled Charles VII's coronation at Reims in 1429, the English position remained strong. John, Duke of Bedford, serving as regent for the young Henry VI, was a capable military and political leader who maintained the Anglo-Burgundian alliance—crucial to English success.

In our alternate timeline, several key developments occur differently:

First Possibility: Bedford lives longer. In actual history, Bedford died in 1435, depriving the English cause of its most capable leader. His death was followed almost immediately by the defection of Burgundy from the English alliance through the Treaty of Arras. If Bedford had lived another decade (entirely plausible, as he was only about 46 when he died), he might have maintained the Burgundian alliance and provided more effective leadership than his successors.

Second Possibility: The Burgundian alliance holds. Even without Bedford, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, might have remained loyal to the English cause if offered more favorable terms or if English diplomacy had been more adept. The Burgundian territories were extensive and strategically located, making their loyalty crucial to English success.

Third Possibility: Military innovations favor the English. While French artillery eventually proved decisive in the later stages of the war, an earlier English adoption and adaptation of gunpowder weapons might have maintained their military edge. The English had already demonstrated their ability to innovate with the longbow; a similar advantage in early cannon technology could have preserved their battlefield superiority.

Fourth Possibility: Henry VI develops into a capable ruler. In actual history, Henry VI proved mentally unstable and ineffective, unable to maintain English possessions in France. Had he inherited more of his father's military prowess and leadership abilities, the English position might have remained stronger.

In our divergent timeline, a combination of these factors—Bedford's longer life, the maintained Burgundian alliance, English military innovation, and possibly a more capable Henry VI—prevents the French resurgence that historically followed Joan of Arc's intervention. Instead of the gradual French reconquest that occurred between 1430 and 1453, the English consolidate their holdings and maintain the dual monarchy established by the Treaty of Troyes, forever altering the geopolitical landscape of Western Europe.

Immediate Aftermath

Political Consolidation

The continued success of English arms on the continent would have necessitated a fundamental restructuring of governance across the dual monarchy. Unlike the actual history, where the concept of "England and France" under one crown quickly collapsed, this alternate timeline would see deliberate institution-building:

Administrative Systems: John, Duke of Bedford, having successfully preserved the Anglo-Burgundian alliance and suppressed French resistance, establishes a robust administrative system. Drawing on the experiences of the English in governing Ireland and Wales, Bedford implements a blend of direct rule in strategic areas like Normandy and Paris, while allowing greater autonomy in more distant provinces.
Royal Circuits: Upon reaching maturity around 1437-1440, Henry VI institutes a system of royal circuits, spending alternating periods in England and in his French territories. This presence helps legitimate his rule among the French nobility who might otherwise chafe under perceived foreign domination.
Balancing Nobility: To maintain control, Henry VI and his advisors employ a careful balancing of power among native French nobility, Burgundian allies, and imported English administrators. Key strongholds and strategic positions are entrusted to loyal English or Burgundian hands, while French nobles who accept Lancastrian legitimacy receive generous lands and privileges.

Military Reorganization

The victory creates new military realities that reshape both English and continental warfare:

Standing Forces: Unlike the traditional feudal levies and short-term contracts that characterized medieval warfare, the need to control extensive French territories necessitates more permanent military establishments. Garrison towns throughout northern France become centers of English power, with professional soldiers under royal pay.
Artillery Development: Recognizing the potential of gunpowder weapons that had begun to appear on battlefields, English commanders invest heavily in artillery development. The Royal Ordnance, established by 1440 in this timeline, becomes Europe's premier developer of cannon technology, combining English pragmatism with French technical knowledge.
Naval Expansion: Control of both sides of the English Channel transforms English naval strategy. Rather than merely protecting the crossing between Dover and Calais, the royal fleet expands to secure the entire Channel and the Bay of Biscay, laying groundwork for later maritime dominance.

Economic Changes

The economics of sustaining English rule over French territories creates substantial ripple effects:

Currency Integration: By 1445, the first steps toward monetary union between English and French territories begin, with the introduction of gold nobles and silver groats that circulate alongside French livres in a fixed exchange relationship. This facilitates trade between the English heartland and its continental possessions.
Trade Networks: English wool, previously exported to Flanders for processing, increasingly moves through controlled French ports. Meanwhile, French wine flows directly to English markets without the heavy taxation that historically existed. The reduced barriers create a more integrated Anglo-French economy.
Fiscal Innovations: The tremendous cost of maintaining control necessitates fiscal innovations. The English Parliament, already accustomed to granting taxation for war, begins developing more sophisticated funding mechanisms, including early forms of government bonds to finance continental operations.

Cultural and Religious Dimensions

The cultural intermingling of English and French elites accelerates dramatically:

Linguistic Evolution: While the common people continue speaking their native tongues, the nobility increasingly adopts a hybrid Anglo-French court language. By 1450, the English court documents show significant French influence, while French administrative records incorporate English terms and structures.
Architectural Synthesis: English gothic cathedral styles, already influenced by French examples, undergo further evolution as architects from both traditions collaborate on new projects. The rebuilding of portions of Paris under Bedford's direction showcases a distinctive Anglo-French gothic style.
Religious Politics: The maintenance of dual monarchy complicates religious administration. The English tradition of greater independence from Rome, combined with French Gallican tendencies, creates a unique church structure with significant autonomy from papal authority—potentially laying groundwork for later religious developments.

Resistance and Accommodation

Not all French interests accept English dominance peacefully:

Southern Resistance: While northern France comes under effective Lancastrian control, the southern provinces maintain greater loyalty to the disinherited Charles VII, who establishes a court-in-exile in Toulouse. Periodic campaigns against this "pretender king" become a recurring feature of the political landscape.
Burgundian Prominence: The Duke of Burgundy, having remained loyal to the Anglo-French monarchy, leverages his position to expand influence throughout the Low Countries and eastern France. By 1450, Burgundy emerges as the third power center in the dual monarchy system, neither fully subordinate to Henry VI nor completely independent.
Identity Formation: The concept of "Frenchness" undergoes significant evolution, with regional identities sometimes strengthening in opposition to English rule. Normandy, long connected to England, embraces its role as the continental center of Lancastrian power, while more distant provinces maintain stronger French identity.

By the 1450s, rather than witnessing the final English defeat at Castillon, this alternate timeline sees a consolidated Anglo-French realm, though not without ongoing tensions. The disinherited Charles VII maintains his southern power base, creating a divided France that would shape continental politics for generations to come.

Long-term Impact

Evolution of the Dual Monarchy (1450-1500)

The initial consolidation of Anglo-French rule would inevitably face structural challenges as the dual monarchy matured:

Constitutional Development: The distinct political traditions of England (with its Parliament and common law) and France (with its Estates General and civil law traditions) would necessitate innovative governance structures. By 1480, a system evolves where the monarch governs England through Parliament and France through a Council of Nobles and regional estates, creating parallel but interconnected systems.
Succession Stability: Unlike our timeline's Wars of the Roses, the prestige and resources of the dual monarchy provide greater stability for the Lancastrian line. Henry VI's mental health issues might still emerge, but the institutional framework of the expanded realm provides regency mechanisms that prevent complete collapse, allowing for smoother transition to his son Edward of Westminster.
Administrative Integration: Over time, bureaucratic practices cross-pollinate between English and French territories. The English exchequer system influences French fiscal administration, while French legal concepts gradually influence English common law, creating a hybrid administrative culture in both realms.

Economic and Commercial Transformation (1450-1550)

The economic implications of a sustained Anglo-French union would reshape European commerce:

Channel Economic Zone: The English Channel transforms from frontier to internal waterway, becoming Europe's busiest commercial corridor. Cities like Southampton, Portsmouth, Rouen, and Harfleur experience unprecedented growth as internal trade flourishes without the barriers that historically existed.
Competitive Advantage: The combined resources of England and northern France—English wool, French agriculture, Norman textiles, and Channel fisheries—create an economic powerhouse that outcompetes the Italian city-states earlier than in our timeline. By 1500, London-Paris emerges as Europe's dominant commercial axis.
Early Banking Development: The financial demands of administering the dual monarchy accelerate banking innovations. By 1520, Anglo-French merchant-bankers establish sophisticated credit networks extending from Edinburgh to Marseille, rivaling and eventually surpassing their Italian counterparts.
Colonial Implications: With greater resources and maritime focus, transatlantic exploration begins earlier. By 1500, Anglo-French expeditions establish the first North American footholds, decades before our timeline's equivalent efforts. The northeastern coast of North America becomes an extension of the dual monarchy rather than a competitive arena between separate English and French colonial systems.

Military and Geopolitical Consequences (1450-1600)

A successful Hundred Years' War fundamentally alters European power dynamics:

Habsburg Containment: The combined Anglo-French power serves as a counterweight to Habsburg ambitions in the 16th century. When Charles V inherits his vast territories (1519 in our timeline), he faces a unified Anglo-French block to the west rather than separate kingdoms he could play against each other. This likely prevents the Habsburg encirclement of France that occurred historically.
Military Revolution: The gunpowder innovations that began during the war's later stages accelerate under unified development. By 1550, Anglo-French armies pioneer combined-arms tactics integrating infantry, cavalry, and artillery more effectively than their continental counterparts, establishing military dominance that would persist for generations.
Mediterranean Involvement: With secure northern borders, the dual monarchy turns attention southward earlier. Naval power projections into the Mediterranean begin by the early 16th century, challenging both Spanish influence and Ottoman expansion decades before similar efforts in our timeline.
Scottish Realignment: Scotland's traditional "Auld Alliance" with France becomes untenable when France and England unite. By 1500, Scotland either accepts junior partner status within the Anglo-French sphere (perhaps through dynastic marriage) or faces isolation, potentially accelerating Scottish integration into a British framework by a century.

Religious Reformation Transformed (1500-1550)

The religious upheavals of the 16th century would unfold quite differently:

Reformed Catholicism: The dual monarchy, combining English skepticism of papal authority with French Gallican traditions, likely develops a semi-autonomous Catholic Church before Luther's challenges emerge. This "Anglo-Gallican" church maintains Catholic doctrine while asserting royal supremacy in ecclesiastical appointments and finances.
Response to Luther: When Luther's reforms emerge in the 1520s, the dual monarchy's religious establishment takes a different approach than either the historical English or French responses. Rather than complete break (England) or opposition (France), the Anglo-French rulers might implement moderate reforms while maintaining Catholic ceremonial traditions—a via media established decades earlier than in our timeline.
Religious Wars Averted: The centralized power of the dual monarchy likely prevents the devastating Wars of Religion that engulfed France from 1562 to 1598 in our timeline. Religious dissenters still emerge, but the stronger monarchy contains conflicts before they escalate to civil war proportions.

Cultural and Intellectual Developments (1450-1600)

The merging of English and French cultural traditions produces a distinctive hybrid civilization:

Renaissance Acceleration: The stability and prosperity of the Anglo-French realm attract scholars, artists, and thinkers from across Europe. By 1500, Paris-London replaces Florence-Rome as Europe's cultural hub, with royal patronage drawing luminaries who historically worked in Italy.
Linguistic Evolution: While local populations continue speaking their vernaculars, a new elite language emerges by 1550—neither purely English nor French, but a synthetic "Anglo-French" that becomes the administrative and literary standard across the realm, influencing both parent languages profoundly.
Educational Institutions: The university systems of both nations cross-fertilize, with Oxford and Cambridge adopting elements of the Parisian Sorbonne model, while French universities incorporate English collegiate structures. This creates Europe's most developed higher education system by 1600.
Literary Traditions: The English literary renaissance occurs differently, with Shakespeare (or his equivalent) writing for a cosmopolitan Anglo-French audience. His works might seamlessly blend English and French historical themes, perhaps dramatizing the very events of the Hundred Years' War that created this unified culture.

Modern World Implications (1600-2025)

The repercussions of this alternate medieval outcome would fundamentally reshape the modern world:

Political Geography: Rather than separate nation-states, England and northern France likely evolve into a unified kingdom (perhaps called "Angleterre-France" or "the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern France"), while southern France either remains independent or eventually integrates under different terms.
Colonial Expansion: The combined maritime resources of England and northern France would create a colonial powerhouse extending globally earlier and more extensively than either nation achieved separately. North America would likely develop as a predominantly Anglo-French cultural sphere rather than experiencing the Anglo-French colonial competition of our timeline.
European Integration: The early experience of managing a cross-Channel political entity provides precedents for European integration. What emerged as the European Union in our late 20th century might develop earlier and more organically, perhaps beginning as an extension of Anglo-French governance models to neighboring regions.
Linguistic Legacy: Modern English would contain substantially more French influence than even the considerable Norman impact in our timeline. Conversely, modern French would incorporate more Germanic elements from English, creating language variants that might remain mutually intelligible rather than developing as separate tongues.

By 2025 in this alternate timeline, the political map of Europe would be unrecognizable compared to our reality. The thousand-year project of Anglo-French integration, begun with the Norman Conquest and cemented by English victory in the Hundred Years' War, would have produced a dominant Western European power with global influence, potentially leading to a more integrated European civilization and a fundamentally different world order.

Expert Opinions

Dr. Malcolm Thornbridge, Professor of Medieval Studies at Oxford University, offers this perspective: "Had the English maintained their continental possessions after the 1430s, we would likely see a fundamentally different conception of the nation-state emerge in Western Europe. The traditional narrative of rising nationalism with clearly delineated linguistic and cultural boundaries would be replaced by a more complex, composite state model. The Anglo-French realm would represent neither 'England writ large' nor 'France under foreign occupation,' but rather a distinct political entity with its own evolving identity—something akin to the Habsburg domains but centered on the English Channel rather than Central Europe. This would have profound implications for political theory, potentially delaying or transforming the Westphalian concept of sovereignty that has shaped our modern international system."

Professor Isabelle Laurent, Chair of Comparative European History at the Sorbonne, provides a contrasting assessment: "We should not romanticize this alternate Anglo-French union. Historical evidence suggests it would have been characterized by persistent tensions between centralized authority and regional autonomy. The southern provinces would have maintained resistance to northern rule for generations, creating a divided cultural landscape more reminiscent of Italy than unified France. What's particularly interesting is how this might have affected colonialism. Rather than competing colonial systems, an Anglo-French maritime empire would likely have been more systematically extractive and potentially more durable. Native Americans, Africans, and Asian populations might have faced a more unified European expansion without the opportunity to play competing powers against each other—potentially delaying decolonization movements by centuries."

Dr. James Harrington, Military Historian at King's College London, examines the military dimensions: "The strategic implications of an English victory in the Hundred Years' War would reverberate far beyond medieval tactics. The early development of standing armies, professional officer corps, and integrated artillery would accelerate military modernization by perhaps a century. The Spanish tercio system that dominated 16th-century battlefields in our timeline would likely be replaced by an Anglo-French combined-arms approach. More significantly, naval development would take a different trajectory, with Channel security as the starting point rather than an obstacle to overcome. By the time of worldwide colonial expansion, Anglo-French naval supremacy would be established decades earlier than British dominance emerged in our timeline, fundamentally altering the geopolitical competition that shaped the modern world."