History on Fire: Joan of Arc / Hundred Years War

[Montegriffo]

Cornwell's Thomas of Hookton trilogy is a good introduction to the HYW despite also being a work of fiction. It was what initially got me interested in the period and the wonderful weapon that is the longbow.

[Montegriffo]

For being rubbish at war, they managed to kick you lot off the continent that time.

Eventually, after 80 years of losing battle after battle.
Wasn't god or Joan that finally got rid of us either, it was the development of bloody canons making castles obsolete.

Ah yes, because the established scriptures of the Church made castles obsolete. Words of light melting the hearth of stone? .

In a more serious reply, yeah. Ironic though, isn't it, that the English campaign containing Crecy is one of if not the earliest use of cannons in Europe, yet the English used cannons and guns less than the French who adopted them later? Just like the war in general, talk about not following through.
Too bad I really prefer the English side of that whole war though-- it makes this more a charade for humor than an argument.

Apart from its shock value coming from the noise and smoke the cannons at Crecy were not actually very efficient. Only a handful were present and compared to the longbow their impact was negligable.
The early cannons could only fire once or twice a day due to the fact they had to pack the barrel with clay and wait for it to set as the cannon balls were a very poor fit to the bore of the guns. Black powder was also in very short supply.
Once the English were established in their castles around France cannons became more useful to the French as a method of breaching walls and gates but not much use for the defenders against the besieging forces. They didn't become a powerful anti-personnel weapon until much later.

[katarn]

Eventually, after 80 years of losing battle after battle.
Wasn't god or Joan that finally got rid of us either, it was the development of bloody canons making castles obsolete.

Ah yes, because the established scriptures of the Church made castles obsolete. Words of light melting the hearth of stone? .

In a more serious reply, yeah. Ironic though, isn't it, that the English campaign containing Crecy is one of if not the earliest use of cannons in Europe, yet the English used cannons and guns less than the French who adopted them later? Just like the war in general, talk about not following through.
Too bad I really prefer the English side of that whole war though-- it makes this more a charade for humor than an argument.

Apart from its shock value coming from the noise and smoke the cannons at Crecy were not actually very efficient. Only a handful were present and compared to the longbow their impact was negligable.
The early cannons could only fire once or twice a day due to the fact they had to pack the barrel with clay and wait for it to set as the cannon balls were a very poor fit to the bore of the guns. Black powder was also in very short supply.
Once the English were established in their castles around France cannons became more useful to the French as a method of breaching walls and gates but not much use for the defenders against the besieging forces. They didn't become a powerful anti-personnel weapon until much later.

Absolutely. I'm only poking fun because that war was pretty well won until some peasant girl came and revived the French, who somehow then won back their land in the end.

[Montegriffo]

The English are now reclaiming Aquitaine, Gascony and Normandy one house at a time.
In the Lot region in the Dordogne over 70% of houses coming up for sale are bought by the British. I even have my own little part of France not too far from where Edward III won his glorious victory at Poitiers in 1356.

[GloryofGreece]

The English are now reclaiming Aquitaine, Gascony and Normandy one house at a time.
In the Lot region in the Dordogne over 70% of houses coming up for sale are bought by the British. I even have my own little part of France not too far from where Edward III won his glorious victory at Poitiers in 1356.

Since there are way more Frenchmen than Brits why is it that they are selling their property to foreigners?
Is the English more wealthy / excess cash etc. than the French per capita?

[Montegriffo]

The English are now reclaiming Aquitaine, Gascony and Normandy one house at a time.
In the Lot region in the Dordogne over 70% of houses coming up for sale are bought by the British. I even have my own little part of France not too far from where Edward III won his glorious victory at Poitiers in 1356.

Since there are way more Frenchmen than Brits why is it that they are selling their property to foreigners?
Is the English more wealthy / excess cash etc. than the French per capita?

The French youth don't want to live in houses in the countryside they want apartments in towns near to where the jobs are. As a result houses are really cheap, really really cheap compared to the UK. My little house with its acre of land would be worth nearly ten times as much if it were here in Suffolk rather than stuck in the middle of a rather uninteresting (unless you like castles) agricultural area in central France.
Houses in the south of France near the med' or in Brittany on the English channel are much more expensive.
A mate of mine lived in a tiny ex chestnut drying shed in a forest half way up a mountain not far from Marseille in the south which was worth over 100k. In the area where my house is you can buy a 10 bedroom chateau with 20 acres and a lake for the same money.

[GloryofGreece]

The English are now reclaiming Aquitaine, Gascony and Normandy one house at a time.
In the Lot region in the Dordogne over 70% of houses coming up for sale are bought by the British. I even have my own little part of France not too far from where Edward III won his glorious victory at Poitiers in 1356.

Since there are way more Frenchmen than Brits why is it that they are selling their property to foreigners?
Is the English more wealthy / excess cash etc. than the French per capita?

The French youth don't want to live in houses in the countryside they want apartments in towns near to where the jobs are. As a result houses are really cheap, really really cheap compared to the UK. My little house with its acre of land would be worth nearly ten times as much if it were here in Suffolk rather than stuck in the middle of a rather uninteresting (unless you like castles) agricultural area in central France.
Houses in the south of France near the med' or in Brittany on the English channel are much more expensive.
A mate of mine lived in a tiny ex chestnut drying shed in a forest half way up a mountain not far from Marseille in the south which was worth over 100k. In the area where my house is you can buy a 10 bedroom chateau with 20 acres and a lake for the same money.

Most of France is beautiful. I envy you.

[Montegriffo]

Since there are way more Frenchmen than Brits why is it that they are selling their property to foreigners?
Is the English more wealthy / excess cash etc. than the French per capita?

The French youth don't want to live in houses in the countryside they want apartments in towns near to where the jobs are. As a result houses are really cheap, really really cheap compared to the UK. My little house with its acre of land would be worth nearly ten times as much if it were here in Suffolk rather than stuck in the middle of a rather uninteresting (unless you like castles) agricultural area in central France.
Houses in the south of France near the med' or in Brittany on the English channel are much more expensive.
A mate of mine lived in a tiny ex chestnut drying shed in a forest half way up a mountain not far from Marseille in the south which was worth over 100k. In the area where my house is you can buy a 10 bedroom chateau with 20 acres and a lake for the same money.

Most of France is beautiful. I envy you.

Hoping to get out there for a month this winter. The garden needs some work and I need to put some poison down to reduce the population of doormice living in the roof.
The village my house is in is tiny, maybe 50 houses and a small castle. However, once a month 10,000 people descend on it for France's largest outdoor market.
You can buy anything from livestock to frilly underwear.
One stall contains only shallots with dozens of differently sized, shaped and coloured varieties.
Next to it is the garlic stall, again there are more varieties of garlic than I ever knew existed.
It's a great place for a chef like me to wander around.
Would be like TC coming across a shop that sells 50 different types of burgers.

[GloryofGreece]

Part II is out for contributors and will be out for free download soon. Wonder how much he regularly makes from pay pal/patreon donations monthly?

[Speaker to Animals]

Cornwell's Thomas of Hookton trilogy is a good introduction to the HYW despite also being a work of fiction. It was what initially got me interested in the period and the wonderful weapon that is the longbow.

The longbow is a great weapon. That novel was highly fictionalized, though.

Another good novel for this period is actually Michael Chrichton's Timeline. The novel has a lot of detail about the period in it. The film is garbage. I am not talking about that.