Anglo-French War (1213–14)

For other conflicts, see Anglo-French War.

The Anglo-French War was a war between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England. The war was mainly fought in Normandy, where John, King of England fought King Philip II of France for domination. The end of the war came at the decisive Battle of Bouvines, where Philip defeated England and its allies.

Normandy, once a site of conflict between Richard I of England and Philip II of France, grew to be one of the hot spots of the wars as the king of England as duke of Normandy had to defend his territory close to Paris. When John of England rose to the throne he fought to expand his empire, launching the campaign in Normandy to rival Philip in national territory. He lost much territory, leading up to the major battle at Château Gaillard from 1203 to 1204.

The Anglo-Norman army retreated to the castle, holding their position. Though all of their relief attempts failed, they held out for years. Soon, Philip ordered his men to climb up garderobes, or toilet chutes. The sneak attacks resulted in the fall of the castle.

In 1214, when Pope Innocent III assembled an alliance of states against France, John registered in. The allies met Philip near Bouvines. The Battle of Bouvines saw Philip win with the smaller amount of troops due to using couched lances. The victory for France ended in the conquest of Flanders and the defeat of any attempt from John to regain his lost territories.

This conflict was an episode in a longer conflict between France and England over the possessions of the English monarchy in France, which started with Henry II of England's accession to the English throne in 1154 and his conflict with Louis VII of France, and ended with the decisive victory of Louis IX of France over Henry III of England at the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242.

Aftermath

After the wars in France, the King of England became increasingly unpopular and England was split into civil war as lords challenged him. The lords were assisted by the Kingdom of Scotland and France. On 14 June 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. But just when it seemed that England was his, King John's death in October 1216 caused many of the rebellious barons to desert Louis in favour of John's nine-year-old son, Henry III.

With William Marshall acting as regent, a call for the English "to defend our land" against the French led to a reversal of fortunes on the battlefield. After his army was beaten at Lincoln on 20 May 1217, and his naval forces (led by Eustace the Monk) were defeated off the coast of Sandwich on 24 August 1217, Louis was forced to make peace on English terms.

The principal provisions of the Treaty of Lambeth were an amnesty for English rebels, Louis to undertake not to attack England again, and 10,000 marks to be given to Louis. The effect of the treaty was that Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate King of England.