BORIS BOVE, STOLETÁ VÁLKA, PRAHA: KAROLINUM 2021, 226 PAGES
The Hund ed Yea s’ Wa is a opic much in es iga ed in mediae al s udies in F ance
and beyond. F om ecen decades alone, one could men ion wo ks by Fa ie ,1
Con amine,2 Minois3 and he mo e b oadly-concei ed syn hesis by Vale ie Tou eille
ocused on social his o y.4 Fu he mo e, Iam dis ega ding English his o iog aphy
he e o ob ious easons, whe e he wa is also amajo opic.5 The common denomi-
na o o all hese s udies is a ocus on poli ical and wa his o y, o inding links be-
ween he con lic and ans o ma ions in con empo aneous socie y.
Bo is Bo e’s slende syn hesis escapes his concep . Bo e has undoub edly made
good use o his p e ious ex ensi e monog aph6 and buil on his esea ch ocus on
he na u e o he la e mediae al F ench mona chy as de e mined by F.Au and,
C.Beaune and .B Schne b.7 He has di ided his s udy in o six chap e s, in which he
p og essi ely in es iga es he gene al na u e o he c isis and causes o wa , i s in lu-
ence on changes in he ax sys em in F ance, public opinion and me hods o public
communica ion, he esponse o eli es and hei in e nal con lic s, and inally he
cha ac e is ics o pos -wa F ance and socie ies in he mid-15 h cen u y and also how
he e en s o he p e ious cen u y ma ked and changed his.
This would all be no hing new. Bu wha makes Bo e’s app oach an o iginal one is
his me hodological concep o he Hund ed Yea s’ Wa . Fo him, his is abo e all ahis-
o iog aphic cons uc and no he cou se o his o ical e en s o asocial phenom-
enon. Bo e goes e en u he and handles i as akind o ca alys o socie al p ocesses.
He does no explain i s occu ence me ely as he consequence o p e ious poli ical
and powe s uggles be ween F ance and England, al hough he does no deny ha
hese did happen. Wha he conside s much mo e impo an , howe e , is ac isis in he
mediae al s a e, ans o ming he assal sys em in o ase dom p inciple. E en his
would no be anew idea, wi h Pocque du Hau -Jussé ha ing come up wi h asimila
idea anumbe o decades ago.8 Hau -Jussé, howe e , linked i o he o ma ion o he
1 J.FAVIER, La Gue e de Cen Ans, Pa is1980.
2 P.CONTAMINE, La gue e de Cen ans, “Que sais-je? his oi e-géog aphie”, No.1309, 2010,
9e éd. (1 e éd. 1968); P.CONTAMINE, La ie quo idienne pendan la gue e de cen ans. F ance
eAngle e e (XIVe siècle), Pa is1976; P.CONTAMINE e al.(éd.), Gue e e socié é en F ance, en
Angle e e e en Bou gogne, XIVe e XVe siècle. Lille1991.
3 G.MINOIS, La Gue e de Cen Ans, Pa is, coll. in: Tempus, No.319, 2016 (1 e éd. 2008).
4 V.TOUREILLE, Gue e e socié é, 1270–1480, Cle concou s. His oi e médié ale. Neuilly,
coll2013.
5 Mos ecen ly one should no e a leas wo monog aphs: G.CORRIGAN, AG ea and Glo i-
ous Ad en u e: AMili a y His o y o he Hund ed Yea s Wa , 2014; and D.GREEN, The Hun-
d ed Yea s Wa : APeople’s His o y, New Ha en and London: Yale 2014.
6 B.BOVE, Le emps de la gue e de Cen ans: 1328–1453, coll. His oi e de F ance, Pa iscoll,
2009.
7 F.AUTRAND, Cha les V: le Sage, Pa is, 1994; F.AUTRAND, Cha les VI: la olie du oi, Pa is,
1986; C.BEAUNE, Jeanne d’A c, Pa is, 2004; B.SCHNERB, L’é a bou guignon: 1363–1477,
Pa is1999.
8 B.-A. POCQUET DU HAUT-JUSSE, Une idee poli ique de Louis XI: la suje ion eclipse la assali e,
in: Re ue his o ique, 226, 1961, pp.383–398.
Václa D ška
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118 PRAGUE PAPERS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1/2022
ea ly absolu is ea u es o Louis XI’s eign, while Bo e sees i as a ac o ans o m-
ing he island mona chy and he high Cape ian kingdom in o amona chy o so e -
eign p inces who a e able o abso b he elic s o p e ious assalages only a he cos
o a undamen al and open con lic : om his pe spec i e, Louis IX’s T ea y o Pa is
signed wi h England’s Hen y III is ans o med om adocumen o peace o acasus
belli o he u u e. Wa i sel he e, howe e , does no me ely comp ise he cou se o
ba les, diploma ic nego ia ions and pe iods o uce and peace. In asensi i e man-
ne , Bo e pe cei es he s eng hs and weaknesses o bo h wa ing a mies in e ms
o hei equipmen and ac ics, bu he subjec s his in e p e a ion o he ba le ield
si ua ion o inding social and adminis a i e causes and con ex s on bo h sides o he
English Channel. And inally, he iews wa ope a ions in pa icula om he pe spec-
i e o hei concei able impac s on bo h mona chies. Thus, he Hund ed Yea s’ Wa
changes om amediae al ba le o knigh s in o amode n and complex con lic , and
no jus amili a y one. While his may a ouse some doub s, i is wo h examining his
con en ion u he .
E en mo e in e es ing a e he passages po aying he wa as aca alys o he
ans o ma ion o he mediae al s a e. I is he e ha Bo e is he mos con incing,
and he p oduces uly o iginal and ascina ing a gumen s. Fi s o all, he looks a ax
e o m. On he one hand, he con lic and i s pe manen cos s o ced he king o ind
egula sou ces o income, abandoning he p inciple o he mona ch “li ing om his
own sou ces”, no longe dependen on axes collec ed by he a is oc acy. Thus he
idea o egula axa ion was bo n, u he boos ing he mode nising ea u es o
hemona chy, shi ing i away om mediae al ule owa ds he ea ly mode n s a e,
bu a ousing eac ion om he noble eli es, who soon ecognised ha his end
h ea ened hei posi ion, and a emp ed o ind al e na i e ways o ake con ol.
He e, Bo e u he e ines he long- unning discou se wi hin F ench his o iog aphy
and on s a e bu eauc a isa ion a he end o he Middle Ages which Iha e al eady
men ioned, adding iscal backg ound and he mo i a ion o p i ileged g oups’ posi-
ions o i . The ques ion he e emains o whe he he cap u e o he king eally did
ha e he in luence on he implemen a ion o pe manen ax ha he au ho belie es:
he ansom o Louis IX did no esul in such an e ec , and an explana ion o his ac
would be wo h u he conside a ion.
Ano he majo opic is he cou se o public opinion. He e oo, he au ho was able
o make use o he esul s o ongoing esea ch, ocused, howe e , mainly on ech-
niques and s a egies.9 Bo e mo es his o wa d h ough his hough s on he o ma-
ion o a“ci il socie y” o he un-p i ileged, which alongside he eli es ep esen s
ano he limi ing ac o in he king’s ac ions. He also mo es i o wa d by poin ing ou
ha his was an impe us o c ea e a ule o law, i one ha aligned wi h he pe iod.
9 E.g. N.GRÉVY-PONS, P opagande e sen imen na ional pendan le ègne de Cha les VI:
L’exemple de Jean de Mon euil, F ancia 8 (1980), pp.27–145; N.GRÉVY-PONS, La p opagan-
de de gue e ançaise a an l’appa i ion de Jeanne d’A c, Jou nal des Sa an s, No 2, 1982,
pp.191–214; S.FARGETTE, Rumeu s, p opagande e opinion publique au emps de la gue e ci-
ile (1407–1420), in: Moyen Age113, 2007, pp.309–334; M.DEPRETER, Moul c uaul éz e
inhumani éz y u en aic es. S a égie, jus ice e p opagande de gue e sous Cha les de Bou gogne
(1465–1477), in: Moyen Age121 (2015), pp.41–69
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VáCLAV DRŠKA 119
While he king emained ule “by he g ace o God”, he did ha e o ind new s a -
egies o communica ing wi h he public, and o he au ho his is ano he majo
ea u e o F ance’s la e mediae al ans o ma ion.
Wi hin his chosen discou se, he hen looks a and in e p e s poli ical e en s in
he coun y in he second hal o he Hund ed Yea s’ Wa : Cha les V’s successes, he
wis s and u ns du ing he ule o his men ally ill son and he esul ing wa o he
p inces, and a he end o his s udy he p esen s Cha les VII’s egime as a ic o y o
e o ms and he beginnings o F ance’s poli ical and na ional consolida ion.
Bo e’s wo k, bene i ing om he adi ional his o ical c a , migh seem oo con-
se a i e in i s me hodological concep o some c i ics. One can ce ainly wonde
whe he e e y hing he au ho analyses eally had o ake place wi h he i on logic he
has laid ou . Some imes one canno igno e he suspicion ha Bo e has succumbed o
an ex e en u pe spec i e: he e is aques ion, o example, o whe he he Cape ian e-
i al would ha e achie ed such success i Cha les he Bold had no me an essen ially
acciden al dea h in Nancy. Bu simila ly, he ques ion a ises o whe he ape spec i e
cons uc ed in his way emains wi hin he his o ian’s ision. On he o he hand, he
wo k is an excellen example o absolu e mas e y o a opic in asmall space, and he
ehabili a ion o in elligen ly execu ed e en his o iog aphy. The essay o m, which
appea s o be gaining g ound in con empo a y his o iog aphy,10 makes Bo e’s wo k
comp ehensible and appealing o he gene al public.
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10 Fo asimila me hodological concep and o m o p ocessing o ano he opic, see S.PAT-
ZOLD, Wie egie e Ka l de G oße?, Köln,2020.
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