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The Hundred Years’ War:
Philip VI’s War Cabinet
Background Guide
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Table of Contents
Letter from the Chair
Letter from the Chair • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3
Dear Delegates,
The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet • • • • • • • 13
Endotes• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 14
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to DMUN V’s very own JCC Hundred Years’
War: King Philip VI’s Court(1340-)! DMUN II was my first taste of Model United Nations
all the way back in 8th grade, and I am thrilled to be able to give back to the conference that
started my long diplomatic journey. My name is Will Bartlett and I am currently a junior at
The Dalton School and have been at Dalton since I was a kindergartener. At Dalton, besides
being a member of Dalton’s very own Model UN team, I am a member of the Science Fiction
and Fantasy club, the Military History club, Geography club, Parliamentary Debate Team,
and write sporadically for Dalton’s political journal Real Politick; my favorite subjects are
History and Latin. I am also a member of the Cross Country and JV Tennis teams at Dalton.
My moderator is Nora Salitan, a Senior at Dalton who is a member of Dalton’s Public Forum
Debate Team, Dalton’s Community Sustained Agriculture Initiative, and Editor in Chief of
Real Politick. Despite not being on the Model UN team, she is very knowledgable of Parliamentary Procedure and she will run the committee smoothly.
JCC Hundred Years’ War: King Philip VI’s Court(1340-) is certain to be both an engrossing and challenging committee for both novice and veteran delegate alike. As a crisis
cabinet, this committee will challenge not just your skills in research, writing, and rhetoric,
but also your ability to understand, and thus consequently impact, an ever evolving historical
scenario. Each of you will be vested with powers granted to you by your title and your standing relative to the king. The 14th century was a time of paramount importance in the shaping
of the national identity and geopolitical landscape of Western Europe and rife with internal
conflict and court politic. Immersing yourself within the realities of this time period will be
vital to success in this committee. Delegates will need to be creative in crafting crises that
will steer both the ship of state and their own personal agendas. Additionally, the opposing
cabinet, JCC Hundred Years’ War: King Edward III’s Court(1340-), composed of delegates
such as yourselves, will prove to be a worthy adversary, and for some of you, a potential ally
in your personal schemes.
I look forward to meeting you all at Dalton this Spring prepared for anything unchivalrous the age of chivalry has to offer! Feel free to shoot me an email with any questions
regarding this committee; it would be my pleasure to answer.
Sincerely,
Will Bartlett
Chair, Hundred Years’ War: King Philip VI’s Court(1340-)
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s
War Cabinet
Committee Overview
conflict with each other for most of the duration
of the conference, there will be several meetings
between them and you will all have the opportunity to communicate with Delegates in the
other chamber through crisis notes.
While no additional research is necessary, it would certainly help flesh out information included in this Background Guide and
allow you to present unique and innovative
solutions that will aid your committee in victory. Additionally, feel free to read the English
committee’s Background Guide to get a sense of
their history and motivations.
The Hundred Years’ War is a challenging topic and will surely be a daunting task for
both committees; however, I am certain you all
will rise to the occasion. Be creative. Be daring.
Be fearless. If you take these three maxims into
your heart at DMUN, you will be sure to find
success.
It is June 25th, 1340 A.D. and France,
the strongest nation in Europe, the great and
esteemed Kingdom of France, Eldest Daughter of the Church, is now threatened by the descendants of one of its vassal houses from an
island nation across its coast. This upstart is
the Kingdom of England. Her king, Edward III,
foolishly believes himself to be king of France.
The audacity! The gall! What delusions have
possessed the mind of this pretender! Yet this
is not mere pretend. While at first the English
seemed naturally outclassed by the evident
superiority of the French military forces, the
situation has changed frighteningly.
The French navy has been decimated
at the terrible Battle of Sluys just a day earlier. Once in control of control of the English
Channel and actively the aggressor, France
has been placed upon her heels by the daring
strike of the English king. Legions of Englishmen now prepare to ravage the lands given to
King Philip VI by right. Fierce battles on land
are imminent. The fate of not just France or
England, but the whole continent lies in your
hands, Delegates. Will France be conquered
by a foreign usurper, or will France defend her
lands from invaders and usher in a new age of
glory not seen since Charlemagne? That is the
challenge that you, Delegates, as members of
Philip VI’s War Cabinet, will be forced to answer.
The Hundreds’ Year War: Philip VI’s
War Cabinet will be run as a Joint Crisis Cabinet along with its corresponding committee
The Hundreds’ Year War: Edward III’s War
Cabinet. This will pose a unique challenge to
Delegates new to Model UN and seasoned veterans alike. While these chambers will be in
The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
During the 4th century, the Franks had frequent interaction, both as allies and as enemies, with the Romans, who had expanded
into Gaul during the 1st century. A notable
interaction between these two peoples was a
Frankish incursion into Roman frontier in
Gaul located near the city of Mainz, which
would be repelled by the Emperor Probus.
Additionally, in 358, Julian the Apostate relinquished the region between the Meuse and
Scheldt rivers, known as Toxandria, to the
Salians in exchange for protection.
would gain supremacy over Gaul under Childeric’s son Clovis by conquering the remaining Frankish tribes within Gaul. Importantly,
he would convert to Christianity in 496 from
the paganism of the Merovingians and his
ancestors, being persuaded by his Christian
wife Clotilda and Pope Gregory, who would
describe the king as “the new Constantine,”
in reference to the first Christian Emperor of
Rome. King Clovis would be one of the first
Germanic king to convert to Christianity, protecting the property of Bishops within their
lands and inviting these religious leaders into
his court, whose diplomatic talents were recognized by the king. The Merovingians’ later
conflicts against neighbors, particularly a war
against the Visigoths, who were adherents to
the tenets of Arianism, a system of beliefs described as heretical by the Church, would be
portrayed as valiant fights against the forces
of paganism by Christian forces. For these reasons, France would come to be known as the
“Eldest Daughter of the Church.
History of the Conflict
The Merovingians
The origins of the French people and
the kingdom they would build lies first with
the Germanic tribe known as the Franks, who
were in fact a consolidation of several smaller Germanic tribes, most notably the Salians,
the Ripuarians, and the Chatti, who shared
the same language and held similar traditions,
laws, and customs. While the earliest origins
of the Franks are unknown and shrouded in
legend, it is known, however, that the Franks
would reside in the geographic region between
the Middle and Lower Rhine in the 3rd century
A.D, located in the Northwestern portion of the
greater region of Gaul.
The first reliable accounts of the Franks
come from Latin sources of the 4th century.
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A subset of the Salian Franks, the tribe
known as the Merovingians, would form the
nucleus of a united Frankish Gaul. In the 5th
century, their chief Childeric would extend this
tribe’s territories as far south as to the Somme
river. While initially an ally of the Romans,
in 461, after the death of the Roman Emperor Majorian, Childeric set his sights upon the
Roman territories in Gaul under the auspices
of the imperial governor Aegidus. While his
initial attempts proved unsuccessful, after an
alliance with several Saxon tribes, Childeric
and the Merovingians would prove victorious
of Aegidus’ forces.
From this point, the Merovingians
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
The Carolingians
This dynasty was not to last, however.
By the late 7th century, most effective power
would lay in the hand of regional aristocrats
known as mayors of the palace. Soon, friction
between the Merovingians, who still held the
royal title, though largely symbolic, and controlled the region known as Neustria, and
the Pippinids, who held power in the region
known as Austrasia, and were descendants
of the Ripuarian tribe of Franks, boiled over
into conflict. While initially the Merovingians
had the upper hand, after the murder of the
Merovingian leader Ebroin in 680 the Pippinids under Pippin II who would effectively control Northern Francia by 687 while leaving the
Merovingians as figureheads.
After Pippin II’s death in 1714, his illegitimate son Charles Martel established himself as the supreme authority in Northern Francia before setting his sights upon the southern
regions under threat by incurring Arabs and
the lands that would become Germany under
threat by Saxons. Martel defeated the Arabs at
the Battle of Tours in 1732, incorporating the
territory of Aquitaine shortly thereafter, and
pushed the Saxons back across the Rhine river
in the east, re-establishing Frankish supremacy over Bavaria along with the new additions
of Frisia and Alemannia.
Martel’s tactics for control were not
limited to military pursuits. Martel, more than
any leader before him, encouraged missionary
activity, particularly in his rebellious eastern
territories, with the blessings of the papacy.
He saw the Church as a means to obtaining political power and stability. He also constructed
a base of loyal followers through the process of
providing local leaders who granted him military strength with land holdings for life, with
these lands often being drawn from the large
holdings of the Church.
Clovis would later divide the territories of his kingdom amongst his four living
sons, leading to a disunited Gaul. Despite this
disunity, Clovis’ descendants would conquer
the region on their southern border known
as Burgundy during this time period. Clovis’
great-grandson Chlotar II would later reunite
the Merovingian territories, now known as
Francia, in the early 7th century and establish
stability as a dynasty with its seat of power in
the city of Paris.
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
Charles, who would be crowned as the
Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne by Pope
Leo III on Christmas day in the year 800,
would build upon his territories to control the
vast majority of Western Europe. To his west,
he crossed the Pyrenees to capture the city of
Barcelona in Spain; To his south, he subdued
the Lombards of Italy, crowning himself their
king, and established the Papal States; to his
east, he finally established firm Carolingian
control over the Bavarians and crushed the
Saxons, establishing the banks of the river
Elbe as his easternmost border. This would be
the high point of Carolingian supremacy.
After Charlemagne’s death, the Carolingian’s were forced to turn their attention
northward. The Viking peoples of Scandinavia
roved to be a perilous threat to the Carolingians, who in the 9th century began their legendary raids upon Western Europe. Emperor
Louis I the Pious would attempt to convert the
Vikings to Christianity; however, all missions
proved unsuccessful.
In 751, Martel’s descendant Pippin III
would depose the Merovingian king Childeric
III, a mere figurehead at the time, and had an
assembly of magnates, who were notable landholders, and Catholic Bishops appoint him
king of the Franks under the auspices of Pope
Zacharias in 751, establishing the Carolingian
dynasty. Pope Stephen II would later declare
Pippin III “Patrician of the Romans.”
Like previous Frankish rulers, Pippin III would divide his territories among his
sons, Charles and Carloman. Tension between
the brothers invited civil strife in the Aquitaine; however, in 771 Carloman died, allowing
Charles to seize power by disinheriting Carloman’s sons from his territories and seizing
them for himself, establishing a united kingdom under his rule.
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
in 987 after a period of domestic strife. While
Capet’s power originally was highly centralized around Paris, his descendants would soon
exert control over lands control by local lords
which they had claim to as the kings of France.
Despite this, the Capetian dynasty in its early days was mired by decentralization. In fact,
many local vassals of the French kings were
in fact more powerful than he, most notably
the duke of Normandy, who would seize the
throne of England in 1066.
However, what the dynasty lacked in
power it made up for in legitimacy. The Capetians were able to establish a long lasting dynasty based upon male succession. This was
with the aid of the Church, who in return for
protection fostered the idea of the divine right
of kings and the Capetian’s possession of such
a trait among the French, with the Church
assuming the right to crown future kings of
France.
The Capetians would assume true power over their domain with the ascension of
Louis VI to the throne in 1108 and his campaign to subdue the rebellious nobles of his
territory, and, with the aid of the Church,
would prove successful. He would also grant
his daughter Eleanor’s hand in marriage to
the duke of Aquitaine, although this territory
would eventually pass into the hands of Henry
II of England, her second husband.
Phillip II Augustus would continue this
trend of strengthening the Capetian control
by setting his sights upon English holding on
the European continent. While he largely eschewed direct military combat with English
forces, he manipulated Henry II’s sons Richard
the Lion-Heart and John to rebel against their
father, tripling French territory in the process
by capturing Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and
Touraine from the English.
After Louis I the Pious’ death in 840,
the Carolingian holdings would be divided
amongst his three sons: Louis II The German,
Charles II the Bald, and Lothar I. Charles II
the Bald’s territories, Francia Occidentalis,
would become the nucleus of the kingdom of
France.
The Capetians
The Carolingian line would be replaced
by the Capetian line when Hugh Capet was
elected king by a collective of French nobles
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
The final Capetian king, Philip IV the
Fair, would assume power in 1285. Phillip
IV the Fair would notably state and exercise
his right to tax the holdings of French clergy
despite the declaration of Pope Boniface VIII
which stated the Church’s authority to be
above that of secular rulers such as France’s
king. He also incorporated the Third Estate, or
the peasants, into his feudal court. He would
later prove to be one of the precipitous forces
leading to the inception of the Hundred Years’
War.
Phillip II Augustus revolutionized
French government during his reign. He staffed
his royal court with paid officials drawn from
the bourgeoise known as bailiffs, established a
royal high court in the form of the Parlement,
and a royal treasury, and a privy council. He
would also continue the Capetian’s close alliance with the Church with frequent skirmishes against the neighboring Germans.
French government would continue to
change under Louis IX, who had taken power
in 1226. Louis IX, who would receive the moniker “the Saint” later in history, would make
several reforms in regards to the relations between the king, his vassals, and Parlement.
Louis IX ended many feudal traditions such as
trial by combat and personal warfare and eschewed the tradition of asking his vassals for
approval before issuing royal edicts; however,
he did give vassals extra protection among the
courts established through the Parlement system. He also established offices for the monitoring of corruption among court officials.
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
Current Situation
Dynastic Turmoil and the Question of French
Succession
Philip IV had three sons and one
daughter: Louis X, Philip V, Charles IV, and
Isabella. When he passed away in 1314, Louis was crowned. He ruled until 1316 and was
survived only by a daughter so the crown went
to Philip V instead. He ruled until 1322, and
upon his death, the throne went to his brother,
Charles IV. Charles died in 1328 after a disastrous reign with no heirs.
The closest male relative eligible for
succession to the French throne was King Edward III of England. His mother was Isabella, sister of Louis, Philip, and Charles, making
him a direct descent in the royal family. French
rules of succession, however, are determined
by Salic Law, which states that the throne cannot be inherited through maternal blood. English laws say otherwise, giving Edward III a
claim to the throne of France. Obviously, the
French refused to recognize his legitimacy, instead crowning a distant cousin, Philip, king
of France.
Edward III, who wished to restore his
ancestral British empire in France, waged war
on the nation in 1337. Now, not only was he
armed with the land of Gascony, he also had a
legal argument to claim to be its ruler.
Seeds of Conflict
Clearly, by the dawn of the 13th century,
cross channel hostilities were high. For many
generations to follow, the tension between the
two nations would remain a constant undercurrent, often prompting short wars or battles. No topic was more controversial than the
possession of Gascony, a portion of Aquitaine.
After John’s loss in the war with Philip II, Gascony came under French control.
In 1294, France and England went to
war over Aquitaine. France’s resources were
depleted and young King Philip IV made rash
and arrogant decisions. The war ended nine
years later when Edward I of England, grandson of John I, and Philip IV of France signed
the Treaty of Paris. In the treaty, the Kingdom
of England was granted Gascony, for which he
would have to pay fealty to the crown of France.
Additionally, Philip’s daughter was promised
to King Edward’s son, Edward II. While only
a shadow of the original empire Britain held
in France, the lucrative duchy of Gascony was
enough to inspire French resentment. Latent
tension between the two kingdoms over the
duchy provide the backdrop for the Hundred
Years’ War.
Militart Conflicts(1377-1340)
The Hundred Years’ War began in 1337
with Edward III on the defensive against the
French. On paper, this was certain to have
been expected-the French naturally had the
upper hand, being the most populous state in
Europe at the time, significantly larger than
Englandliii. England had no military forces
stationed in her claimed territories; following the English declaration of war, the French
made short work of Edward III’s claims in
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
Gascony and the surrounding townsliv. The
French also took control of the strategically
vital English Channel with their sizable navy
and began a pillaging campaign against the
English coast, an initiative that proved successful despite the strong entrenchments typical of English coastal towns at the time. The
war was put in England’s corner.
would establish the war as one fought primarily in the French territories upon the continent. The English fleet, far inferior to the
French counterpart, primarily consisted of
repurposed merchant ships, called cogs, while
the French had one of the preeminent navies
at the time. In spite of this, at Sluys, the English would destroy a large French fleet along
with an allied Spanish Navy, granting control
of the strategically vital English Channel that
lies between England and France, allowing the
English to land ships, and thus a large amount
of troops, on the Northern French coast for
assault. The English essentially forced hand
to hand combat to occur on the Channel, ramming their ships into those of the enemy and
proceeding to board them or fire upon them
with longbows, devastating the enemy crews.
A miniature depicting the Battle of
Sluys from Chronicles, by Jean Froissart. Notice the closeness of the ships and the soldiers
engaging in hand to hand combat onboard.
On top of starting on the back foot, Edward III had a significant hurdle to overcome
at the onset of the war in the domestic sphere:
funding. The English were in no financial situation to wage war, especially a water based
invasion launched against a larger force, following the aforementioned conflicts with the
Scottish. To resolve this, Edward III had to
take immediate measures to secure finances for the war coffers. In that effort, the king
gathered a group of loyal supporters to fund
the war outside of the monarchy and began
liquidating the royal wool stock, selling it to
any buyers.
The tide of war would change with the
war’s first, and so far only, major conflict, the
Battle of Sluys on June 24 in 1340. The Battle of Sluys was dynamic determining, which
The English had turned the war
around; however, the opposing armies have
yet to meet in open combat on the continent,
and both sides have prepared themselves for
the conflict to come. While the French now
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
have the advantage of home territory, English
morale has surged after recent victory and the
potential of more in the future.
Directives
Directives are the most common pieces of legislation, sponsored by one or more
delegates in response to crisis updates. They
are voted on by the entire committee with a
majority vote being necessary to pass them.
The dais will decide on the number of signatories and sponsors necessary to introduce a
directive at the beginning of each session. Delegates must propose a motion to introduce
directives which will be voted on in the same
manner as all motions. If the motion passes,
directives will be read out loud by the dais.
Following their introduction, it will be up to
the committee to decide whether move into
voting procedure on the directive or to continue debate through moderated or unmoderated
caucuses. Directives should be specific and the
chair will look favorably upon those written in
clause format.
Positions
David II of Scotland
Joan the Lame, Queen of France
Joan of Valois, Countess Hainuit
Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine
Louis II, Count of Blois
Antonio Doria, Admiral of France
John of Bohemia
John I, Count of Armagnac
Communiques
Communiques address a person, entity,
or organization not represented on committee.
They can either simply convey the sentiments
of the committee, or request the presence a
person to address the committee. In a JCC,
communiques are often used to communicate
with the other side of the conflict. Communiques are introduced and voted on in the same
way as directives. Please keep in mind while
drafting them that if you are requesting that a
person come speak to the committee, you will
need to specify how you will safely transport
them. Skype has yet to be invented.
Gaston II, Count of Foix
Raoul I of Brienne, Count of Eu
Charles De La Cerda
Charles, Duke of Brittany
Joan II of Navarre
Jean Froissart
Louis I, Count of Flanders
Committee Structure
This committee will follow standard rules and
procedure of Model UN. Delegates should be
prepared to write three types of committee
legislation, as well as crisis notes:
Press Releases
Press releases communicate the sentiments of the committee on any given topic to
the public. They are introduced and voted on
in the same way as directives. Note that they
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The Hundred Years’ War: Philip VI’s War Cabinet
have very little power to change the direction
of committee and thus should be used sparingly.
Position papers are optional. If you
choose to write one please submit it to us at
least 48 hours before committee.
Good Luck Delegates!
Crisis Notes
Delegates should utilize their portfolio
powers -- resources given to delegates based
on their character -- to influence the direction
of committee covertly. Notes are unilateral actions that must be feasible given a delegate’s
position. They are not voted on by the committee, just passed up to the dais. If you choose
to do so, you may team up with one or more
delegates to write joint crisis notes where you
pool your collective resources to carry out an
action. The more specific your note, the more
likely crisis is to successfully execute your
plan.
The chair will have the power to decide whether or not he agrees with any directive, communique, or press release passed. If he does not,
it will be vetoed. Keep this in mind while you
are drafting legislation in committee.
Research and Final Words
This background guide should give you
a general sense of the history of France and her
conflicts with England. In order to succeed in
this committee, however, you must complete
your own research, in addition to reading
this guide. Delegates should come prepared
with unique and thorough solutions to the
problems laid out in the “Current Situation”
portion of the background guide. In order to
participate in the crisis aspects of this committee, you should also have a good sense of your
character’s policy and portfolio powers. If you
have any questions, do not hesitate to contact
the dais! My emails is [email protected].
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Endnotes
1. Ian C. Mills, C/o The Wharton Group, P.O. Box 310185, Newington, CT 06131-0185 -- Grafixxpro@
aol.com. “The Frankish Empire.” The Frankish Empire. The Wharton Group, 1993. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
2. Mitchell, Kathleen. “Clovis I.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Feb. 2001.
Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
3. Drinkwater, John Frederick, and Eugen Weber. “France.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 05 Jan. 2017. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
4. Blondel, Jean F.P., and Patrice Louis-René Higonnet. “France.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 05 Jan. 2017. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
5. “Middle Ages, Beginning of the French Nation.” Middle Ages, Beginnings Of The French Nation. International World History Project, 1992. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
6. Acevedo, Danielle Walton. “The First Phase: The Edwardian War - BYU History 201: Group 6.” Google
Sites. Brigham Young University, 2 Dec. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
7. Wheeler, L. Kip. “The Hundred Years’ War.” The Hundred Years’ War. L. Kip Wheeler, 1998. Web. 15
Apr. 2017.
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