Divided Houses is a tale of contrasting fortunes. In the last decade of his reign Edward III, a senile, pathetic symbol of England's past conquests, was condemned to see them overrun by the armies of his enemies. When he died, in 1377, he was succeeded by a vulnerable child, who was destined to grow into a neurotic and unstable adult presiding over a divided nation. Meanwhile France entered upon one of the most glittering periods of her medieval history, years of power and ceremony, astonishing artistic creativity and famous warriors making their reputations as far afield as Naples, Hungary and North Africa. Contemporaries in both countries believed that they were living through memorable times: times of great wickedness and great achievement, of collective mediocrity but intense personal heroism, of extremes of wealth and poverty, fortune and failure. At a distance of six centuries, as Jonathan Sumption skilfully and meticulously shows, it is possible to agree with all of these judgments.
Chapter 1. Neighbours and Enemies
Chapter 2. Return to Arms 1369
Chapter 3. Pontvallain and Limoges 1370—1371
Chapter 5. John of Gaunt in France 1373—1374
Chapter 6. The Congress of Bruges 1374—1377
Chapter 7. England’s Barbicans 1377—1378
Chapter 9. The Revolt of the Towns 1380—1382
Chapter 10. The Path of Flanders 1382—1383
Chapter 11. The Shadow of Invasion 1383—1385
Chapter 12. The Path of Portugal 1385—1388
Chapter 13. War and Peace 1387—1389
Chapter 14. The Gascon March 1381—1393
Chapter 16. The Truce of Leulinghem 1389—1396
Chapter 17. Epilogue 1396—1399