Question 1

True or false: Joan of Arc was a French peasant girl who led armies before being captured and burned.

Accepted Answer

True. Joan of Arc, a teenage visionary, rallied French forces at Orléans but was later executed by the English in 1431.

Question 2

True or false: France won the war largely because of its superior cavalry charges against English archers.

Accepted Answer

False. French cavalry repeatedly failed against English longbows; France won through attrition, gunpowder artillery, and internal English strife.

Question 3

True or false: The war ended with a formal peace treaty signed in 1453.

Accepted Answer

False. No treaty ended the war; it fizzled out as both sides exhausted their resources, with Calais remaining English until 1558.

Question 4

True or false: The Hundred Years' War actually lasted 116 years, not exactly 100.

Accepted Answer

True. The conflict ran from 1337 to 1453, totaling 116 years, though historians round it for simplicity.

Question 5

True or false: The war began over a dispute about the French throne, but England also claimed Aquitaine.

Accepted Answer

True. Edward III of England claimed the French crown via his mother, and tensions over English-held Aquitaine fueled the conflict.

Question 6

True or false: A major battle of the war was fought entirely at sea, with no land combat involved.

Accepted Answer

False. While naval skirmishes occurred, the Battle of Sluys (1340) was a sea battle but involved boarding and hand-to-hand combat on ships.

Question 7

True or false: The longbow was a key English weapon, but it could only fire about three arrows per minute.

Accepted Answer

False. Skilled archers could loose 10-12 arrows per minute; the longbow’s rapid fire was a devastating advantage at Crécy and Agincourt.

Question 8

True or false: The Battle of Agincourt was fought entirely on foot, with knights dismounting to fight.

Accepted Answer

True. English knights fought on foot alongside archers, a tactical choice that helped defeat a larger French cavalry force in 1415.

Hundred Years War Trivia Questions