The Battle of Sluys (a Flemish word pronounced ‘Slois’) is not as well known as other English victories in the Hundred Years War like Crécy, Poitiers, or Agincourt. This is odd, as it was England’s first great naval victory, and the bloodiest medieval naval battle.
The French fleet was routed, just three years into a war that would henceforward be fought on French, rather than English soil. And, like most English victories at this time, the longbow was crucial.
The French offensive
King Edward III of England claimed the French crown through his mother Isabella, despite French law forbidding inheritance through the female line.
![LEFT The Charge of the Light Brigade and [inset] one of the men who charged: Cornet John Wilkin of the 11th Hussars, photographed by Roger Fenton.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/post-1_image6-15.jpg?fit=768%2C429&ssl=1)
