Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/580

 530 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE Paris. There was a truce from 1444 to 1449, but in 1450 the English lost Normandy and in 1453 their possessions in southern France. Calais alone was left to them. No definite treaty was signed relinquishing their claims, but none was needed ; they were not to recover the lost ground. However, it was some time before English monarchs wholly gave up the idea of invading France. Edward IV came in 1475 with the largest army that England had yet sent across the Channel, but he went home without having fought an en- gagement. Henry VII came again, but also allowed himself to be bought off with money. Henry VIII was possessed in his youth with the notion of winning glory in French cam- paigns, but was soon turned from this policy by the wiser head of his minister, Wolsey. The war left France in a sad state of desolation, depopula- tion, and apparent ruin, with large areas thrown out of cul- Effect of tivation, with homes and fields replaced by for- the war on ests and wild beasts, with large beggar and criminal classes recruited from the impoverished peasants and disbanded soldiers. Crime had increased and religion had declined. It is true that the recovery from all this was surprisingly rapid. But an irreparable hurt was that for over a century France, hitherto the leader in medi- eval culture, had been held back from further accomplish- ment and development. Nationality had been attained, but at a great cost.