On 12 July 1346, nine years after the start of the Hundred Years' War, an English army landed in Normandy, taking the French by surprise. The English marched south and then east, devastating the countryside until the French attempted to halt them at Caen. The town was stormed in a morning and the English continued towards Paris, burning villages within 2 miles of the city walls. Confronted by a French army they headed north, fought their way across the River Somme at Blanchetaque, and turned to face the French in a prepared position at Crécy, where the French suffered a major defeat. The English then besieged the strongly fortified port of Calais; the French were unable to either relieve or supply it, and it fell after 11 months.
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