The Treaty of Guînes was a draft agreement to end the Hundred Years' War, negotiated between England and France from 1353 to 1354. War had broken out in 1337 and was aggravated when the English king claimed the French throne. After a French defeat at the Battle of Crécy a truce was agreed in 1347, although it was not fully observed. In 1352 full-scale fighting broke out again, which went badly for the French. A faction in favour of peace gained influence in the French king's council, negotiations were reopened and a peace agreement that exchanged French land for the English claim to the French throne was agreed. A draft treaty was formally signed at Guînes on 6 April 1354. The detailed treaty was supposed to be publicly announced in October, but a new French council turned against it and the draft was repudiated. In 1360 the Treaty of Brétigny, which largely replicated the Treaty of Guînes, was agreed. War flared up again in 1369 and the Hundred Years' War finally ended in 1453, 99 years after the Treaty of Guînes was signed. (Full article...)