When King Edward III of England claimed the crown of France, he wasn't expecting to start the Hundred Years War. It might have ended sooner, and differently, if not for a hailstorm. When the French ruler, Charles IV, died without a male heir , a cousin, Philip de Valois, succeeded him. Edward -- whose mother was sister to three French kings -- asserted a competing claim and sailed with his army to France. The English repeatedly outmatched the French forces sent against them. By 1359, the English army was marching towards Reims, traditional coronation city of French monarchs. At last, Edward III, Europe's most successful warrior, seemed poised to be crowned King of France. Then came the Black Monday hailstorm of April 13,1360.
