Of Valois, king of France, succeeded Charles IV. in 1328; Edward III. of England contested his claim, contending that the Salic law, though it excluded females, did not exclude their male heirs; Edward was son of a daughter, Philip son of a brother, of Philip IV.; thus began the Hundred Years' War between France and England, 1337; the French fleet was defeated off Sluys in 1340, and the army at Crécy in 1346; a truce was made, when the war was followed by the Black Death; the worthless king afterwards purchased Majorca (1293-1350).