Control of the Channel was important from the outset. Portsmouth and Southampton were raided by the French in 1338, followed by Dover and Folkstone in 1339. According to the contemporary Chronicles of Frossart, when King Edward heard that his flagship, the Christopher, had been captured by the French, he retorted, "I have long wanted to fight them. We will do so, if it pleases God and St. George. They have inflicted so much damage on me that I mean to settle accounts with them if I can". In 1340, at the head of his fleet, Edward sailed into Sluys harbour and destroyed the French fleet while it lay at anchor, giving the English command of the Channel for the next few years.

In 1346, Edward invaded Normandy and marched on Paris, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. At the battle of Crecy, Edward's longbowmen defeated a much larger French cavalry under Philip VI. Edward then moved on to blockade Calais, which was captured in 1347 after almost a year"s siege.

The following decade was one of intermittent warfare, for both countries had been weakened by the war and the Black Death of 1348-49. Edward, despite notable victories, had lost support in some areas and had still not won the Crown of France.

In 1356, France's King John, successor to Philip VI, was captured by the English. Edward made a great effort to try to finish the war in a winter campaign of 1359-60, but events went against him. He lost support in both the provinces of Navarre and Burgundy. There was again further French privateering in the Channel and the town of Rye on the Sussex coast was raided.

Still holding King John in captivity, Edward was able to negotiate a truce at Bretigney in 1360. In the treaty, Edward renounced his claim to the Crown of France while retaining Aquitaine, Calais and other important provinces. The treaty called for an English withdrawl from the remainder of France and the release of King John for a substantial ransom; terms that were never wholly fulfilled. Edward was unable, in particular, to evacuate English forces from the remainder of France and to prevent them from continuing to prey on the French.

This is especially important in the story of Bodiam Castle as this was the era of the "Free Companies", private mercenary armies, nominally under control or their King, but in reality selling their services to the highest bidder. Led by men such as Sir Robert Knollys, whose shield or arms is carved on the Postern Gate at Bodiam, these mercenaries indulged in looting and destruction on an appalling scale. The rewards of such plundering could be vast.