Ever wondered why a 116-year old war was called the hundred years war?
Prior to the 15th century, in English and other Germanic languages, the value of ‘one hundred’ tended towards six score of hundred which is 120. With the influence of Hindu-Arabic numerals, this practice became obsolete and ‘one hundred’ became the number of five score (100) instead. In historical context, 120 years is referred to as ‘long hundred’ because a hundred in modern times exclusively refers to ‘100’ and not ‘120’. Within the original Latin text, the roman number ‘C’ was used for a value of 120.
The term ‘hundred years war’ remained as it is though the meaning of ‘hundred’ has changed.
