 French monarchs systematically sought to check the growth of English power, stripping away lands as the opportunity arose.Over the centuries, English holdings in France had varied in size, but by 1337 only Gascony in south-western France and Ponthieu in northern France were left.The independent-minded Gascons had their own customs and claimed to have a separate language; they preferred their relationship with a distant English king who left them alone, to one with a French king who would interfere in their affairs.