The independence of Béarn from France came about as a result of the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) between France and England. In 1347, on the heels of English victory at the battle of Crécy (1346), the Viscount Gaston III Fébus paid homage to the king of France for his county of Foix, but refused to give homage for Béarn, which he claimed to hold from no one but God. After the English victory at Poitiers in 1356, Gaston refused to attend the Estates General of France.