Dual monarchy of England and France
Encyclopedia
The dual monarchy of England and France existed during the latter phase of the Hundred Years' War
when Charles VII of France
and Henry VI of England
disputed the succession to the throne of France. It commenced on 21 October 1422 upon the death of King Charles VI of France
, who had signed the Treaty of Troyes
which gave the French crown to his son-in-law Henry V of England
and Henry's heirs. It excluded King Charles's son, the Dauphin Charles, who by right of primogeniture
was the heir to the Kingdom of France
. Although the Treaty was ratified by the Estates-General
of France, the act was a contravention of the French law of succession which decreed that the French crown could not be alienated. Henry VI, son of Henry V, became king of both England and France and was recognized only by the English and Burgundians until 1435 as King Henry II of France. Henry was crowned King of France on 16 December 1431.
In practical terms, King Henry's de jure
sovereignty and legitimacy as king of France was only recognised in the English and allied-controlled territories of France which were under the domination of his French regency council, while the Dauphin ruled as King of France in part of the realm south of the Loire
.
Charles VII was crowned King of France at Reims
on 17 July 1429, largely through the martial efforts of Joan of Arc
, who believed it was her mission to free France from the English and to have the Dauphin Charles crowned at Reims. In 1435, the Duke of Burgundy, released from his obligations to Henry VI by a papal legate, recognised Charles VII as the rightful king of France. The defection of this powerful French noble marked the end of Henry's de facto reign over France. The Dual monarchy came to an end with the final victory of the French at the Battle of Castillon
on 17 July 1453, thus bringing the Hundred Years War to a conclusion. The English were expelled from all of the territories which they had controlled in France, with the sole exception of Calais
. Charles VII had thus established himself as the undisputed king of almost all of France.
won some extraordinary victories against the French, most notably at Crécy and Sluys. His son Edward, the Black Prince
also captured the French king John II
at the battle of Poitiers
in 1356, and routed the French army. The year 1360 marked the end of the first phase and an opportunity for peace.
In the Treaty of Brétigny
the French king was ransomed for an amount equal to twice the French kingdom's Gross. In addition, the French granted Edward III an extended Aquitaine, thus restoring one of the main duchies of the previous Angevin Empire
. Edward III was, however, forced to give up his title as the rightful king to the throne of France, this claim being based on his mother, Isabella
. Charles V
ascended to the throne, and in 1369 hostilities were reopened by the French declaring war, thus breaking the treaty. This time they led to embarrassing strategic defeats for the English side. Charles' strategy was to attack the castles, where English victories were less certain, and to avoid pitched battles with the English; with this important strategic move, the extended English holdings in Aquitaine were quickly recaptured. The English, now on the defensive, lost more territory, but retained Gascony. By now, Edward was aging and no longer fit to lead in battle. His son, the Prince of Wales, predeceased him by a year, and so when Edward III died in 1377 it was his grandson Richard II
who became king.
There was another truce in 1396 when Richard II married Isabella of Valois, a daughter of King Charles VI of France, thus marking the end of the second phase. Peace did not last long however, as, in 1399, Henry IV
usurped Richard's throne while Richard was away in Ireland, thus provoking French hostility in 1403 which marked the beginning of the third phase of the war.
and the Burgundians. Charles VI's brother Louis, Duke of Orléans, was assassinated on the order of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless. This was largely due to a scandalous affair with the Duchess of Burgundy, which started as a rumor but would later involve Charles VII
. Henry IV was considered a key ally during the civil war. The Armagnacs even offered to give back the Duchy of Aquitaine in support of military services, although Aquitaine was forgotten when the Armagnacs won. Henry sent an expeditionary force in 1412 to aid them.
The civil war continued with persecution on both sides, the sack of Soissons by the Armagnacs and the control of Paris by the Burgundians. John the Fearless claimed to be the regent of the young dauphin Charles and the insane king Charles VI
. Henry IV, the usurper
, died in 1413. His son, Henry, was still in his mid twenties when he became king.
in 1403. He took a Welsh arrow in the lower part of his face; it passed through his jaw and out the other side. Henry's knights were charging the Welsh positions, so in spite of his wound, Henry refused to leave the field and the English won the day.
Henry would employ the English and Welsh archers on a massive scale in his campaign at Agincourt
. Upon the death of Henry IV, Thomas, Duke of Clarence (Henry V's younger brother) was supported as the heir rather than Henry. The dauphin was made Duke of Guyenne, which was English Gascony, as the Armagnacs wanted Gascony back under their own sovereignty. Clarence was to lead the English in Gascony, not Henry; this would give him a chance to take the throne of England. While Clarence was away in Gascony, Henry V
took the throne. Henry had also successfully fended off the dauphin's designs on the Guyenne region. As Henry started his reign in 1413, and the civil war in France was still on, Henry demanded that the King of France give him back an extended Aquitaine, Normandy, the ports of Provence
, the old county of Toulouse
, which was vassal to the Angevin empire, and the provinces of Maine and Anjou. The French refused to accept his demands, and they ignored his claims. In 1415, at the age of twenty-eight, Henry began his invasion of France which would culminate in the Battle of Agincourt
.
, capturing it on 22 September. Afterwards, Henry had to march with his army across the French countryside towards Calais
. On 25 October 1415, on the plains near the village of Agincourt
, he turned to engage a pursuing French army in battle. Despite his men-at-arms being exhausted and outnumbered, Henry led his men into battle, decisively defeating the French who died in the thousands. Most of those taken prisoners were slaughtered by order of Henry, who spared only the most illustrious. This victorious conclusion, from the English viewpoint, was only the first step in the campaign.
This Latin epigram was one of many produced after the battle and came from a long tradition of such work in Chronicles.
, Henry renewed the war on a larger scale in 1417. Lower Normandy
was quickly conquered, and Rouen
cut off from Paris
and besieged. The French were paralysed by the disputes between the Burgundians
and the Armagnacs
. Henry skilfully played them off one against the other, without relaxing his warlike approach. In January 1419, Rouen fell. The Norman French who had resisted were severely punished: Alain Blanchard, who had hung English prisoners from the walls, was summarily executed; Robert de Livet, Canon of Rouen, who had excommunicated the English king, was sent to England and imprisoned for five years.
By August, the English were outside the walls of Paris
. The intrigues of the French parties culminated in the assassination of John the Fearless by the Dauphin's partisans at Montereau
(10 September 1419). Philip the Good, the new duke, and the French court threw themselves into Henry's arms. After six months of negotiation, the Treaty of Troyes
recognised Henry as the heir and regent of France (see English Kings of France), and, on 2 June 1420, Henry married Catherine of Valois
, the daughter of Charles VI of France. From June to July, Henry's army besieged and took the castle at Montereau, then Melun
in November, returning to England shortly thereafter. Henry VI was born the following year.
, thus relieving allied forces at Chartres
. That October, his forces lay siege to Meaux
, capturing it on 2 May 1422. Henry V died suddenly on 31 August 1422 at the Château de Vincennes
near Paris
, apparently from dysentery
, which he had contracted during the siege of Meaux. He was thirty-five years old. Before his death, Henry V had named his brother John, Duke of Bedford
regent of France in the name of his son Henry VI, then only a few months old. Henry V did not live to be crowned King of France himself, as he might confidently have expected after the Treaty of Troyes
, as the sickly Charles VI, whose heir he had been named, survived him by two months. His son Henry, who was born the year before, succeeded his father as king Henry VI of England and, six months later, his maternal grandfather as king of France.
was reaffirmed, and on 19 November Bedford presided as French regent in the Parlement de Paris and dedicated himself to be working for the good of France.
Henry VI was also now King of France united with Normandy, and Gascony, by the Treaty of Troyes
, passed directly to the French king Charles VI; when Henry VI of England succeeded to the French crown in 1422 it was included as part of the jurisdiction. The Duke of Bedford was content and he made no appeal to return to England, returning only in 1425 to England in an urgent meeting with Bishop Henry Beaufort. Philip of Burgundy could hardly resist English wishes, for he needed their support after the murder of his father, John the Fearless by the henchmen of the dauphin (now de facto Charles VII of France). Henry V's arrangements had one fatal flaw: not until the last few days of his life had he thought he would predecease Charles VI. Moreover, the treaty had restricted Henry's freedom on his deathbed. The arrangements he had made were to cover the short term (up to Charles VI's death) and the long term (when Henry VI would become king of both France and England). This is a major reason for Burgundy's alliance with England and the steadfastness of English commanders to the battlefield.
Charles VI's death had in no way affected the Anglo-Burgundian alliance or the legal dual monarchy of England and France. Monstrelet the Burgundian is the only contemporary to record that Burgundy backed down to the regency to the French king in order to have Bedford as Regent. He claimed to record Henry V's last words on his deathbed, and also the content of the recorded speech. It made an insult to Gloucester
by further saying Henry had maintained the regency of England to Exeter. The chronicle, however, was written after Gloucester's invasion of the Low Countries in 1425 which provoked Burgundy's hostility and after Gloucester repelled Duke Philip's attack on Calais in 1436. This was a distortion of fact. Monstrelet was trying to heighten Burgundian self-esteem and to explain why Burgundy dropped the regency in 1422. The St. Albans' chronicler recorded that Burgundy was never entrusted with the regency of France. However, his work ends six weeks before Charles VI's death and mentions nothing beyond that. Henry V may have not inquired about any specific regent for France, but Bedford was unopposed.
Gloucester realised the idea of using history or precedent; in 1216, the first English minority since the Norman conquest was upheld and later, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
who was rector to king Henry III while the latter was in his minority. He wanted to have the same authority but as wardship to the young king. The lords countered that this precedent was too far back in time, and furthermore Richard II was in his minority as King but John of Gaunt (Humphrey's grandfather) was given no specific position in the council. They ruled with general consensus between the gentry
rather than a single rector to the king. Bedford was rector of France because a single regent was favoured in France rather than a ruling council and the dual monarchy existed through a personal union and each kingdom is allowed with their own traditions and customs. The lords did not want to attack Humphrey personally in his pretensions to regent but rather the will itself. They denied that Henry V had any right to determine the governance of England or of disposing of any royal land. The will itself was too inclined to Roman law and rather heavily foreign to the English. It was said Gloucester's keepership was made forfeit by Henry's death.
Gloucester was given a blow and was only to act in affairs by council permission as well as by opening and closing parliament. However, it was not the only drawback and since Bedford was heir to the throne of France as well as to that of England, if he returned from France he would take Gloucester's position as head regent with the permission of council temporarily until he withdrew back to his regency in France. Gloucester's position was severely limited in England but both realms were to benefit for the time being.
achieved political stability as did the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. In 1423, the alliance further included John VI, Duke of Brittany
. The English, under Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury
, were moving towards the Loire by 1428.
In the 1420s, Gascony had received no harm from any of the Valois attempts to capture the area, as it was isolated by both sea and land from the northern French territories. Gascony was largely protected by French nobles sympathetic to the English cause and there were negotiations with the Languedoc
gentry
, such as the Count of Foix. Calais was protected by its garrison and local merchant community which exported wool to Northern Europe and England and making good commercial relations with the Low Countries
. Normandy and the Île-de-France region was protected by the French Regent and Rheims by the Duke of Burgundy. The only sensitive part was in the Channel where Anglo-Breton relations and attitudes affected the safekeeping of south-western English waters and the passing of ships to Gascony.
The Duke of Brittany's allegiance to the dual monarchy under the protectorate of Bedford was preserved through his abiding aim to preserve the independence of his duchy. Arthur de Richemont, a Breton nobleman, at first supported Henry V in the signing of the Treaty of Troyes
, and he was created Count of Touraine by the English, but soon gave allegiance to Charles VII when Yolande of Aragon
made him Constable of France. As the English were moving into Valois territory , relations with Brittany started to deteriorate in 1424 and when "open war" was declared the Estates-General
took precautions against Breton raiders on the coast. Relations with Burgundy were much more important for English commerce.
Like Jean V, Philip also had other political wishes. One of his greatest concerns was Burgundian influence in the Low Countries. After Jacqueline of Hainault's flight to England in 1421 from her husband John of Brabant, she married Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1423. This quickly caused English intervention in 1424 when Jacqueline's uncle and enemy made the Duke of Burgundy his heir. The outcome was Gloucester's disastrous campaign to Hainault. Bedford came to shore up the alliance on which his power depended.
Channel naval protection was not a concern, even after Burgundy switched its support at Arras. In the late 1420s, coastal areas like Devon
and the Isle of Wight
suffered some military engagements against Breton raiders. Bedford himself relied heavily on English financial aid to support his armies on the Norman frontiers. Local revenue from Normandy, Gascony and Calais was used for expected naval defence fortifications and garrisons in France.
.
The English strategy became more widespread while they swept across the Seine valley and Paris. The western border on Brittany was also strengthened. In 1424, Bedford made a bid in Paris at the Estates-General for an expeditionary force aimed to conquer Maine-Anjou and the Picardy region. It led to the Battle of Verneuil
on the Maine–Normandy border. Bedford began to emerge as an English conqueror with a better reputation after his victory. It dealt also a stinging defeat against the Scots since they supported Charles VII and fought many causes in his name. Bedford's extensive conquests in Maine and towards the Loire meant that King Henry's French realm's capital was no longer in the front lines as long as the English remained in the offensive. Bedford assured the Norman population and made proclamations that the Normans would not suffer any colonial regime or financial hardship by taxation.
After Henry V's death in 1422, the duke of Bedford had intended on bringing the powerful duke of Brittany and Burgundy closer to the Lancastrian cause and confirm it in a treaty. In 1423, at the Treaty of Amiens, the three dukes, John VI of Brittany, John of Bedford and Philip the Good agreed on a triple alliance, lapsing on any of their deaths, which also recognized Henry VI as King of France and that they would work together to subjugate Charles the dauphin in the South. Overshadowing the Treaty of Troyes
further, it arranged the marriage of Anna of Burgundy (Philip's sister) to John Duke of Bedford Regent of France. The two were married at Troyes cathedral, where Henry V was married to Catherine of Valois
. The marriage, although primarily a political movement, evolved into a love match despite Anna being 15 years Bedford's senior.
The alliance of Amiens was almost completely undermined when Brittany and Burgundy held a conference the same year in which both parties agreed to be friends if either side ever reconciled with the dauphin. Although both Brittany and Burgundy acknowledged Henry VI of England as their sovereign, the friendly relations still remained between Brittany and Burgundy despite Burgundy breaking their agreements with the English at the Treaty of Arras.
By 1424, French estates were sold widely from noble to commoner, and by both English and French. In 1417, English settlers had arrived to purchase estates in coastal cities like Cherbourg, Caen
and Harfleur
. However, for matters of security of English-controlled France, the English soldiers were valued highest for the disposal of French estates. As much as the conquests seemed realistic in a complete France, enthusiasm started to wane. After Gloucester's invasion of Holland in 1424 to enforce the rights of his wife, Jacqueline of Hainault, Anglo-Burgundian relations began to become strained. In addition, Brittany under Duke Jean V lost interest, and his negotiations with Charles VII were used to weaken the western military frontier on Brittany. In 1428, the Scots continued to support Charles, and when Anglo-Scottish relations deteriorated completely, French envoys were sent to Scotland for an alliance and a proposal that King James I of Scotland
's daughter would marry Charles' son Louis
.
The military of Normandy now depended on three men, Bedford, Warwick and Suffolk. Warwick landed in France in 1426 to protect Cherbourg, threatened by Breton raids. In 1427, Brittany was forced again to be a Vassal
after 1 year of fighting against the English. After Verneuil, there was less need for a civil administration. The defence and garrisons slowly passed to the keeping of the civilians after Bedford and his host left for England in 1427 left. The same year, there was another draw for an invasion further in towards the Anjou region. Local French forces subject to their King Henri II of France however were neglected of military duty and the English soldier again was favoured by the Estates-General to carry out the offensive. This decision was made during the absence of Bedford, who had already left for England.
Orléans was the last jewel for the Armagnacs. The Earl of Salisbury began the siege in 1428 with 2400 men in addition to Burgundian allies who joined the siege. Salisbury's death at the start of the siege destroyed the Anglo-Burgundian morale. The French revived with Jeanne d'Arc's arrival, and it was the turning point of the war. She lifted the siege and Charles VII was consecrated in Rheims, the traditional crowning place for French kings. It was reported with great gravity in Westminster and the coronation of Henry VI as king of France in Paris could be the sole propaganda weapon against Charles. The crusade assembled by Beaufort against the Bohemians was quickly diverted to France. Beaufort could not afford to anger Pope Martin V
by denying the crusade, however the defeat at Patay could not have been ignored. The events at the Loire brought the English-French military scheme to its test.
s, the first at Westminster Abbey
in England, on 6 November 1429, and the second at Notre-Dame
in Paris
, on 16 December 1431. The coronation in England was in response to the collapse of the Siege of Orléans
and was a move recommended by Henry's English and French advisers. His English coronation had already been postponed for seven years, and John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
, was the one to suggest the idea of his French coronation in Paris, as there was no reason to further postpone his coronation until he came of age. Deeply shocked by the Valois success in having Charles VII
crowned King of France in Reims
, the traditional altar for the consecration of French kings, Bedford believed that Henry VI's coronation in Paris would cancel the victory of Joan of Arc
, and he quickly arranged it. Charles' coronation in Reims, on 16 July 1429, was an act of symbolic significance compared to the English position in the 1420s. However, by the end of 1427, the French and the English were quarrelling over strategic military plans to gain the upper hand in conquering France. The States-General
in Paris announced that the provinces adjacent to the east and south of Normandy
were assigned to Philip of Burgundy and so allowed Bedford to concentrate in Normandy. Some Englishmen who feared an English government in France were opposed to the idea of Henry's being crowned in France before his coronation in England.
During Henry's coronation as king of England in 1429, poems by John Lydgate
were read to stress further Henry's dual-inheritance of England and France. A direct link was made between Charles VI
and his grandson Henry VI of England
, king of France. The painted pedigree paralleled Henry's descent through his mother, Catherine of Valois
, from Saint Louis
, and his descent on his father's side from another saint, Edward the Confessor
. This was not mentioned in John Lydgate's poem, no doubt because it was largely a translation from a French work. But in another poem written for the king's coronation on the 6th of November 1429 Henry's descent from both these saints was mentioned.
Your Father which did all shine in all virtue... with the good life of Queen Catherine, your blessed Mother...of Good roots, springing from virtue must grow good fruit by necessity.
There was also a mention of the king's descent from Clovis
, to whom God had sent an angel, to secure for Henry of France and England the fleur-de-lys and to signify perfect religious belief and the steadfast unity of the three persons of the Trinity. The actual anointing and coronation were performed by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
, a natural son of John of Gaunt
.
On 23 April 1430, Henry embarked from Dover
for France in company with Cardinal Beaufort, the Duke of Bedford and the bishops of Thérouanne, Norwich, Beauvais and Évreux. On 16 December 1431, on the way to his French coronation in Paris, Henry travelled to the Basilica of St Denis, a hallowed burial place for French Kings on the outskirts of Paris. Two days earlier, the coronation was carefully set to be held at the cathedral of Notre-Dame
, on the first Sunday in Advent
, which was the traditional day for a King of France to proceed to the cathedral, this being a symbolic parallel with the progress of the King of Heaven. Henry was preceded by twenty-five trumpeters and a guard of between two and three thousand men. The royal party's route took the usual ceremonial entry into Paris from the north.
With trumpets sounding and fleurs-de-lys flying, the procession proceeded over the Seine bridge to the Île de la Cité
, where the young French King kissed the Holy Relics at the Sainte Chapelle. The route traversed to the western part of Île de la Cité carefully missing the Cathedral
and then moved east to the Hôtel des Tournelles
where Anne of Burgundy
and the Duke of Bedford awaited their royal nephew. The following day, the King waited to the east of the city for his coronation. Preparation was done for the hallowing at Notre-Dame, and the gold draperies were taken down until the coronation day. The newly anointed and crowned sovereign would be seated on a great raised dais. Stairs were covered by azure
cloth sewn with fleurs-de-lys from the top of the structure down. The English Chapel Royal
choir joined the choir of the cathedral of Paris, who sang their traditional polyphonic music
during the coronation. Cardinal Beaufort did the actual crowning, which was traditionally an office to be performed by the bishop of Paris, who was further shocked that Beaufort also celebrated part of the Holy Mass service at the chapel, another office which properly belonged to him. The coronation had very important orchestration, seeking to present again the dual-lineage of Henry, and a French play called tableau of Châtelet: a boy clothed in gold fleurs-de-lys, representing the king of England and France, was balancing the two crowns on his head with actors representing the duke of Burgundy and his son, the count of Nevers, offering him the shields of France, and other actors playing Anne of Burgundy and the Duke of Bedford as offering him the Lion Rampant
of England. As a blight on the occasion, Philip, Duke of Burgundy, never in fact met his acknowledged sovereign at any time during his expedition to France from 1430 to 1432, since Philip was in Lille
in connection with his newly established Order of the Golden Fleece
.
Apart from its splendour and glory, the coronation ultimately achieved little. England's suspicions of Burgundy had become marked concerning the actual military position, as it was discovered three days before the coronation that Philip had made a six-day general truce with Charles VII. The coronation was principally an English affair, dominated by Beaufort, some English bishops, and some Anglophile French bishops. The coronation had not offered resistance to the Valois-French pressing at the borders, with the English losing mile after mile of territory. Henry, with little to show for his two-year stay in his French kingdom, returned to England by way of Calais and never stepped on his French kingdom again. In 1432, Henry Chichele
, Archbishop of Canterbury
, stated that Henry's stay had not achieved its desired effect but had instead shown that English power in Normandy was weakening. Bedford himself was then mourning the death of his wife, Anne of Burgundy, and collapsed from exhaustion after news of more territory being lost to Charles VII. Five months later, Bedford married Jacquetta of Luxembourg, who came from a family distrusted by Philip the Good's Anglo-Burgundian forces, and thus Bedford and Philip lost the link they had with each other through Anne of Burgundy, who had been the primary mediator between the two. The last three years saw England struggle to maintain its military commitment to the war, and Philip was finding the war too costly on his part.
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
when Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
and Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
disputed the succession to the throne of France. It commenced on 21 October 1422 upon the death of King Charles VI of France
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
, who had signed the Treaty of Troyes
Treaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
which gave the French crown to his son-in-law Henry V of England
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
and Henry's heirs. It excluded King Charles's son, the Dauphin Charles, who by right of primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
was the heir to the Kingdom of France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
. Although the Treaty was ratified by the Estates-General
French States-General
In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
of France, the act was a contravention of the French law of succession which decreed that the French crown could not be alienated. Henry VI, son of Henry V, became king of both England and France and was recognized only by the English and Burgundians until 1435 as King Henry II of France. Henry was crowned King of France on 16 December 1431.
In practical terms, King Henry's de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
sovereignty and legitimacy as king of France was only recognised in the English and allied-controlled territories of France which were under the domination of his French regency council, while the Dauphin ruled as King of France in part of the realm south of the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
.
Charles VII was crowned King of France at Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
on 17 July 1429, largely through the martial efforts of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, who believed it was her mission to free France from the English and to have the Dauphin Charles crowned at Reims. In 1435, the Duke of Burgundy, released from his obligations to Henry VI by a papal legate, recognised Charles VII as the rightful king of France. The defection of this powerful French noble marked the end of Henry's de facto reign over France. The Dual monarchy came to an end with the final victory of the French at the Battle of Castillon
Battle of Castillon
The Battle of Castillon of 1453 was the last battle fought between the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War. It resulted in a decisive French victory.-Context:...
on 17 July 1453, thus bringing the Hundred Years War to a conclusion. The English were expelled from all of the territories which they had controlled in France, with the sole exception of Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. Charles VII had thus established himself as the undisputed king of almost all of France.
Background
The English and French had been constantly at war over hereditary sovereignty in France; the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) escalated, and the conflict between the two nations reached its peak in an intermittent series of belligerent phases, with each phase usually ending with a temporary truce lasting for a few years. In the first phase Edward IIIEdward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
won some extraordinary victories against the French, most notably at Crécy and Sluys. His son Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
also captured the French king John II
John II of France
John II , called John the Good , was the King of France from 1350 until his death. He was the second sovereign of the House of Valois and is perhaps best remembered as the king who was vanquished at the Battle of Poitiers and taken as a captive to England.The son of Philip VI and Joan the Lame,...
at the battle of Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
in 1356, and routed the French army. The year 1360 marked the end of the first phase and an opportunity for peace.
In the Treaty of Brétigny
Treaty of Brétigny
The Treaty of Brétigny was a treaty signed on May 9, 1360, between King Edward III of England and King John II of France. In retrospect it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War —as well as the height of English hegemony on the Continent.It was signed...
the French king was ransomed for an amount equal to twice the French kingdom's Gross. In addition, the French granted Edward III an extended Aquitaine, thus restoring one of the main duchies of the previous Angevin Empire
Angevin Empire
The term Angevin Empire is a modern term describing the collection of states once ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty.The Plantagenets ruled over an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries, located north of Moorish Iberia. This "empire" extended...
. Edward III was, however, forced to give up his title as the rightful king to the throne of France, this claim being based on his mother, Isabella
Isabella of France
Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...
. Charles V
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
ascended to the throne, and in 1369 hostilities were reopened by the French declaring war, thus breaking the treaty. This time they led to embarrassing strategic defeats for the English side. Charles' strategy was to attack the castles, where English victories were less certain, and to avoid pitched battles with the English; with this important strategic move, the extended English holdings in Aquitaine were quickly recaptured. The English, now on the defensive, lost more territory, but retained Gascony. By now, Edward was aging and no longer fit to lead in battle. His son, the Prince of Wales, predeceased him by a year, and so when Edward III died in 1377 it was his grandson Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
who became king.
There was another truce in 1396 when Richard II married Isabella of Valois, a daughter of King Charles VI of France, thus marking the end of the second phase. Peace did not last long however, as, in 1399, Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
usurped Richard's throne while Richard was away in Ireland, thus provoking French hostility in 1403 which marked the beginning of the third phase of the war.
The House of Lancaster and Anglo-French relations
In the beginning, Henry claimed he was retrieving his confiscated region of Lancaster, and wrote to Richard that he had "no wish or right to depose your highness as king". Henry, nevertheless, remained firmly on the throne, and Richard II was deposed. Internal strife reached its climax during his reign, with the rebellions of Owen Glendower (in Wales) and of the Percy family (Henry's old primary supporters) in the North. Henry, however, was least involved politically. Civil War was raging in France, especially between the parties of ArmagnacArmagnac (party)
The Armagnac party was prominent in French politics and warfare during the Hundred Years' War. It was allied with the supporters of Charles, Duke of Orléans against John the Fearless after Charles' father Louis of Orléans was killed at the orders of the Duke of Burgundy in 1407...
and the Burgundians. Charles VI's brother Louis, Duke of Orléans, was assassinated on the order of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless. This was largely due to a scandalous affair with the Duchess of Burgundy, which started as a rumor but would later involve Charles VII
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
. Henry IV was considered a key ally during the civil war. The Armagnacs even offered to give back the Duchy of Aquitaine in support of military services, although Aquitaine was forgotten when the Armagnacs won. Henry sent an expeditionary force in 1412 to aid them.
The civil war continued with persecution on both sides, the sack of Soissons by the Armagnacs and the control of Paris by the Burgundians. John the Fearless claimed to be the regent of the young dauphin Charles and the insane king Charles VI
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
. Henry IV, the usurper
Usurper
Usurper is a derogatory term used to describe either an illegitimate or controversial claimant to the power; often, but not always in a monarchy, or a person who succeeds in establishing himself as a monarch without inheriting the throne, or any other person exercising authority unconstitutionally...
, died in 1413. His son, Henry, was still in his mid twenties when he became king.
The Warrior King
The main feature of Henry IV's reign in England was internal strife and rebellion, and as a result, Henry V took part in battles from an early age. His first test in battle was in the Welsh wars: Henry fought at the Battle of ShrewsburyBattle of Shrewsbury
The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King, Henry IV, and a rebel army led by Henry "Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland....
in 1403. He took a Welsh arrow in the lower part of his face; it passed through his jaw and out the other side. Henry's knights were charging the Welsh positions, so in spite of his wound, Henry refused to leave the field and the English won the day.
Henry would employ the English and Welsh archers on a massive scale in his campaign at Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
. Upon the death of Henry IV, Thomas, Duke of Clarence (Henry V's younger brother) was supported as the heir rather than Henry. The dauphin was made Duke of Guyenne, which was English Gascony, as the Armagnacs wanted Gascony back under their own sovereignty. Clarence was to lead the English in Gascony, not Henry; this would give him a chance to take the throne of England. While Clarence was away in Gascony, Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
took the throne. Henry had also successfully fended off the dauphin's designs on the Guyenne region. As Henry started his reign in 1413, and the civil war in France was still on, Henry demanded that the King of France give him back an extended Aquitaine, Normandy, the ports of Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, the old county of Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, which was vassal to the Angevin empire, and the provinces of Maine and Anjou. The French refused to accept his demands, and they ignored his claims. In 1415, at the age of twenty-eight, Henry began his invasion of France which would culminate in the Battle of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
.
1415 campaign
On 11 August 1415, Henry sailed for France, where his forces besieged the fortress at HarfleurHarfleur
-Population:-Places of interest:* The church of St-Martin, dating from the fourteenth century.* The seventeenth century Hôtel de Ville .* Medieval ramparts * The fifteenth century museums of fishing and of archaeology and history....
, capturing it on 22 September. Afterwards, Henry had to march with his army across the French countryside towards Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. On 25 October 1415, on the plains near the village of Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
, he turned to engage a pursuing French army in battle. Despite his men-at-arms being exhausted and outnumbered, Henry led his men into battle, decisively defeating the French who died in the thousands. Most of those taken prisoners were slaughtered by order of Henry, who spared only the most illustrious. This victorious conclusion, from the English viewpoint, was only the first step in the campaign.
This Latin epigram was one of many produced after the battle and came from a long tradition of such work in Chronicles.
1417 campaign
So, with those two potential enemies gone, and after two years of patient preparation following the AgincourtBattle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
, Henry renewed the war on a larger scale in 1417. Lower Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
was quickly conquered, and Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
cut off from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and besieged. The French were paralysed by the disputes between the Burgundians
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
and the Armagnacs
Armagnac (party)
The Armagnac party was prominent in French politics and warfare during the Hundred Years' War. It was allied with the supporters of Charles, Duke of Orléans against John the Fearless after Charles' father Louis of Orléans was killed at the orders of the Duke of Burgundy in 1407...
. Henry skilfully played them off one against the other, without relaxing his warlike approach. In January 1419, Rouen fell. The Norman French who had resisted were severely punished: Alain Blanchard, who had hung English prisoners from the walls, was summarily executed; Robert de Livet, Canon of Rouen, who had excommunicated the English king, was sent to England and imprisoned for five years.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The intrigues of the French parties culminated in the assassination of John the Fearless by the Dauphin's partisans at Montereau
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
Montereau-Fault-Yonne, or simply Montereau, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Name:...
(10 September 1419). Philip the Good, the new duke, and the French court threw themselves into Henry's arms. After six months of negotiation, the Treaty of Troyes
Treaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
recognised Henry as the heir and regent of France (see English Kings of France), and, on 2 June 1420, Henry married Catherine of Valois
Catherine of Valois
Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
, the daughter of Charles VI of France. From June to July, Henry's army besieged and took the castle at Montereau, then Melun
Melun
Melun is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Located in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, Melun is the capital of the department, as the seat of an arrondissement...
in November, returning to England shortly thereafter. Henry VI was born the following year.
1421 campaign
On 10 June 1421, Henry sailed back to France for what would be his last military campaign. From July to August, his forces besieged and captured DreuxDreux
Dreux is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-History:Dreux was known in ancient times as Durocassium, the capital of the Durocasses Celtic tribe. Despite the legend, its name was not related with Druids. The Romans established here a fortified camp known as Castrum...
, thus relieving allied forces at Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
. That October, his forces lay siege to Meaux
Meaux
Meaux is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located east-northeast from the center of Paris. Meaux is a sub-prefecture of the department and the seat of an arondissement...
, capturing it on 2 May 1422. Henry V died suddenly on 31 August 1422 at the Château de Vincennes
Château de Vincennes
The Château de Vincennes is a massive 14th and 17th century French royal castle in the town of Vincennes, to the east of Paris, now a suburb of the metropolis.-History:...
near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, apparently from dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
, which he had contracted during the siege of Meaux. He was thirty-five years old. Before his death, Henry V had named his brother John, Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG , also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI....
regent of France in the name of his son Henry VI, then only a few months old. Henry V did not live to be crowned King of France himself, as he might confidently have expected after the Treaty of Troyes
Treaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
, as the sickly Charles VI, whose heir he had been named, survived him by two months. His son Henry, who was born the year before, succeeded his father as king Henry VI of England and, six months later, his maternal grandfather as king of France.
1422: The question of Regent upon French succession
After Henry V's death, the issue of the regency to the infant king Henry VI was resolved by meetings between Bedford, Burgundy and the French Estates-General. The Settlement of Troyes was reaffirmed in accordance with it; Bedford was made keeper of Normandy and Burgundy and may have been named regent for the king of France. Bedford was a little uncertain whether Burgundy would relinquish his status as keeper of Normandy, so he wrote to London five days later to advertise his position as Regent of England, then of France. Bedford had no reason to contradict Henry V, but if he could not be regent for his French king, he would be as his English Regent. At the time, Bedford was still referring to himself as "gubernator Normandiae", governor of Normandy, on 1 November six days after the letter was dispatched to London. Bedford started to emerge as French regent for his nephew King Henry VI of England and France. At the same time the Treaty of TroyesTreaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
was reaffirmed, and on 19 November Bedford presided as French regent in the Parlement de Paris and dedicated himself to be working for the good of France.
Henry VI was also now King of France united with Normandy, and Gascony, by the Treaty of Troyes
Treaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
, passed directly to the French king Charles VI; when Henry VI of England succeeded to the French crown in 1422 it was included as part of the jurisdiction. The Duke of Bedford was content and he made no appeal to return to England, returning only in 1425 to England in an urgent meeting with Bishop Henry Beaufort. Philip of Burgundy could hardly resist English wishes, for he needed their support after the murder of his father, John the Fearless by the henchmen of the dauphin (now de facto Charles VII of France). Henry V's arrangements had one fatal flaw: not until the last few days of his life had he thought he would predecease Charles VI. Moreover, the treaty had restricted Henry's freedom on his deathbed. The arrangements he had made were to cover the short term (up to Charles VI's death) and the long term (when Henry VI would become king of both France and England). This is a major reason for Burgundy's alliance with England and the steadfastness of English commanders to the battlefield.
Charles VI's death had in no way affected the Anglo-Burgundian alliance or the legal dual monarchy of England and France. Monstrelet the Burgundian is the only contemporary to record that Burgundy backed down to the regency to the French king in order to have Bedford as Regent. He claimed to record Henry V's last words on his deathbed, and also the content of the recorded speech. It made an insult to Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
by further saying Henry had maintained the regency of England to Exeter. The chronicle, however, was written after Gloucester's invasion of the Low Countries in 1425 which provoked Burgundy's hostility and after Gloucester repelled Duke Philip's attack on Calais in 1436. This was a distortion of fact. Monstrelet was trying to heighten Burgundian self-esteem and to explain why Burgundy dropped the regency in 1422. The St. Albans' chronicler recorded that Burgundy was never entrusted with the regency of France. However, his work ends six weeks before Charles VI's death and mentions nothing beyond that. Henry V may have not inquired about any specific regent for France, but Bedford was unopposed.
English Regency
Henry V's wish that Gloucester be appointed regent for England was controversial, and not clear in any sense that there was any named candidate to adopt the regency to England. On 7 November 1422, which was the day of Henry V's solemn burial at Westminster, dukes of Gloucester and Exeter and Bishop Beaufort studied the attached last wills of Henry. There was some agreement on the authority of the dead king's wishes, but until all of Henry's directions were carried out, there was still going to be objections to Humphrey. John, Duke of Bedford, unsure of his future in France, issued an objection to Humphrey's regency on 26 November. Some lords supported the idea of Gloucester as regent because of his youth, and his emerging reputation; however, most of the lords still disliked the idea and expressed great misgivings about the powers which were later to be bestowed upon him by the codicil of 1422.Gloucester realised the idea of using history or precedent; in 1216, the first English minority since the Norman conquest was upheld and later, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...
who was rector to king Henry III while the latter was in his minority. He wanted to have the same authority but as wardship to the young king. The lords countered that this precedent was too far back in time, and furthermore Richard II was in his minority as King but John of Gaunt (Humphrey's grandfather) was given no specific position in the council. They ruled with general consensus between the gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
rather than a single rector to the king. Bedford was rector of France because a single regent was favoured in France rather than a ruling council and the dual monarchy existed through a personal union and each kingdom is allowed with their own traditions and customs. The lords did not want to attack Humphrey personally in his pretensions to regent but rather the will itself. They denied that Henry V had any right to determine the governance of England or of disposing of any royal land. The will itself was too inclined to Roman law and rather heavily foreign to the English. It was said Gloucester's keepership was made forfeit by Henry's death.
Gloucester was given a blow and was only to act in affairs by council permission as well as by opening and closing parliament. However, it was not the only drawback and since Bedford was heir to the throne of France as well as to that of England, if he returned from France he would take Gloucester's position as head regent with the permission of council temporarily until he withdrew back to his regency in France. Gloucester's position was severely limited in England but both realms were to benefit for the time being.
The French Realm
Staying in the offensive and maintaining French possessions meant that the English navy was now a second defence. In 1420, the Treaty of TroyesTreaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
achieved political stability as did the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. In 1423, the alliance further included John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI, Duke of Brittany
John VI the Wise , was duke of Brittany, count of Montfort, and titular earl of Richmond, from 1399 to his death...
. The English, under Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury
Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury
Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, 6th and 3rd Baron Montacute, 5th Baron Monthermer, and Count of Perche, KG was an English nobleman...
, were moving towards the Loire by 1428.
In the 1420s, Gascony had received no harm from any of the Valois attempts to capture the area, as it was isolated by both sea and land from the northern French territories. Gascony was largely protected by French nobles sympathetic to the English cause and there were negotiations with the Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
, such as the Count of Foix. Calais was protected by its garrison and local merchant community which exported wool to Northern Europe and England and making good commercial relations with the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. Normandy and the Île-de-France region was protected by the French Regent and Rheims by the Duke of Burgundy. The only sensitive part was in the Channel where Anglo-Breton relations and attitudes affected the safekeeping of south-western English waters and the passing of ships to Gascony.
The Duke of Brittany's allegiance to the dual monarchy under the protectorate of Bedford was preserved through his abiding aim to preserve the independence of his duchy. Arthur de Richemont, a Breton nobleman, at first supported Henry V in the signing of the Treaty of Troyes
Treaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
, and he was created Count of Touraine by the English, but soon gave allegiance to Charles VII when Yolande of Aragon
Yolande of Aragon
Yolande of Aragon, , was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son...
made him Constable of France. As the English were moving into Valois territory , relations with Brittany started to deteriorate in 1424 and when "open war" was declared the Estates-General
French States-General
In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
took precautions against Breton raiders on the coast. Relations with Burgundy were much more important for English commerce.
Like Jean V, Philip also had other political wishes. One of his greatest concerns was Burgundian influence in the Low Countries. After Jacqueline of Hainault's flight to England in 1421 from her husband John of Brabant, she married Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1423. This quickly caused English intervention in 1424 when Jacqueline's uncle and enemy made the Duke of Burgundy his heir. The outcome was Gloucester's disastrous campaign to Hainault. Bedford came to shore up the alliance on which his power depended.
Channel naval protection was not a concern, even after Burgundy switched its support at Arras. In the late 1420s, coastal areas like Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
suffered some military engagements against Breton raiders. Bedford himself relied heavily on English financial aid to support his armies on the Norman frontiers. Local revenue from Normandy, Gascony and Calais was used for expected naval defence fortifications and garrisons in France.
1422–29: English offensive
A dual monarchy gave Englishmen and northern Frenchmen alike the impetus to ensure complete suzerainty of France and to punish the treachery of Charles VII. In the 1420s, the English sent a small expeditionary force sent to France. As such, many English gentry were given French estates. The scheme was supported in 1417 during the conquest of upper Normandy during the reign of Henry V and was revived by Bedford. Most of Normandy, with the exception of Mont St. Michel, was stabilized. The Crotoy in the mouth of the Somme was also in Valois' hands, but was taken over by an English force, with Bedford's aid. Another expedition under the Duke of Exeter consisting of 1600 men (mostly archers) was sent to protect the Lancastrian-dominated part of France. Not only was most of Normandy cleared from the Armagnac French but there was also some attempts south of the Loire to endanger Charles VII's capital at BourgesBourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
.
The English strategy became more widespread while they swept across the Seine valley and Paris. The western border on Brittany was also strengthened. In 1424, Bedford made a bid in Paris at the Estates-General for an expeditionary force aimed to conquer Maine-Anjou and the Picardy region. It led to the Battle of Verneuil
Battle of Verneuil
The Battle of Verneuil was a battle of the Hundred Years' War, fought on 17 August 1424 near Verneuil in Normandy and was a significant English victory.-The black time:...
on the Maine–Normandy border. Bedford began to emerge as an English conqueror with a better reputation after his victory. It dealt also a stinging defeat against the Scots since they supported Charles VII and fought many causes in his name. Bedford's extensive conquests in Maine and towards the Loire meant that King Henry's French realm's capital was no longer in the front lines as long as the English remained in the offensive. Bedford assured the Norman population and made proclamations that the Normans would not suffer any colonial regime or financial hardship by taxation.
After Henry V's death in 1422, the duke of Bedford had intended on bringing the powerful duke of Brittany and Burgundy closer to the Lancastrian cause and confirm it in a treaty. In 1423, at the Treaty of Amiens, the three dukes, John VI of Brittany, John of Bedford and Philip the Good agreed on a triple alliance, lapsing on any of their deaths, which also recognized Henry VI as King of France and that they would work together to subjugate Charles the dauphin in the South. Overshadowing the Treaty of Troyes
Treaty of Troyes
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt...
further, it arranged the marriage of Anna of Burgundy (Philip's sister) to John Duke of Bedford Regent of France. The two were married at Troyes cathedral, where Henry V was married to Catherine of Valois
Catherine of Valois
Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
. The marriage, although primarily a political movement, evolved into a love match despite Anna being 15 years Bedford's senior.
The alliance of Amiens was almost completely undermined when Brittany and Burgundy held a conference the same year in which both parties agreed to be friends if either side ever reconciled with the dauphin. Although both Brittany and Burgundy acknowledged Henry VI of England as their sovereign, the friendly relations still remained between Brittany and Burgundy despite Burgundy breaking their agreements with the English at the Treaty of Arras.
By 1424, French estates were sold widely from noble to commoner, and by both English and French. In 1417, English settlers had arrived to purchase estates in coastal cities like Cherbourg, Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
and Harfleur
Harfleur
-Population:-Places of interest:* The church of St-Martin, dating from the fourteenth century.* The seventeenth century Hôtel de Ville .* Medieval ramparts * The fifteenth century museums of fishing and of archaeology and history....
. However, for matters of security of English-controlled France, the English soldiers were valued highest for the disposal of French estates. As much as the conquests seemed realistic in a complete France, enthusiasm started to wane. After Gloucester's invasion of Holland in 1424 to enforce the rights of his wife, Jacqueline of Hainault, Anglo-Burgundian relations began to become strained. In addition, Brittany under Duke Jean V lost interest, and his negotiations with Charles VII were used to weaken the western military frontier on Brittany. In 1428, the Scots continued to support Charles, and when Anglo-Scottish relations deteriorated completely, French envoys were sent to Scotland for an alliance and a proposal that King James I of Scotland
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
's daughter would marry Charles' son Louis
Louis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....
.
The military of Normandy now depended on three men, Bedford, Warwick and Suffolk. Warwick landed in France in 1426 to protect Cherbourg, threatened by Breton raids. In 1427, Brittany was forced again to be a Vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
after 1 year of fighting against the English. After Verneuil, there was less need for a civil administration. The defence and garrisons slowly passed to the keeping of the civilians after Bedford and his host left for England in 1427 left. The same year, there was another draw for an invasion further in towards the Anjou region. Local French forces subject to their King Henri II of France however were neglected of military duty and the English soldier again was favoured by the Estates-General to carry out the offensive. This decision was made during the absence of Bedford, who had already left for England.
Orléans was the last jewel for the Armagnacs. The Earl of Salisbury began the siege in 1428 with 2400 men in addition to Burgundian allies who joined the siege. Salisbury's death at the start of the siege destroyed the Anglo-Burgundian morale. The French revived with Jeanne d'Arc's arrival, and it was the turning point of the war. She lifted the siege and Charles VII was consecrated in Rheims, the traditional crowning place for French kings. It was reported with great gravity in Westminster and the coronation of Henry VI as king of France in Paris could be the sole propaganda weapon against Charles. The crusade assembled by Beaufort against the Bohemians was quickly diverted to France. Beaufort could not afford to anger Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
by denying the crusade, however the defeat at Patay could not have been ignored. The events at the Loire brought the English-French military scheme to its test.
The Two Coronations (1429–31)
Two significant events in the life of Henry VI were his two coronationCoronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
s, the first at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in England, on 6 November 1429, and the second at Notre-Dame
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, on 16 December 1431. The coronation in England was in response to the collapse of the Siege of Orléans
Siege of Orléans
The Siege of Orléans marked a turning point in the Hundred Years' War between France and England. This was Joan of Arc's first major military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt in 1415. The outset of this siege marked the pinnacle of English power...
and was a move recommended by Henry's English and French advisers. His English coronation had already been postponed for seven years, and John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG , also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI....
, was the one to suggest the idea of his French coronation in Paris, as there was no reason to further postpone his coronation until he came of age. Deeply shocked by the Valois success in having Charles VII
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
crowned King of France in Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, the traditional altar for the consecration of French kings, Bedford believed that Henry VI's coronation in Paris would cancel the victory of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, and he quickly arranged it. Charles' coronation in Reims, on 16 July 1429, was an act of symbolic significance compared to the English position in the 1420s. However, by the end of 1427, the French and the English were quarrelling over strategic military plans to gain the upper hand in conquering France. The States-General
French States-General
In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
in Paris announced that the provinces adjacent to the east and south of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
were assigned to Philip of Burgundy and so allowed Bedford to concentrate in Normandy. Some Englishmen who feared an English government in France were opposed to the idea of Henry's being crowned in France before his coronation in England.
During Henry's coronation as king of England in 1429, poems by John Lydgate
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury was a monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England.Lydgate is at once a greater and a lesser poet than John Gower. He is a greater poet because of his greater range and force; he has a much more powerful machine at his command. The sheer bulk of Lydgate's poetic output is...
were read to stress further Henry's dual-inheritance of England and France. A direct link was made between Charles VI
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
and his grandson Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
, king of France. The painted pedigree paralleled Henry's descent through his mother, Catherine of Valois
Catherine of Valois
Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
, from Saint Louis
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
, and his descent on his father's side from another saint, Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
. This was not mentioned in John Lydgate's poem, no doubt because it was largely a translation from a French work. But in another poem written for the king's coronation on the 6th of November 1429 Henry's descent from both these saints was mentioned.
Your Father which did all shine in all virtue... with the good life of Queen Catherine, your blessed Mother...of Good roots, springing from virtue must grow good fruit by necessity.
There was also a mention of the king's descent from Clovis
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
, to whom God had sent an angel, to secure for Henry of France and England the fleur-de-lys and to signify perfect religious belief and the steadfast unity of the three persons of the Trinity. The actual anointing and coronation were performed by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
, a natural son of John of Gaunt
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...
.
On 23 April 1430, Henry embarked from Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
for France in company with Cardinal Beaufort, the Duke of Bedford and the bishops of Thérouanne, Norwich, Beauvais and Évreux. On 16 December 1431, on the way to his French coronation in Paris, Henry travelled to the Basilica of St Denis, a hallowed burial place for French Kings on the outskirts of Paris. Two days earlier, the coronation was carefully set to be held at the cathedral of Notre-Dame
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
, on the first Sunday in Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
, which was the traditional day for a King of France to proceed to the cathedral, this being a symbolic parallel with the progress of the King of Heaven. Henry was preceded by twenty-five trumpeters and a guard of between two and three thousand men. The royal party's route took the usual ceremonial entry into Paris from the north.
With trumpets sounding and fleurs-de-lys flying, the procession proceeded over the Seine bridge to the Île de la Cité
Île de la Cité
The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris . It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded....
, where the young French King kissed the Holy Relics at the Sainte Chapelle. The route traversed to the western part of Île de la Cité carefully missing the Cathedral
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
and then moved east to the Hôtel des Tournelles
Hôtel des Tournelles
The hôtel des Tournelles was a now-demolished collection of buildings in Paris built from the 14th century onwards, to the north of the site of what is now place des Vosges. It is named after its many 'tournelles' or little towers....
where Anne of Burgundy
Anne of Burgundy
Anne of Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford was a daughter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and his wife Margaret of Bavaria.-Marriage:...
and the Duke of Bedford awaited their royal nephew. The following day, the King waited to the east of the city for his coronation. Preparation was done for the hallowing at Notre-Dame, and the gold draperies were taken down until the coronation day. The newly anointed and crowned sovereign would be seated on a great raised dais. Stairs were covered by azure
Azure
In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....
cloth sewn with fleurs-de-lys from the top of the structure down. The English Chapel Royal
Chapel Royal
A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
choir joined the choir of the cathedral of Paris, who sang their traditional polyphonic music
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
during the coronation. Cardinal Beaufort did the actual crowning, which was traditionally an office to be performed by the bishop of Paris, who was further shocked that Beaufort also celebrated part of the Holy Mass service at the chapel, another office which properly belonged to him. The coronation had very important orchestration, seeking to present again the dual-lineage of Henry, and a French play called tableau of Châtelet: a boy clothed in gold fleurs-de-lys, representing the king of England and France, was balancing the two crowns on his head with actors representing the duke of Burgundy and his son, the count of Nevers, offering him the shields of France, and other actors playing Anne of Burgundy and the Duke of Bedford as offering him the Lion Rampant
Lion (heraldry)
The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises bravery, valour, strength, and royalty, since traditionally, it is regarded as the king of beasts.-Attitudes:...
of England. As a blight on the occasion, Philip, Duke of Burgundy, never in fact met his acknowledged sovereign at any time during his expedition to France from 1430 to 1432, since Philip was in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
in connection with his newly established Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
.
Apart from its splendour and glory, the coronation ultimately achieved little. England's suspicions of Burgundy had become marked concerning the actual military position, as it was discovered three days before the coronation that Philip had made a six-day general truce with Charles VII. The coronation was principally an English affair, dominated by Beaufort, some English bishops, and some Anglophile French bishops. The coronation had not offered resistance to the Valois-French pressing at the borders, with the English losing mile after mile of territory. Henry, with little to show for his two-year stay in his French kingdom, returned to England by way of Calais and never stepped on his French kingdom again. In 1432, Henry Chichele
Henry Chichele
Henry Chichele , English archbishop, founder of All Souls College, Oxford, was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, stated that Henry's stay had not achieved its desired effect but had instead shown that English power in Normandy was weakening. Bedford himself was then mourning the death of his wife, Anne of Burgundy, and collapsed from exhaustion after news of more territory being lost to Charles VII. Five months later, Bedford married Jacquetta of Luxembourg, who came from a family distrusted by Philip the Good's Anglo-Burgundian forces, and thus Bedford and Philip lost the link they had with each other through Anne of Burgundy, who had been the primary mediator between the two. The last three years saw England struggle to maintain its military commitment to the war, and Philip was finding the war too costly on his part.