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Henry V (1413 - 1422)
Not until 1413 did England have a king who would be willing and able to continue the fight. Henry claimed to the rightful king of France.

During his Irish campaign, Richard knights Henry of Monmouth (the future King Henry V), son of the exiled Henry Bolingbroke who took advantage of Richard's absence to return to England and usurp the the throne.

In 1415, Henry V snatched a victory at Agincourt, against all odds. He won by luck and by using his skills in difficult circumstances. Some 6000 French were dead, and the English lost 400 lives.

Henry V defeated the French in the Battle of Agincourt. For the next five years,
Henry concentrated on completing his French conquests.

Henry V also conducted a blitzkrieg in Normandy during 1417 - 1419. The English believed that God was on the side of England and its kings.

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King Charles VI (1380 - 1422)
King Charles VI suffered from fits of madness and could not control his nobles who were always quarreling. Henry took advantage of this and landed in Normandy in 1415 with 8000 men. After a five-week siege, he captured the port of Harfleur. The down side was dysentery which reduced his army to 6000.

The death of Charles VI in 1422 was an occasion for an elaborate
state funeral arranged by the Duke of Bedford. Charles VI's death signaled
a monumental seven-year struggle for succession to the throne.

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The Battle at Calais
Henry marched north to Calais planning to return home. On the way, Henry was surprised by a French army with 20,000 men. He was forced to fight in a heavily wooded area. It was late October and it had been raining for several days. He positioned his troops between a gap in the woods and ordered his archers to stick sharp wooden stakes in the ground in front of them.

Two groups of knights attacked the wings of the English army and the main French force of foot soldiers advanced down the middle. The knights were driven back by the archers before they reached the English lines. Meanwhile, the French foot-soldiers found their heavy chain mail a great handicap as they struggled across the deep mud. The gap between the forests narrowed as the French came forward. The result was that they were crammed together like sardines.

A French source wrote:
"Before they could come to close quarters many of the French were disabled or wounded by arrows - and when they came close to the English they were so close together they could not raise their arms to strike."

Many of the French sunk up to their thighs in mud. The English archers saw their chance and rushed the French using swords and knives. The battle was won. Approximately 7000 French lay dead - the English only lost a few hundred.

For more information about the 100 Years War,
please see Mr. Sedivy's World History - The Middle Ages:
The Hundred Years War

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The Treaty of Troyes
Henry went home to hero's welcome. Later he returned to France, and within five years Henry had conquered all of northern France. The powerful Duke of Burgundy went over to Henry's side. In 1420, the French queen made peace - The Treaty of Troyes. Henry got to keep all the land. Henry would marry her daughter, Catherine, and take the French crown when her insane husband Charles VI died.

The marriage of King Henry V and King Charles VI's daughter, Catherine of Valois,
at St. John's Church, Troyes, in 1420. Her dowry was 600,000 crowns.

Charles VII, mounted with a sword, chases King Henry VI out of France.
The main instrument of French success 1449 - 1453, the cannon, is represented by two cannons in the background. From The Chronicles of the Kings of France c.1483.