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History of France - the Hundred Years War

English Victories in the Hundred Years War, 1400-1429

The problems for France started with a battle for the throne. Charles VI was going mad, and John of Burgundy and the Armagnac family bouth sought power. To help, they both asked for the help of the English, now under Henry V. Driving a hard bargain, which was refused, Henry VI asked for a return of the properties held under Henry II - an offer that was refused.

Instead he crossed the channel, took the city of Harfleur, and set off for Calais. Underprepared, he faced a larger French army at Agincourt, which despite the odds he defeated - the Battle of Agincourt was one of the most famous battles of the conflict, and inflicted severe losses on the French. from 1416-1419 Henry continued with these successes, placing much of Normandy under English rule.

In 1420 Henry met the mad Charles VI and they signed a treaty - Henry would marry the daughter of charles, and his heirs would later inherit the throne of France. Indeed, when Henry II died, in 1422, his son was crowned Henry VI in England but also King of France.

Unsurprisingly, the Armagnacs in France rejected this, supporting the Dauphin Charles instead - he had been disowned as illegitimate as part of the earlier treaty. They continued to fight, although the English maintained their military superiority. This was perhaps the defining feature of this period - usually outnumbered, the English won victory after victory against the French / Scottish armies.

This pattern was to continue, in a series of smaller and larger conflicts, throughout the years to 1429, with the French often unwilling to fight the English in open battle even when they had greater numbers.

So this period of the war finished unpromisingly for the French, losing battles and having an English king on the throne. The English, acting with the Burgundians, now controlled the northern third of France, and also Aquitaine in the south-west of the country.