FDP IX Agincourt 1415

AGINCOURT 1415
Battle of Agincourt, 25 Oct. 1415, Enguerrand de Monstrelet Chronicle, XV th c., Paris, Bibliothèque nationale
8000 (Eng.) v 15,000 (Fr.) men
600 (Eng.) v 6000 (Fr.) killed
Agincourt battlefield today
HOUSE OF PLANTAGENET:
Royal house ruled England 1154 – 1485. Originated Anjou. Several houses:
- Angevins, also counts of Anjou (Henry II + sons Richard Ist & John), 1154-1216.
- Cadet branches: York & Lancaster (see below)
HOUSE OF YORK:
Cadet branch (1) of the House of Plantagenet. Descended in male line from Edmund
Langley, fourth surviving son of Edward III
HOUSE OF LANCASTER:
Cadet branch (2) of the House of Plantagenet

First House founded 1267 with earldom of Lancaster for the second son of Henry III (King
1216-1272)
Second House descended from John of Gaunt married Blanche of Lancaster heiress first
house. Son Henry IV deposed Richard II 1399 > Henry IV, father Henry V
The reason why the English Crown claimed a right to the duchy of Aquitaine/Guyenne: Eleonore of Aquitaine (1122-1204), one
of the most celebrated female figures of the Middle Ages. Heiress of House of Poitiers / controlled whole of southwestern Fr.
Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. Married to King Louis VII of Fr. 1137-1152 / marriage annulled on grounds of
consanguinity. Followed by marriage to Henry II 1137-1152. Described by contemporary sources as extraordinary beauty.
Here tomb effigy Eleonor & Henry, Fontevraud Abbey, near Angers, Maine-et-Loire
Map of France 1154 at the time of Henry II’s death. Please make a note of the size of the duchy of Aquitaine
(approx. 400,000 inhabitants ie 1/10 English population)
As of treaty of Paris 1259 (Saint Louis/Henry III): estate held on condition of feudal service (fief v full sovereignty). English
King had to pay homage to Fr. King. English Kings sought to their fief into a so-called ‘alleu’ ie estate held in full sovereignty
Houses of Lancaster & York
100 Years War (1327-1453) Timeline & key dates:
1327: Fr. King Philip VI confiscates (i) duchy of Aquitaine (ii) county of Ponthieu (Picardy today). Ed. III refuses
to pay homage to Fr. King > instead lays claim to Fr. Crown (grandson Philip IV & closest relative to last Capetian
king Charles IV dead 1328). Fr. say NO.
Sluys/L’Ecluse 1340 (sea, Zeeland today) > English naval supremacy Channel, Crécy 1346 & Poitiers 1356: all
English victories. King John of France forced to sign treaty of Calais 1360 to save his title. Forced to grant
complete independence to duchy of Guyenne/Aquitaine. But son of John, Charles V, managed to reconquer
nearly all territories lost to England post-1360. By time death Black prince 1376 & Edward III 1377 English
forces pushed back to territories in southwest near Bordeaux. Hero of Fr. reconquest Bertrand du Guesclin
Hiatus/truces
1415: Agincourt/Azincourt.
1417-18: conquest of Normandy.
1420: treaty of Troyes. Agreement that Henry V & heirs would inherit throne after death Fr. King Charles VI.
Prob: Henry V & Charles VI dies within months in 1422. Henry VI: 9 months. Fr. Dauphin (‘King of Bourges’)
claims throne. Later crowned as Charles VII at Orléans 1429 after relief of city. See role played by Joan of Arc.
Final stage of the war 1420-1453 with breakdown treaty of Troyes.
Interactive map 1337 - 1453
Edward III (1312-1377, King 1327-1377)
Crowned age 14 when his father Edward II was deposed by his mother Isabella of France (Queen regent 1327-
1330) & her lover Roger Mortimer (see Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II)
The King behind the great victories of Sluys (1340), Crécy (1346) & Poitiers (1356)
Funerary monument, Westminster Abbey
Richard II (born Bordeaux 1367-1400, King 1377-1399)
Son of Black Prince, grand-son Edward III. Deposed 1399 by Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt’s son (Henry VI
1400). Posthumous reputation as evil King largely shaped by Shakespeare’s Richard II (1595)
Tamed Peasants’ revolt over poll tax 1381 (Wat Tyler).
Final years of his reign (1397-1399) described as French-style tyranny. Admirer of French court Charles V of Valois.
Truce signed with Fr. 1396. Married daugther (6) of Charles VI Valois Isabella as part of the deal. Prob: no
children/no succession / No children either from first marriage with Anna of Bohemia († 1394)
John of Gaunt (born Ghent, 1340-1399)
Third surviving son Edward III. Founder House of Lancaster.
Rumoured to have been son of a Ghent butcher. At the centre of English politics for 30 years. Died February
1399. Estates & titles declared forfeit to the Crown > son Henry Bolingbroke sent into exile. Returned shortly
after to reclaim inheritance. Deposed Richard II & claimed throne. One of England’s main commanders 1370s-
1380s, albeit not as successful & charismatic as Black Prince.
Henry IV (1367-1413, King 1400-1413). 16th c. painting
Faced plots, rebellions & assassination attemps throughout much of his reign (usurper)
Welsh rebellion 1403-1406. Percy rebellion ends with battle of Shrewsbury 1403. Henry of Monmouth, later
Henry V, wounded in battle. Rumours that Richard II still alive & ready to reclaim his throne (v. died in prison)
Henry V (1386-1422, King 1413-22)
King of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Aquitaine. Eldest son Henry IV. Crowned 1413. Body Richard II exhumed from
burial-place 1413 & brought back for reburial next to wife. Restored order in Wales (reconciliation). Used Percy-
Norttumberland family to keep border v Scotland. But earned a lasting reputation in France. Conquest of Normandy.
Military successes captured 1437 by Tito Livio dei Frulovisi in Vita Henrici quinti regis Angliae (hagiography). Praised by
Shakespeare 1599 as warrior king. Generally celebrated as great King in historical literature. Only exception: Fr. medievalist
Edouard Perroy
Dsiplay of heraldic arms: coat of arms Henry V & other magnates
Entrance ceiling south porch Canterbury cathedral (founded 597, rebuilt 1070s, modernized in last years of
Henry V’s reign)
Tied into cult of chivalry & martial traditions of aristocratic society
French Kings during our period (c.1320-c.1420)
Charles IV, King 1322-1328. Last King of direct line from House of Capet
(founded 1284). No male heir. Capetian line extinct
Philip VI, King 1328-1350. First King from House of Valois (1328-1589)
John II, King 1350-1364. Captured battle of Poitiers 1356. Liberated post-treaty
of Bretigny 1360 after payment huge ranson
Charles V, King 1364-1380
Charles VI, King 1380-1422

King John of France, King 1350-1364
Letter written by King John to his son Charles during his captivity in England (1356-1360).
Charles acted as regent
Charles VI of France, King 1380-1422
King of France at the time of the battle of Agincourt, son of Charles V, grand-son of King John. Suffered from
mental disorder which incapacitated him. Power exercised by royal princes.
Died shortly after Henry V, 21 Oct.1422 / Henry V † 31 August 1422. His son Charles VII disputed Fr. Crown
to Henry VI after 1422
Painting of the battle of Agincourt by Henry Paine, 1915, one year into the Great War
Henry V wears the Royal coat of Arms of England & the Fleur de Lys, a symbol of his claim to the Fr. throne
Sir Laurence Olivier (1907-1989)
Already a star by late 1930s. Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940). Director Old Vic 1940s. Started
working 1943 on Henry V at behest Ministry of Information (Ministry’s Film division). Music William Walton.
Visit of the Henry V set by overseas newspapers correspondents, Ireland, 1943
Premiered shortly after D-Day landings, Summer 1944
Film dedicated To the commands and Airborne Troops of GB, the spirit of whose ancestors it has humbly
been attempted to recapture
Churchill, 1941
‘Never has so much been to so many by so few’, Finest Hour Speech, 20 August 1940 (Battle of Britain)
An echo of Henry V: ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’.
Churchill is said to have thoroughly enjoyed watching Olivier’s Henry V. Not the first head of state to see
himself/herself as a new Henry V ! Remember Elisabeth I st’s Tilbury Speech, 1588
SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
British Defence & Foreign Policy c.1415 – c.2003
- How European ? The Angevin paradgim
- How global & imperial ? Ireland as laboratory of the British Empire (1542 – 1922)
- How insular ?
Richard II, Shakespeare 1599:

This royal throne of Kings, this sceptred isle
This earth of Majesty, this seat of Mars
This other Eden, demi-paradise
This fortress built by Nature for herself
(…)
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England
- How different ? Britain’s Manifest Destiny – God’s chosen Nation ?
- Facts – perception – memory

In Stuart times, the two instruments of tyranny that the Commons most feared that the
English monarchs might acquire were the right to tax arbitrarily and a standing army. The
French monarchy emerged from the rigours of the Hundred Years War armed with these
weapons, and it is clear that the strains of the long combat with England were the principal
agents in putting them at the disposal of the later Valois Kings. The English monarchy, by
contrast, emerged from the same struggle armed with neither. (…) From the point of view of
Valois France, the threat was from to the head. From the English point of view, the threat
from the Valois was not to the head, bur rather to the tentacles that the English were
acquisitively pushing out, towards Calais and the French Channel ports, into Normandy and
from their long-standing base in Gascony in south-west France (and indeed, into Scotland). In
this English acquisitiveness, there was not element of quest for Lebensraum (vital space):
there was plenty of room in England, especially after the Black Death (1348).
Maurice Keen, English Society in the Later Middle Ages, 1348-1500 (1990)

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AGINCOURT 1415

Cadet branch (2) of the House of Plantagenet

Charles V, King 1364-1380

Charles VI, King 1380-1422

- How European ? The Angevin paradgim

Richard II, Shakespeare 1599:

- How different ? Britain’s Manifest Destiny – God’s chosen Nation ?

- Facts – perception – memory

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