Siege of Harfleur

Part of the Lancastrian War, Hundred Years' War

Date	August 18 - September 22, 1415
Location	Harfleur, Normandy, France
Result	English victory Harfleur annexed by England

Belligerents

Kingdom of England

Kingdom of France

Commanders and leaders

Henry V of England
Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence

Sieur d'Estouteville
Sieur de Gaucourt

Strength

2000 men of arms
200 bowmen

200 men in the beginning
600 reinforcements

The siege of Harfleur, Normandy, France, was a military action which occurred during the Hundred Years' War. It began on 18 August 1415 and ended on 22 September, when the French port of Harfleur surrendered to the English.

Henry V invaded France following the failure of negotiations with the French. He claimed the title of King of France through his great-grandfather Edward III, although in practice the English kings were generally prepared to renounce this claim if the French would acknowledge the English claim on Aquitaine and other French lands (the terms of the Treaty of Bretigny). He initially called a great council in the spring of 1414 to discuss going to war with France, but the lords insisted that he should negotiate further and moderate his claims. In the following negotiations Henry said that he would give up his claim to the French throne if the French would pay the 1.6 million crowns outstanding from the ransom of John II (who had been captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356), and concede English ownership of the lands of Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Brittany and Flanders, as well as Aquitaine. Henry would marry Princess Catherine, the young daughter of Charles VI, and receive a dowry of 2 million crowns. The French responded with what they considered the generous terms of marriage with Princess Catherine, a dowry of 600,000 crowns, and an enlarged Aquitaine. By 1415 negotiations had ground to a halt, with the English claiming that the French had mocked their claims and ridiculed Henry himself. In December 1414, the English Parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. On 19 April 1415, Henry again asked the great council to sanction war with France, and this time they agreed.

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