Editing Henry V of England (section)

==== Dispute with France ====
Henry could now turn his attention to foreign affairs. A writer of the next generation was the first to allege that Henry was encouraged by ecclesiastical statesmen to enter into the French war as a means of diverting attention from home troubles. This story seems to have no foundation. Old commercial disputes and the support the French had lent to [[Owain Glyndŵr]] were used as an excuse for war, while the disordered state of France afforded no security for peace.<ref name=EB1911/> King [[Charles VI of France]] was prone to [[List of mental disorders|mental illness]]; at times he thought he was made of glass, and his eldest surviving son, [[Louis, Duke of Guyenne]], was an unpromising prospect. However, it was the [[English claims to the French throne|old dynastic claim to the throne of France]], first pursued by [[Edward III of England]], that justified war with France in English opinion.

Henry may have regarded the assertion of his own claims as part of his royal duty, but a permanent settlement of the national debate was essential to the success of his foreign policy. Following the instability back in England during the reign of King [[Richard II]], the [[Hundred Years' War|war in France]] came to a halt, as during most of his reign relations between England 
and France were largely peaceful and so they were during his father's reign as well. But in 1415, hostilities were renewed between the two nations, and though Henry had a claim to the French throne, through his great–grandfather King Edward III by [[Isabella of France|his mother's]] side, the French ultimately rejected this claim as its nobles pointed out that under the [[Salic law]] of the [[Franks]], women were forbidden from inheriting the throne. Thus the throne went to a distant male relative of a cadet branch of the [[House of Capet]], [[Philip VI of France]], resulting in the Hundred Years' War beginning in 1337. Wanting to claim the [[French throne]] for himself, Henry resumed the war against France in 1415. This would lead to one of England's most successful military campaigns during the whole conflict and would result in one of the most decisive victories for an English army during this period.<ref name=EB1911/>