Editing Henry V of England (section)

==== 1415 campaign ====
{{main|Siege of Harfleur|Battle of Agincourt}}
[[File:Ratification du Traité de Troyes 1 - Archives Nationales - AE-III-254.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The ratification of the [[Treaty of Troyes]] between Henry and Charles VI of France, [[Archives Nationales (France)]]]]

On 12 August 1415, Henry sailed for France, where his forces [[Siege of Harfleur|besieged the fortress]] at [[Harfleur]], capturing it on 22 September. Afterwards, he decided to march with his army across the French countryside toward [[Calais]] against the warnings of his council.<ref name="barker">{{cite book |last=Barker |date=2005 |first=J. |title=Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England |url={{google books |W2jTtdISwMMC |plainurl=yes}} |place=London |page=220 |author-link=Juliet Barker}}</ref> On 25 October, on the plains near the village of [[Azincourt|Agincourt]], a French army intercepted his route. Despite his men-at-arms' being exhausted, outnumbered and malnourished, Henry led his men into battle, decisively defeating the French, who suffered severe losses. The French men-at-arms were bogged down in the muddy battlefield, soaked from the previous night of heavy rain, thus hindering the French advance and making them sitting targets for the flanking English archers.<ref name="barker" /> Most were simply hacked to death while completely stuck in the deep mud. It was Henry's greatest military victory, ranking alongside the [[Battle of Crécy]] (1346) and the [[Battle of Poitiers]] (1356) as the greatest English victories of the Hundred Years' War. This victory both solidified and strengthened Henry V's own rule in England and also legitimized his claim to the French throne more than ever.<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Agincourt |title=Battle of Agincourt &#124; Facts, Summary, & Significance &#124; Britannica |date=18 October 2023}}</ref>

During the battle,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hibbert |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hibbert |title=Agincourt |year=1964 |publisher=Batsford |location=London |page=114 |chapter=During the battle
|oclc=460624273}}</ref> Henry ordered that the French prisoners taken during the battle be put to death, including some of the most illustrious who could have been held for [[ransom]]. Cambridge historian Brett Tingley suggests that Henry ordered them killed out of concern that the prisoners might turn on their captors when the English were busy repelling a third wave of enemy troops, thus jeopardising a hard-fought victory.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

The victorious conclusion of Agincourt, from the English viewpoint, was only the first step in the campaign to recover the French possessions that Henry felt belonged to the English crown. Agincourt also held out the promise that Henry's pretensions to the French throne might be realized. After the victory, Henry marched to Calais and the king returned in triumph to England in November and received a hero's welcome. The brewing nationalistic sentiment among the English people was so great that contemporary writers describe firsthand how Henry was welcomed with triumphal pageantry into London upon his return. These accounts also describe how Henry was greeted by elaborate displays and with choirs following his passage to [[St.Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name="britannica.com"/>

[[File:Battle of Agincourt, St. Alban's Chronicle by Thomas Walsingham.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Battle of Agincourt]] as depicted in the 15th century 'St Albans Chronicle' by [[Thomas Walsingham]].]]

Most importantly, the victory at Agincourt inspired and boosted the English morale, while it caused a heavy blow to the French as it further aided the English in their conquest of [[Normandy]] and much of northern France by 1419. The French, especially the nobility, who by this stage were weakened and exhausted by the disaster, began quarrelling and fighting among themselves. This quarrelling also led to a division in the French aristocracy and caused a rift in the [[French royal family]], leading to infighting. By 1420, a treaty was signed between Henry V and Charles VI of France, known as the [[Treaty of Troyes]], which acknowledged Henry as regent and heir to the [[French throne]] and also married Henry to Charles's daughter [[Catherine of Valois]].<ref name="britannica.com"/>