It is believed that Henry, the future king of England Henry V, was born at the gatehouse tower of Monmouth Castle. His father was Henry Bolingbroke the future Henry IV king of England and his mother was Mary de Bohun. Mary was seventeen when Henry was born. ¹

Bolingbroke's son Henry, Prince of Monmouth, was made Prince of Wales. The Prince was not the true heir to the English throne as this honour fell to the young Earl of March, but Henry would become Henry V, king of England. ¹

King Henry IV gave his son Prince Henry, the future Henry V, the task of defeating Owain Glyndwr in North Wales. As the boy was only 13 years old, Hotspur a knight and jouster of importance was given the role of guardian over the Prince. Hotspur was the son of Henry Percy the Earl of Northumberland. ¹

After accusing the king of not paying his army, Hotspur resigned his guardianship of the king's son in North Wales and he left to resume fighting the Scots. ¹

Prince Henry, now sixteen, took control of this army in Wales. He took his troops looking for Owain Owain Glyndwr but could not find him and so burnt villages and killed any prisoners that were taken. Henry's main problem, like Hotspur's before him was that the King was not providing enough money to pay the English troops.

English forces fought and defeated Welsh forces in two battles at Grosmont and Usk. Sir John Talbot defeated Owain Glyndwr at Grosmont and Prince Henry forced the Welsh to flee at Usk. Glyndwr's eldest son was captured at Usk and sent to the Tower of London where he died.

Prince Henry laid siege to the castle at Aberystwyth in an attempt to remove the Welsh who had captured it in 1404.

The Welsh surrender the castle at Aberyswyth. They had held out for a year. Prince Henry had tried destroying the castle with canons but had no success.

The King's mysterious illness had resurfaced and he was extremely ill and close to death. Prince Henry was temporarily put in control of the country.

Prince Henry was given the title of Constable of Dover. ¹

Henry V was crowned at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was marked by a very bad snow storm but people were unable to decide if this was a bad omen or a good one.

Parliament grants tonnage and poundage to Kiing Henry V for four years. ¹

King Henry attempted to build an alliance with John, the Duke of Burgundy who was involved in a power struggle with the Armagnacs for control of France. John was acting as regent due to the poor mental health of the French king, Charles VI. Henry sent an embassy to Paris to discuss terms. ¹

As the leader of the Lollards, the friend of the King was arrested and sent to the Tower of London.

Henry V had John Talbot arrested over a land dispute that must have escallated out of control. Talbot was sent to the Tower of London.

In an act of respect to Richard II, Henry had the dead king's body moved to its proper resting place in Westminster Abbey.

Alien priories were those in England who were dependant on usually French mother houses. During the Hundred Years War these priories were seen as a security risk. They also were a means of transferring much needed English money to France. A law was passed confiscating these priories. Many were transferred over to other religious orders.

Parliament agreed to give Henry V the money to invade France. Those that opposed the plans included Earl Marshal, Ralph Neville, who believed there was a better chance of subduing Scotland than France. ¹

In 1414 France was in the midst of a civil war between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs. While Charles VI, the French king, had joined the Armagnacs, Henry V, the English King, saw an opportunity to reclaim lost lands in France and came in on the side of the Burgundians. Henry's plan was to invade France but he needed a good reason. He gave the French king a list of demands including the French throne, the restoration of the Angevin empire and the hand of the French king's daughter in marriage. If the demands were not be met Henry would go to war. Henry could claim the French throne through a claim first made by his great-grandfather King Edward III that started the Hundred Years War.||In August of 1415, invasion plans were completed and Henry's army met at Portchester Castle where they boarded ships to take them across the English Channel to France.

Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury was sent to Ireland as Lieutenant to subdue the Irish tribes. Talbot was ruthless in his tactics and quickly took control earning himself a reputation. He stayed in Ireland until 1419 when he went to France.

Led by Richard Earl of Cambridge, Henry's cousin, a plot to assassinate the King and replace him with the Earl of March who was the true heir to the throne was hatched. The revolt brought together all the old enemies of Henry including Lord Scrope (Archbishop Scrope's nephew) and the Lollards. The Earl of March whose loyalties were with the king informed Henry of the plot the night before and the rebels were arrested. Several were executed.

Preparations for war were complete and Henry's army set sail from Southampton for the French coast.

Henry's army landed on the north bank of the Seine estuary near to the town of Harfleur (now part of Le Havre). Henry organised the siege of the town and waited for it to fall.

The town held out for five weeks in which time the English soldiers were starting to suffer from disease caught from their camps in the marshes. The people in the town were not doing much better and when it was clear that the town was not going to be rescued, the citizens surrendered. Henry treated the towns people with respect and let them leave.

Henry's plans for invading France had been dented by the time it took to capture Harfleur and the affect of disease on his men. He decided to move his men to Calais which was under English control.

Henry's plan was to get across the Somme at its estuary where it was relatively easy to cross but he received word that the crossing was being guarded by the French. Henry had no other choice but to follow the west bank of the Somme south into French territory to find a suitable crossing point. His men were short of food as Henry had told them to take only a few day's supplies expecting them to reach Calais. Henry finally found a crossing point that was unguarded and his army crossed the Somme.

The English army met the French army near the town of Agincourt. Although the English were outnumbered three to one, Henry used the local terrain to his advantage. The French cavalry were hit heavily by the English archers and French knights got bogged down in the wet fields. The French were defeated and Henry ordered that no prisoners should be taken apart from the extremely important knights who could be ransomed. The death toll amongst the French nobility was high.

After a few weeks recovering in Calais from their ordeal, Henry and the English army returned to England to a hero's welcome.

King Henry began his second French campaign when he and his large army landed at Trouville on the north coast of Normandy.

Once in France, King Henry appointed his brother the Duke of Clarence as Marshall of his army and together they advanced and laid siege to the city of Caen. Henry's attempt to storm and breach the walls failed, but his brother's attack on the other side of the walled city succeeded and the city fell to the English. It took several more days for the fortified castle within the city to be captured.

King Henry was not troubled by any Burgundian attempts to stop his progress and by the end of July had begun the siege of the important city of Rouen.

By December so many people in the besiged city of Rouen were starving that as many as 12,000 people were forced to leave. But King Henry refused to let them pass through the his lines and they remained stuck between the English and the walls of the city without food in the freezing weather. Many of them died.

The city of Rouen in Normandy surrendered to the English King after a siege of seven months. ¹

In the Treaty of Troyes King Charles VI of France agreed that after his death King Henry V of England and his heirs would become the rulers of France. It was also agreed that the French king's daughter, Catherine of Valois would marry Henry. ¹

The marriage of King Henry V and Catherine, the daughter of Charles VI king of France, took place and sealed the Treaty of Troyes.

Queen Catherine was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

King Henry began the siege of the city of Meaux.

Prince Henry (later Henry VI) was born at Windsor.

The French town of Meaux finally fell to the English besiegers. This being Henry's last great victory against the French.

Queen Catherine and her young son landed at Harfleur. From there she travelled to Rouen and then to Vincennes where she met her husband King Henry V. Together they travelled on to Paris. It was around this time that the King's health was failing. ¹

King Henry V had fallen ill during the previous winter and had not recovered during the spring and summer. He died at the age of 34 in Bios de Vincennes in France on August 31st and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The lead coffin containing the body of King Henry V travelled to Calais and across the Channel to Dover. It passed through Canterbury and Rochester and arrived in London for burial in Westminster Abbey. The body was buried within the shrine of Edward the Confessor. ¹