On the 6th of October Henry set out on his march through Normandy, with a force which at the utmost could not have exceeded 9000 men. On the 19th he succeeded in crossing the Somme by an unguarded ford between Beteneourt and- Voyenne; on the 24th he crossed the Ternois at Blangi, and then came in sight of a French nrmy, commanded by the constable of France and the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, the strength of which has been variously estimated at from 50,000 to 150,000 men. The great battle of Agincourt was fought on the next day, in which the English gained one of the most complete as well aa wonderful victories on record [See Aar:mower, in Osoonarrucat DIVISION or ENO. Cm] Henry then marched to Calais, and embarked for England.
From his landing-place at Dover, where they rushed into the sea to meet him, all the way to London, which he entered on the 23rd of November, his progress was through a confluence of the people intoxicated with tumultuous joy. All seemed to feel that the victory of Agincourt was the conquest of France. But although no nation ever received so great a blow in a single field as France did on that fatal day—sihen a hundred and twenty of her greatest nobles fell, besides many more that were taken prisoners, including the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, the commanders in-chief in conjunction with the constable d'Albret, who was among the killed—it was not till after some years that, torn as she was by the most lamentable civil dissensions, and left nearly without a government, that unfortunate country at last consented to receive the yoke of her invader. Harfleur was attacked by the French the following August : hut the attempt was put an end to by a great naval victory gained by the duke of Bedford. In September Henry passed over to Calais, and there had a secret conference with the head of one of the great French factions, John, surnamed Sane-peur, duke of Burgundy, with whom there is no doubt that he came to some understanding about the employment of their united efforts for the destruction of the Orlean lets, who now had the government in their bands. It was by thus politically taking advantage of the dissensions of his enemies, rather than by any further very brilliant military operations, that Henry at last achieved the conquest of France. He returned to that country in August 1417, baying under his command a magnificent army of about 35,000 men. With this force he soon reduced the whole of Lower Normandy. lie then laid siege to Rouen, 30th July 1418, and was detained before this town till after a brave resistance it capitulated on the 16th of January in the following year. By this time the duke of
Burgundy had obtained the ascendancy in Paris and at the court of the incapable Charles and his profligate queen; and he was not now so much disposed as he had probably been two years before to aid the ambitious project of the English king. From Rouen Henry advanced upon Paris, on which Burgundy and the queen, taking the king with them, left that city, and went, first to Lagny, and afterwards to Provine. It was at last agreed however that a truce should be con cluded between the English and the Bourguignons, and that Henry should meet the duke and the king and queen of France on the 30th of May. On that day the conference took place on the right hank of the Seine, near the town of Meulan. But after being protracted for above a month, the negotiation was suddenly broken off by the French party ; and then it was discovered that the duke had concluded a treaty with the dauphin and the faction of the Armagnaes. On this Henry immediately resumed his advance upon Paris. Meanwhile tho hollowness of the apparent reconciliation that had been hastily patched up between the two rival factions became abundantly manifest ; the formal alliance of the chiefs had no effect in uniting their followers. At length, on the 10th of September, Burgundy having been induced to meet the dauphin on the bridge of Montereau, was there foully fallen upon and murdered by the attendants, and in the presence, of the treacherous prince. From this time the Bour gnignons, and even the people of Paris, who were nttached to that party, looked upon the English as their natural allies against the dauphin and his faction. Philip, the young duke of Burgundy, and the queen in the name of her husband, immediately assented to all Henry's demands, which were—the hand of Charles's eldest daughter, the Princess Catherine, the present regency of the kingdom, and the succession to the throne of France on .the death of Charles. It was also arranged that one of Henry's brothers should marry a sister of duke Philip. Several months were spent in the settlement of certain minor points; but at last the treaty of 'Perpetual Peace,' as it was styled, was completed and signed at Troyes by Queen Isabella and Duke Philip, as the commissioners of King Charles, on the 20th of May 1920; and on the following day the oath to observe it was taken without murmur or hesitation by the parliament, the nobility, and deputies from such of the commonalties as acknowledged the royal authority.