291.  Summary.

The one great event with which Henry V’s name is connected is the conquest of France.  It was hailed at the time as a glorious achievement.  In honor of it his tomb in Westminster Abbey was surmounted by a statue of the King, having a head of solid silver.  Eventually the head was stolen and never recovered; the wooden statue still remains.  The theft was typical of Henry’s short-lived victories abroad, for all the territory he had gained was soon destined to be hopelessly lost.

Henry VI (House of Lancaster, Red Rose)—­1422-1461

292.  Accession of Henry; Renewal of the French War.

The heir to all the vast dominions left by Henry V was proclaimed King of England and France when in his cradle, and crowned, while still a child, first in Westminster Abbey and then at Paris.

But the accession to the French possesions was merely an empty form, for as Prince Charles, the son of the late Charles VI of France, refused to abide by the Treaty of Troyes (S290) and give up the throne, war again broke out.

293.  Siege of Orleans.

The Duke of Bedford[1] fought vigorously in Henry’s behalf.  In five years the English had got possession of most of the country north of the Loire.  They now determined to make an effort to drive the French Prince south of that river.  To accomplish this they must take the strongly fortified town of Orleans, which was situated on its banks.  (See map facing p. 84.)

[1] During Henry’s minority, John, Duke of Bedford, was Protector of the realm.  When absent in France, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, acted for him.

Forts were accordingly built around the place, and cannon planted to batter down its walls (S239).  Six month later, so much progress had been made in the siege, that it was plain the city could not hold out much longer.  The fortunes of Prince Charles seemed to depend on the fate of Orleans.  If it fell, nothing, apparently, could save France from yielding to her conqueror.

294.  Joan of Arc, 1429-1431.

At this juncture Joan of Arc, a peasant girl of eighteen, came forward to inspire her despairing countrymen with fresh courage.  She believed that Heaven had called her to drive the English from the land.  The troops rallied round her.  Clad in white armor, mounted on a white war horse, she saved Orleans; then she led the troops from victory to victory, until she saw Prince Charles triumphantly crowned in the Cathedral of Rheims. (See map facing p. 128.)

Her fortunes soon changed.  Her own people basely abandoned her.  The unworthy King Charles made no attempt to protect the “Maid of Orleans,” and she fell into the hands of the infuriated English, who believed she was in league with the devil.  In accordance with this belief Joan was tried for witchcraft and heresy at Rouen, and sentenced to the flames.  She died (1431) as bravely as she had lived, saying in her last agonies that her celestial voices had not deceived her, and that through them she had saved France.