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636 FRA 
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tempt, they offered to Henry the princefs Catharine with 
a portion of eight hundred thoufand crowns; the entire 
lovereignty of Guienne ; and to annex to that province 
the countries of Perigord, Rovergue, Saintonge, the An- 
goumois, and other territories. But the negociation of 
the king of England had never been ferious; the minds 
of his fubjefts could only be diverted from the means by 
which his father had acquired the crown, by an invafion 
of France ; he rejected thefe conditions, continued liis 
preparations for war, and a'ffembled a formidable arma¬ 
ment at the port of Southampton. 
That wealth with which the mini tiers of France had 
endeavoured to purchafe peace, they employed to foment 
the difcontents ot the fubjects of Henry, and allured fe- 
veral of his nobility into a confpiracy againft their fove- 
reign. But their treafon was difcovered, and their dark 
defigns proved only fatal to-themfelves'; while France, 
at the moment that ike depended on the fuccefs of her 
intrigues, was alarmed and difmayed by the intelligence 
that Henry, with an army of fix thoufand men at arms and 
twenty-four thouland foot, had landed near Harfleur, and 
prelfed the fiege of that town, which was compelled to 
capitulate. But the gallantry of the governor and gar- 
rifon ot Harfleur had allowed France time to coileCt her 
forces; an army of fourteen thoufand men at arms, and 
forty thoufand foot, was affembled in Normandy, under 
the conltable d’Albert; while the fatigues of the fiege, 
and the uncommon heat of the feafon, had wafted the 
Englilh to one half of their original force. Henry had 
diftniffed his trnnfports, which would have been endan¬ 
gered on an open coafl; and fenlible of the difficulties 
which mutt have attended his march to Calais, he offered 
to purchafe a fafe retreat at the expence of his new con- 
queft of Harfleur. But the army of the conftable was 
already joined by the dauphin and the princes of the 
blood ; impatient to fignalize themfelves, and efface the 
difgrace of Crecy and Poidtiers, they rejected the pro- 
potal ; and the king of England found he mu ft place his 
foie reliance on his own conduct and valour. He dowdy 
pointed his march towards the river Somme, which he 
hoped to pafs at the fame ford as'had proved fo aufpicious 
to his predeceffor Edward. In this lie was difappointed 
by the precautions of the French ; and as he advanced 
along the banks of the river, his provifions hourly dimi- 
nilhed, and his difficulties increafed. At length he,found 
:t paffage near Sr. Quintin ; but he had fcarce'y reached 
the oppofite fide, before the French, who pretied upon his 
rear, traverfed tiie Somme alfo, and potted themfelves 
between the Englifii army and Calais. 
The experience of former defeats, it might have been 
expefted, would have checked the impetuofify of the 
French, and have taught them to have extinguifhed their 
adverfary by hanging on his rear, without trutting to the 
uncertain event of a pitched battle. But in an age when 
the art of war was little underftood, and when all glory 
confided in perfonal prowefs, it was difficult to reltrain 
the lofty fpirits of a martial nobility, who confidered the 
prefence of their enemy as an intuit. The dauphin and 
the duke of Berri had abfented themfelves to attend the 
king, who was opprelfied by a return of his indifpofition ; 
and the Command was entt tided to the conftable d’Albert, 
who in his determination to fight, and in the difpofition 
which he made, (hewed himfelf equally unworthy of the 
confidence repofed in him. The plains of Agincourt have 
beenTendered immortal by this celebrated adlion. Henry 
no fooner found his retreat intercepted by the appearance 
of the enemy, than be drew up his army on a narrow 
ground between two woods, which guarded each flank; 
and patiently awaited the charge of his foes, whofe num¬ 
bers four times exceeded his own. 
In the battle of Agincourt, fought Oftober 25, 1415, 
we review that of Poidtiers ; the French charged with 
the fame contempt of danger and difcijdine ; the Englifii 
received them with the fame cool and deliberate intrepi¬ 
dity.. The former vvere led on by a generous nobility, 
N C" E. 
and encouraged by their fuperior numbers; the latter 
were.animated by the prefence of their king, and the me¬ 
mory of ancient victories. The event was finch as might 
be expedited ; the French were difordered By their own 
impetuofity, and their numbers ferved only to increafe 
their confufion and difgrace. Their cavalry were entan¬ 
gled in the heavy ground on which they engage d ; and, 
incapable of flight or refiftance, were flauglnercd by the 
battle-axes of the Englifii. The conftable himfelf, the 
count of Nevers, and the duke of Brabant, both brothers 
to the duke of Burgundy, the dukes of Aiencon and 
Barre, the counts of Vandemont and Marie, [corning to 
furvive this national calamity, ruined into the miqft of 
■the tumult, and perifiied, with above ten thoufand of 
their followers. The dukes of Orleans and Bourbon ; 
the counts of Eu, Vendotne, and Richemont '; the marefi- 
chal of Boucicaut; and above fourteen thoufand ofinfesior 
rank were taken prifoners: while on the fide of the Eng- 
lifill the lot's was truly inconfiderable. See the particulars 
under the article England, voi. vi, p. 609—610. 
Henry now purfued his triumphant march to Calais ; 
but the inconfiderable number cf his troops did not allow 
him to improve his advantage. From Calais he palled 
over with his prifoners to England, ar,n foon after con¬ 
cluded a truce with the niiniflers of Charles. But what¬ 
ever reafons might deter the Englilh monarch from re¬ 
turning with frefh forces to the inftant conqueft of 
France, that kingdom, on the news of his victory, was 
fiiaken by the mod violent convulfio'ns. Confternation 
and affright pervaded every province; and the death of 
the dauphin Louis, though his charadter afforded no 
promife of happier times, heightened the confufion, by 
tiie fufpicious circumftances which accompanied his in¬ 
difpofition. Mis fecond brother John, who fucceeded to 
his claims, and who had married the daughter of the duke 
of Burgundy, within a year was involved in the fame me¬ 
lancholy fate ; anti the voice of a jealous people, which 
even glanced at the queen, more loudly accufed the king 
of Sicily, fon of the duke of'Anjou who expired at 
Calabria, of adminitlering poifon to John, that he might 
promote the intereft of Charles, tiie third fon of the 
king of France, on whom his daughter had befictved her 
hand, and on whom the title of dauphin now devolved. 
The fvvord of conftable had been beftowed,' after the 
defeat of Agincourt, on the count of Armagnac ; whofe 
enterpriling nieafures compelled the duke of Burgundy to 
relinquilh the admin,iftration that he had nfurped, and 
drove him from court to feek refuge in hisovvn territories. 
From thence he was foon invited by new diffenfions in the 
royal family. The queen'had amaffed, by years of fuccef- 
five rapacity, an imme.nfe treafure; the dauphin was per- 
funded not only to feize it for the public ufe, but at the 
fame time to execute an adt of exemplary vengeance on 
one of her minions who had difhonoured' his father’s bed. 
The queen herfelf was fer.t to Tours, and ftridtly confined. 
But the fpirit of Ifabella cottid ill brook thefe reiterated 
infults ; and flie no longer fern pled to enter into a cor: 
refipondence with the duke of Burgundy. As her fon, 
the dauphin, was attached to the hottfe of Orleans, [he 
foon extended her refentment to him. Delivered from 
her confinement by the arms of the duke of Burgundy, 
five is fuppofed to have received that prince with the fame 
criminal complaifance as (lie had before [hewn to the duke 
of Orleans, whom he had caufed to be affaflinatedJ In 
1417 (lie a [Fumed the title and authority of regent, to 
which (he had been nominated by a former edidt of, tiie 
king. She fixed the feat.of her refidence at Troyes ; and 
fiandtioned by her name the enterprifes of her new ally 
again fit the tninifters of her fon, who, file alfierted, detain¬ 
ed her royal contort in captivity. 
In the mean time Henry V. landed again in Normandy, 
and reduced that fertile province to his obedience. Li tie- 
Adam, one of the captains of the duke of Burgundy, fiud- 
denly prefented himfelf before the gates of Paris ; was 
admitted into the city by the treachery of a burgher ; and 
headed 
