487. Hundred Years' War: Henry V’s Invasion of France (Part 1)

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more, we'll close the wall up with our English dead […] And upon this charge, cry God for Harry, England and St. George!”
Such was Henry V’s call to arms at the siege of Harfleur, as written by Shakespeare. The son of the Usurper King, Henry V has decided to take up the English claim to the French throne, thereby putting an end to the truce that had marked a pause in the Hundred Years’ War. And so, in the late summer of 1415, Henry has decided to lay siege to the massive port of Harfleur, in Normandy, a renowned nest of state-sponsored pirates. The English king has waited a long time for this moment, and the odds may never again be so favourable to him: a civil war looms in France, as the formidable Burgundians, led by John the Fearless, jostle for power with their sworn enemies, the Armagnacs. The powerless French king, Charles VI, and his son, the Dauphin, can do nothing but watch the infighting unfold…

Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of their return to the story of the Hundred Year’s War, as Henry V takes up a decades-old claim to the French throne…

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• No. of episodes: 595
• Latest episode: 2025-06-11
• History

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