Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/58

Henry V Vernon-sur-Seine, where he kept Easter; while there negotiations were reopened with Burgundy which eventually led to a truce and a conference, which was arranged to take place between Mantes and Pontoise at the end of May (Fœdera, ix. 717, 734–5, 747–53). Henry accordingly left Vernon for Mantes on the 28th, and next day met Burgundy, the queen of France, and her daughter Catherine. The first meeting was almost purely formal, and seven other conferences were held in June without effect. Henry demanded Catherine's hand in marriage, together with the territory secured by the treaty of Bretigny, Normandy, and his other conquests in full sovereignty; he was ready to renounce his claim on the throne of France (ib. ix. 762–3;, pp. 549–51). Isabella endeavoured to work on his feelings by refusing him a second interview with her daughter. Henry, however, proved inflexible; probably he was aware of the insincerity of the French. Burgundy had all the time been intriguing with the dauphin, and on 3 July, when a ninth conference was to have been held, both queen and duke failed to appear. Eight days later Burgundy met the dauphin near Melun, and agreed upon a peace, which was publicly proclaimed on the 29th (Rel. St.-Denys, xl. 45). Henry remained at Mantes throughout July, and, as soon as the truce expired, planned a skilful surprise on Pontoise, which was successfully executed 30 July. The fall of this town opened the way to Paris. The king wrote that it was his most important capture since the beginning of the war. From Mantes Henry went back to Rouen, and thence to direct the final operations before Gisors, which surrendered, after a six months' siege, on 22 Sept.

Meanwhile the fall of Pontoise, which some, without justice, ascribed to treachery on the part of Burgundy, had struck a severe blow at the agreement between the two French parties (ib. xl. 5 and 11;, i. 368). The dauphin's supporters determined to rid themselves of their rival, and the duke was treacherously murdered during a conference at Montereau on 11 Sept. The union of Henry's opponents was thus shattered, and Philip, the new duke of Burgundy, at once began to treat for an English alliance. It was not, however, till 2 Dec. that an agreement was made, under which Philip recognised Henry as heir of France, and promised to use his influence in procuring for him the hand of the Princess Catherine (Fœdera, ix. 816). Burgundy's adhesion did not go alone, for the city of Paris, after the murder of Duke John, had sent envoys to treat with Henry (ib. ix. 797), and Isabella, who controlled her mad husband, felt no sympathy for her son the dauphin. A general truce, from which the dauphin was excepted, was concluded on 24 Dec., and was renewed from time to time (ib. ix. 818, 857, 874). The negotiations were very prolonged, and the preliminaries for the treaty of peace were not signed till 9 April 1420 (ib. ix. 877). Meantime, however, the war was prosecuted with activity and success by the English and Burgundians acting in unison against the dauphin. On the other hand, an English fleet was defeated off La Rochelle by the combined forces of the Spaniards and French (, p. 556). Henry himself remained at Rouen from the beginning of December 1419 till 18 April 1420, when he left for Mantes on his way to the final conference at Troyes. At the beginning of May he was at Pontoise; thence he marched, by way of Brie, Charenton, Provins, and Nogent, to Troyes, where he arrived on 20 May with his brothers Clarence and Gloucester and a force of seven thousand men. The betrothal of Henry and Catherine took place forthwith, and next day the treaty of Troyes was formally ratified; by its terms Henry was recognised as heir to the French kingdom on the death of Charles VI and as regent during the king's life; he was to govern with the aid of a council of natives and to preserve all ancient customs; he undertook to recover for Charles all the territory then held by the dauphin; Normandy was to be his in full sovereignty, but on his accession to the French throne was to be rejoined to France; during the life of Charles his title was to be ‘Henricus rex Angliæ et hæres Franciæ.’ On the same day Burgundy renewed his alliance with the English king (see treaties in Fœdera, ix. 895; Rel. St.-Denys, xli. 1–3).

Henry and Catherine were married in the church of St. John at Troyes on Trinity Sunday, 2 June (Journal d'un Bourgeois, p. 664; Chron. Lond. p. 108; Fœdera, ix. 910). Only two days later Henry was on his way with Burgundy to lay siege to Sens, which was captured after a short resistance; thence the allies went to Montereau, which surrendered 23 June, though the castle held out a little longer. Bedford now came to join his brother with reinforcements, and Gloucester was sent back to act as regent in England. Early in July siege was laid to Melun; the town was stoutly defended, and Henry not only directed the operations himself, but took a practical part in them, meeting the governor, the Sire de Barbazan, in single combat. Melun resisted till 18 Nov.; those of its defenders who had been concerned in the murder of John of Burgundy were excepted from the