France in 1429

The years after Agincourt witnessed the nadir of the French efforts to dislodge the English. The French first suffered under the reign of the sometimes mad Charles VI. He was succeeded by Charles VII, who started his reign as a generally ineffective ruler. France was riven by civil war, with the Burgundians allying themselves with the English and the king under the control of the Armagnacs.

Charles VII was dislodged from Paris and made his capital in the south (Bourges). The English with their Burgundian allies captured much of the north of France. Paris was occupied by the English. The English continued to enjoy military success, as they did at the Battle of  Verneuil where they beat a combined Armagnac-Scottish force. The Duke of Bedford was regent in France and effectively pursued English interests.

The French position was so weak that they came to an agreement that after the death of Charles VI, the son of Henry V would be recognized as king of France.

It was at this time that Joan of Arc played a major role on the French stage, She came to Charles in 1428. Subsequently she relieved the siege at Orleans, marched with Charles to Rheims where he was crowned and succeeded in mobilizing the French. She was finally captured by the Burgundians at Compeigne and turned over to the English, who burned her as a heretic in 1430 in Rouen. The site she was captured is marked by statue. It is across the Oise near one of the city entrances. On May 23 Joan led a sortie from the city which chased a Burgundian troop. In turn, the Burgundians received reinforcements and the French were forced to withdraw. Fearing that the English would enter the city, the commander ordered the drawbridge raised, leaving Joan and other French forces covering the retreat outside the wall. She was taken prisoner. The picture on the left is her statue, with May 23, 1430 noting the date of capture. The photo to the right is standing at the base of the statue and showing a bridge that is the site of an earlier drawbridge protecting the city.

These years marked the rallying of the French and turn of the tide in their favor.

Source:

Desmond Seward, The Hundred Year's War, Atheum, N.Y., 1978

Northern France and the Paris Region, Michelin Guide Verte