On this day in 1415, (Saint Crispin’s Day) the English army, led by Henry V, scored a decisive victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War. There had been several decades of relative peace, when the English resumed the war in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French. Henry V of England was a claimant to the throne of France. Henry’s claim was through his great-grandfather Edward III of England, although in practice the English kings were generally prepared to renounce this claim if the French would acknowledge the English claim on Aquitaine and other French lands as outlined in an earlier treaty. Continue reading →