The Fractured Kingdom: France on the Brink

In the early 15th century, France stood as a kingdom divided against itself. The assassination of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, by supporters of the Dauphin Charles in 1419 had escalated an already bitter feud between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions. This act of violence, far from consolidating royal authority, instead pushed the Burgundians into an unprecedented alliance with England’s Henry V, who had been waging his own campaign of conquest in Normandy since 1415.

The political landscape of France in 1420 presented a tragic spectacle of civil war compounded by foreign invasion. The mentally unstable King Charles VI reigned in name only, while his son the Dauphin Charles controlled territories south of the Loire. The powerful Burgundian faction, now led by Philip the Good following his father’s assassination, dominated much of northern and eastern France. Into this fractured realm stepped Henry V of England, presenting himself as both conqueror and potential heir to the French throne through his marriage to Princess Catherine.

The Treaty of Troyes: A Controversial Pact

The Treaty of Troyes, signed on May 21, 1420, represented one of the most audacious political maneuvers of the Hundred Years’ War. This agreement effectively disinherited the Dauphin Charles, declaring Henry V and his heirs as successors to the French throne. In return, Henry would govern France as regent during Charles VI’s lifetime and maintain the territorial rights of Philip the Good and his Burgundian allies.

However, the treaty proved immediately controversial even among its supposed beneficiaries. Several Burgundian nobles, including Philip of Saint-Pol and Louis of Orange, refused to swear allegiance to the new arrangement. Guy de La Trémoille, Count of Joigny, openly predicted that those who did swear would “lose their heads” for it. The Duke of Luxembourg remained angry about broken English promises regarding safe passage, yet like many pragmatic nobles, he continued to watch the political winds carefully.

Internationally, the treaty received a lukewarm response. While Sigismund, King of Germany, and Louis III, Count Palatine of the Rhine (Henry V’s former brother-in-law) accepted it, Pope Martin V pointedly withheld approval. Key allies like Castile and Scotland rejected it outright, while Lorraine’s Duke Charles II, despite being a Burgundian ally, also refused recognition.

The Dauphin’s Resistance and Strategic Challenges

For the Dauphin Charles and his supporters, the Treaty of Troyes represented an existential threat. One courtier’s impassioned critique captured the sentiment: “How could the naive Catherine agree to marry the enemy to humiliate her own brother? How could so many noble Frenchmen abandon their sworn duty to the crown?” This outrage fueled the Dauphin’s determination to resist, though his position remained precarious militarily and politically.

The Dauphin’s forces maintained several strategic advantages in 1420-1421. They controlled key positions along the Somme River, threatening the vital connection between Paris and Burgundian Flanders. In the Île-de-France region, they held Dreux and conducted raids into Upper Normandy. Along the Marne, their garrison at Meaux harassed the outskirts of Paris itself. In central France, commanders like Guillaume, Viscount of Narbonne, successfully pushed Burgundian forces back from the Loire Valley.

Yet these scattered successes couldn’t mask fundamental weaknesses. The Dauphin’s military suffered from poor coordination between regional commanders and a critical lack of senior leadership. The young Dauphin himself possessed no military genius, and with no heir, he couldn’t risk personal command in battle—a stark contrast to Henry V and his brothers. The position of Constable of France, traditionally the kingdom’s supreme military commander, remained vacant after the death of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, with no suitable high noble willing or able to fill it.

The Siege of Melun: A Pivotal Confrontation

The campaign season of 1420 reached its climax at Melun, a fortified town on the Seine that controlled access to Paris from the south. Here, veteran French commander Arnaud Guillaume de Barbazan led 600-700 troops in a determined defense against the combined Anglo-Burgundian forces of Henry V and Philip the Good.

The siege, lasting from July to November 1420, became a microcosm of the wider conflict. Henry V employed methodical siege tactics, constructing elaborate earthworks and bringing up heavy artillery. The defenders responded with innovative countermeasures, including underground warfare where miners from both sides clashed in narrow tunnels beneath the walls. One particularly colorful defender, an Augustinian monk, gained legendary status by reportedly killing over sixty attackers with his crossbow.

Despite Barbazan’s heroic defense, the promised relief force from the Dauphin never materialized. The planned expedition under Philip, Count of Vertus, collapsed when the commander fell ill and died in September. By November, with supplies exhausted and morale broken, Melun surrendered. Henry V’s retribution was severe: heavy fines on citizens, executions of Scottish troops and alleged assassins of John the Fearless, and Barbazan’s imprisonment under dubious charges.

The Scottish Intervention and the Battle of Baugé

The year 1421 brought a dramatic shift in fortunes with the arrival of substantial Scottish reinforcements. Some 4,000-5,000 troops under John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, landed in France, forming an independent command structure within the Dauphin’s forces. These experienced warriors, many veterans of Scotland’s own wars against England, brought new energy and tactics to the French cause.

Their impact became immediately apparent at the Battle of Baugé on March 22, 1421—Easter Sunday. Here, Thomas, Duke of Clarence (Henry V’s brother and heir) led a reckless cavalry charge against the Franco-Scottish positions without his customary longbow support. The result proved disastrous: Clarence himself was killed, along with several other English nobles, in one of the few clear French victories of the period.

The victory at Baugé electrified the Dauphin’s cause. Charles walked in procession to Poitiers Cathedral for a thanksgiving mass, while towns across his territories held celebratory processions. The Scottish commanders received lavish rewards: Buchan became Constable of France, while Gilbert Motier de La Fayette was promoted to Marshal. Yet strategic opportunities were missed—the Dauphin failed to capitalize quickly on the victory, allowing the English to regroup under the capable Thomas Montagu, Earl of Salisbury.

The Enduring Legacy of the Conflict

The events of 1420-1421 marked a critical juncture in the Hundred Years’ War. The Treaty of Troyes represented the high-water mark of English ambitions in France, while the resistance led by the Dauphin Charles—though often disorganized—kept alive the possibility of French resurgence. The Scottish intervention at Baugé demonstrated that Henry V’s conquests remained vulnerable, foreshadowing the more famous involvement of Joan of Arc a decade later.

These years also revealed the complex interplay of feudal loyalty, nascent nationalism, and personal ambition that characterized late medieval politics. The Burgundian-Armagnac feud continued to weaken France even as English occupation grew more entrenched north of the Loire. Yet the Dauphin’s persistence, coupled with growing resentment against foreign rule, would eventually bear fruit in the French reconquest of the 1430s and 1440s.

The story of this period remains one of both tragedy and resilience—a kingdom brought low by division, yet finding in its darkest hour the seeds of eventual renewal. The “dark valley” of French fortunes in 1420 would, through decades of struggle, ultimately give way to the “bright flowers” of national revival under Charles VII.