Siege of Meaux

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Meaux
partof=the Hundred Years' War


caption=
date=March 21, 1421
place=Meaux, France
result=English victory
combatant1=Kingdom of France
combatant2=Kingdom of England
commander1=Unknown
commander2=Unknown
strength1=Unknown
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=heavy
casualties2=lightThe Siege of Meaux was fought in 1422 between the English and the French during the Hundred Years' War. The English were led by King Henry V. Henry became ill while fighting this long battle, which took place during the winter months. He died on August 31 as a result.

Henry had returned from England in June of 1421 with 4,000 troops, and he set off immediately to relieve the Duke of Exeter at Paris. The capital was threatened by French forces, based at Dreux, Meaux, and Joigny. The King besieged and captured Dreux quite easily, and then he went south, capturing Vendôme and Beaugency before marching on Orleans. He did not have sufficient supplies to besiege such a large and well defended city, so after three days he went north to capture Villeneuve-le-Roy.

This accomplished, Henry marched on Meaux. The town's defense was lead by the Bastard of Vaurus, by all accounts cruel and evil, but a brave commander all the same. The siege commenced in October, and mining and bombardment soon brought down the walls. The English army began to fall sick rather early into the siege, and it is estimated that one sixteenth of the besiegers died from dysentary and smallpox.

As the siege continued, Henry himself grew sick, although he refused to leave until the siege was finished. Good news reached him from England that on 6 December, Queen Catherine had born him a son and heir at Windsor. Being the son of an usurper, this must have pleased Henry greatly, for it strengthened the Lancastrian control of the throne.

On 9 March 1422, the town of Meaux surrendered, although the garrison held out. Under continued bombardment, the garrison gave in as well on 10 March, following a siege of 8 months. The Bastard of Vaurus was decapitated, as was a trumpeter named Orace, who had once mocked Henry.

By this time, Henry was quite ill. Shortly after the siege, while en route to Cosne-sur-Loire, he found himself unable to ride, and had to be carried to Vincennes, where he arrived on 10 August. Henry V died at Vincennes 31 August, 1422. He was thirty-five. [Seward, Desmond. "The Hundred Years War"Pgs. 186-187, (New York, NY: Penguin Books). 1978]

References