Siege of Meaux ends 1422

By October 1421, Meaux was the last fortified town north of the Loire to oppose Henry V, and was strategically important as it controlled the Marne valley which was a supply route for wine, grain and building material.1. Having taken Dreux, Vendôme and Beaugency, but being unable to take Orlean,2 Henry arrived outside Meaux with an army of some 2,000 men on the 6th of October.3 Meaux was a city on the river Marne that consisted of two parts, the old roman walled town on the right bank of the river, and a fortified garrison on the left bank that was connected to the city by a stone bridge.1

In December the Marne flooded making the siege harder to maintain. The town and its fortification held out through the winter months and it wasn't until March 1422 that the town surrendered to Henry. However, the garrison held out but agreed to surrender if not relieved by the dauphanists by May the 9th. Dysentery was rife within the both the English and French camps. The English cannons finally broke down the walls and the garrison surrender on May the 10th.4

During the siege Henry became ill and it is thought that it was this illness that caused is death on the 31st of August 1422.5

• 1. a. b. Sumption, J. Cursed Kings. (Faber & Faber, 2015). p745.
• 2. Allmand, C. Henry V. Yale English Monarchs (Yale University Press, 1997). p163.
• 3. Sumption, J. Cursed Kings. (Faber & Faber, 2015). p746.
• 4. Allmand, C. Henry V. Yale English Monarchs (Yale University Press, 1997). pp164-170.
• 5. Jacob, E. F. The Fifteenth Century 1399-1485. Oxford History of England (Clarendon Press, 1961). p200.