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On the 11th of August 1415, King Henry V of England - an austere, pious, thoughtful and terrifying warlord in only his late-twenties - set sail for France. He embarked in the largest ship ever built on English soil at the head of some 15,000 ships, his nobles, brothers and hordes of Welsh longbow-men in tow. Two days later, they made land, and their target: the Port of Harfleur, a nest of state-sponsored pirates. Henry\u2019s intention was to use it as a spring-board to a wider campaign in France, capitalising on the chaos that raged there, before eventually annexing Normandy. The assault on Harfleur that followed was bloody and brutal. The first Norman town to be pulverised by artillery, the English canons created a hellish scene of smoke and fire. However, the siege went on longer than Henry had hoped, inflicting terrible devastation upon the city and his forces. Furthermore, large numbers of his men were falling sick and their supplies growing thin. Finally, after four long weeks of terrible siege warfare, the city fell. However, a massive French force was now assembling to recapture the fallen city, potentially undermining all the money and men that Henry had already spent on the campaign. With the clock ticking for the English towards the end of 1415, what would Henry\u2019s next move be? First, in a daring move of legendary chivalry, he challenged the portly French Dauphin to a duel, to no avail. So it was that he decided to march right across France and take Calais; a bold public proclamation of his right to the whole of France. Would Henry\u2019s plan prove overly ambitious, or would he get the decisive battle he craved\u2026?\n\nJoin Tom and Dominic as they discuss Henry V\u2019s first bloody forays into France, enacting his claim to the French crown that he truly believed was his by divine ordination, and thereby reigniting the tumultuous Hundred Years\u2019 War\u2026.\n_______\n\n*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*\nIf you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. \n\n*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*\nTom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history\u2019s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.\n\nTickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com\n_______\n\nTwitter:\n@TheRestHistory\n@holland_tom\n@dcsandbrook\n\nProducer: Theo Young-Smith\nAssistant Producer: Tabby Syrett\nExecutive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices