The French Connection

 

The Battle of Agincourt

Most English people know of the Battle of Agincourt because it was made famous by William Shakespeare in his famous history play Henry V. The battle is considered to be one of England's most celebrated victories in what is called the Hundred Years' War.

From the 11th to the 16th century, parts of France were under English control. The so-called 'Angevin Empire' stretched from Scotland to the Pyrenees and included Normandy, Maine, Brittany, Anjou, Aquitaine, Gascony and Toulouse. The Pale of Calais, remained part of England until 1558 during the reign of Mary 1.

After the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bordeaux was under English rule between 1152 and 1453. Henry V claimed the French throne through his great-grandfather Edward III, whose mother, Isabella of France, was the daughter of Philip IV of France. The 'Hundred Years' War' (1337-1453), fought between England and France, originated in English claims to the French throne.

The French throne ceased to exist in 1792 with the French Revolution. King George III of England was the last monarch to use the title King of France when England abandoned claims to the French throne in 1802.