Siege of Meaux

The 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 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 led 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. Casualties began to mount in the English army, including John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford who had been at the siege of Harfleur, the Battle of Agincourt, and received the surrender of Cherbourg. Also killed in the siege was young John Cornwall, only son of famous nobleman John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope. Young John Cornwall was only seventeen when he was killed at the Siege of Meaux. He died next to his father, who witnessed his son’s head being blown off by a gun-stone. The English also began to fall sick rather early into the siege, and it is estimated that one sixteenth of the besiegers died from dysentery 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 borne 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.