The current King of France is Charles VI, also known as Charles the Beloved or Charles the Mad. He is a delicate man who suffers from intermittent psychotic episodes and believes he is made of glass. The current King of England is Henry V, who is the very opposite of poor mad Charles. A hardened and energetic warrior determined to subsume France under English rule, Henry is a monarch to be reckoned with and feared, a man with a true fixity of purpose. Under Henry V’s military leadership, England enjoys a succession of victories, including the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and controls Normandy, Paris, and nearly all of the territories north of the Loire River.

In the vacuum left by an incapacitated French king, two individuals grapple for power: Charles VII, the Dauphin, or the eldest surviving son of the King of France, and his father’s cousin, John the Fearless, the influential and ambitious Duke of Burgundy. In May 1418, John seizes Paris, driving the Dauphin out of the capital. However, only a year later, Charles VII finds himself embroiled in John’s assassination during a meeting of truce on a bridge in the town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne. This is a grave political misstep, setting off a disastrous series of events for the Dauphin. As a result of his father’s death, John’s only son, Philip III, the new Duke of Burgundy, swears vengeance on Charles VII, his cousin, and pledges to aid the English against the French. There are thus three forces at play during this time, with England and Burgundy allied on one side, and France on the other.

In 1420, in a great political coup, the Treaty of Troyes is signed between Henry V of England and Charles VI of France. By this treaty, the disgraced Dauphin falls out of the line of succession to the French throne, and a marriage is arranged between Henry V and Catherine of Valois, Charles VI’s youngest daughter. The Treaty of Troyes declares that the son (and future descendants) of Henry V and Catherine of Valois will rule over both kingdoms, and that Henry will replace the Dauphin as heir to Charles VI’s throne.