The siege of Rouen (29 July 1418 – 19 January 1419) was a major event in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, in which English forces loyal to

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

captured

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, the capital of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, from the Norman French.

Background

At the time of the siege, the city had a population of 20,000, making it one of the leading cities in France, and its capture was crucial to the Normandy campaign. From about 1415, Rouen had been strengthened and reinforced by the French and was the most formidably defended place that the English had yet faced. The previous year, Henry V had successfully taken another important city in Normandy following the siege of Caen.

Prelude

When the English reached Rouen, the walls were defended by 60 towers, each containing three cannons, and six gates protected by

barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

s. The garrison of Rouen had been reinforced by 4,000 men and there were some 16,000 civilians willing to endure a siege. The defences were lined by an army of

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...

men under the command of Alain Blanchard, commander of the crossbows (''arbalétriers''), and second in command to Guy le Bouteiller, a Burgundian captain and the overall commander.

Siege

To besiege the city, Henry set up four fortified camps and barricaded the

River Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres p ...

with iron chains, completely surrounding the city, with the English intending to starve out the defenders. The

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

John the Fearless John I (; ; 28 May 1371 – 10 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his assassination in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs during the early 15th century, part ...

, had just captured

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from the Armagnacs. He did not make an attempt to save Rouen and advised citizens to look after themselves. By December, the inhabitants were eating cats, dogs, horses, and even mice and the streets were filled with starving citizens. The city expelled more than 12,000 of the poor to save food, but Henry would not allow them to pass through the siege line, and they were forced to live without sustenance in the defensive ditch in front of the city wall. Even the English felt sorry for the starving people. On Christmas Day 1418, King Henry allowed two priests to give them food, but the day soon ended, and the people went back to dying miserably in the ditch. Despite several sorties by the French garrison, this state of affairs continued. On New Year's Eve, Boutellier asked for negotiations. Following ten days of negotiation, the defenders decided they would surrender on 19 January 1419 if no help had arrived, on the agreed terms that the surviving French would be allowed to keep their homes and property if they gave up 80 hostages, paid 300,000 gold crowns, and swore allegiance to the English. Blanchard, who had summarily hung English prisoners of war from the city walls, was one of three French notables beheaded by the English when Rouen fell.

Aftermath

Henry went on to take all of Normandy apart from

Mont-Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is in ...

, which withstood a blockade. Rouen became the main English base in northern France, allowing Henry to launch campaigns on

and to the south.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege of Rouen (1418-1419) 1410s in France 1418 in England 1419 in England Conflicts in 1418 Conflicts in 1419 Henry V of England History of Rouen Hundred Years' War, 1415–1453 Military history of Normandy Rouen 1418 Rouen 1418 Rouen 1418