Siege of Caen (1417)
Who Fought
History & Significance
The siege of Caen took place during the Hundred Years War when English forces under King Henry V laid siege to and captured Caen in Normandy from its French defenders.
Following his victory at Agincourt in 1415, Henry had returned to England. The battle, although ensuring that the French would not face the English in open battle again, had not furthered Henry's claim to the French throne, and he therefore set about raising another, even larger, army. In March 1417 at Southampton, Henry began to assemble a force of some 12,000 men at arms and archers, together with about 30,000 supporting men; gunners, engineers, miners, armourers and other auxiliaries. A huge quantity of stores included all kinds of siege engines, artillery and gunpowder. On 23 July, the whole force began to embark on a fleet estimated at 1,500 ships, finally setting sail for France on 30 July.
The English army landed on the coast of Normandy near Deauville. Henry's plan was to capture and garrison the major cities and towns of Lower Normandy, before moving on towards Paris. His first objective was the city of Caen, the second largest in Normandy with a population of up to 40,000. The recently improved defensive walls had a total of twelve gatehouses and thirty two towers. The upper or old town with its castle, the Chateau de Caen, stood on a hill, overlooking the lower or new town, which was almost completely surrounded by a loop in the River Orne. The French garrison began demolishing buildings outside of the walls to avoid giving cover to the attackers, however two large monasteries were still being prepared for demolition when the English vanguard, led by Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, arrived. Clarence took over the Abbey of Sainte-Trinité as his headquarters. A story says that a monk from the other monastery, the Abbey of Saint-Étienne or Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey"), came to Clarence at night, begged him not to allow the French troops to destroy the church and offered to show him a way over the abbey walls. The abbey, which had a commanding view over the town, was captured and Henry later installed guns on the roof.
Having installed a prefabricated bridge over the river, Henry began the siege on 18 August with an artillery barrage on the lower town. The English cannon were so large that the shock of firing broke the abbey windows. The larger guns fired solid stone balls or hollow iron shells filled with combustible material, while the smaller guns fired showers of lead shot. Henry also attempted to undermine the walls, but the defenders set up bowls of water on the ramparts so that by observing the ripples, they could detect the English digging and countermine, fighting the attackers underground.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Caen (1417) lies on Great Oolite Group, bedrock that formed in the Bathonian. The rock here is sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Caen (1417)
This page covers Siege of Caen (1417). A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Caen (1417)
Battles near Siege of Caen (1417)
Explore the landscape around this battlefield
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
- Siege of Caen (1417) · Wikipedia