ABSTRACT
Henry V's death left England with its second minority in fifty years and with all the problems of government which this entailed. There are some parallels between the years after 1377 and those following 1422, notably in domestic political tensions and in the activity of the minority Council, but there are even more marked differences, which can be largely explained by relations with France. The military problem did not appear particularly difficult; an attempt by the Dauphinists to seize the strategic initiative after Henry V's death ended when their force, commanded by the Scottish earl of Buchan, was defeated at Cravant in 1423. Henry's real aims, at least until the time of Montereau, may have been limited primarily to conquests in northern France, so he could afford to move gradually. Bedford's principal objective here was to maintain alliances with the enemies of the Valois King, particularly the dukes of Burgundy and Brittany.
