<P> At the end of May, Henry was joined by his queen and together with the French court, they went to rest at Senlis . While there, it became apparent that he was ill (possibly dysentery), and when he set out to the Upper Loire, he diverted to the royal castle at Vincennes, near Paris, where he died on 31 August 1422 . The elderly and insane Charles VI of France died two months later on 21 October 1422 . Henry left an only child, his nine - month - old son, Henry, later to become Henry VI . </P> <P> On his deathbed, Henry V had given the Duke of Bedford responsibility for English France (as Henry VI was only an infant). The war in France continued under Bedford's generalship and several battles were won . The English won an emphatic victory at the Battle of Verneuil (17 August 1424). At the Battle of Baugé, Clarence had rushed into battle without the support of his archers . At Verneuil, the archers fought to devastating effect against the Franco - Scottish army . The effect of the battle was to virtually destroy the Dauphin's field army and to eliminate the Scots as a significant military force for the rest of the war . </P> <P> The appearance of Joan of Arc at the siege of Orléans sparked a revival of French spirit, and the tide began to turn against the English . The English laid siege to Orléans in 1428, but their force was insufficient to fully invest the city . In 1429 Joan convinced the Dauphin to send her to the siege, saying she had received visions from God telling her to drive out the English . She raised the morale of the troops, and they attacked the English redoubts, forcing the English to lift the siege . Inspired by Joan, the French took several English strongholds on the Loire . </P> <P> The English retreated from the Loire Valley, pursued by a French army . Near the village of Patay, French cavalry broke through a unit of English longbowmen that had been sent to block the road, then swept through the retreating English army . The English lost 2,200 men, and the commander, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, was taken prisoner . This victory opened the way for the Dauphin to march to Reims for his coronation as Charles VII, on 16 July 1429 . </P>

Who is credited with motivating the french to victory in the hundred years' war