THE ACTIVITIES OF HENRY V, KING OF ENGLAND, IN THE SPHERE OF TREATIES

Abstract

Abstract. The article gives an outline of the main undertakings of the parties under the Treaty
of Canterbury of 1416, the agreements reached with the duke of Burgundy in 1419 and the Peace
of Troyes of 1420. Those are mostly the undertakings creating military alliances, which reflect
both the peculiar features of the law of the epoch regulating the relations of princes and the
special features of the meaning of security pertaining to the epoch. In particular the Treaty of
Canterbury is of interest because of its way to formulate an incrimination of the threat of peace
with the purpose to justify the actions of the parties to the treaty. The agreements with the duke
of Burgundy set in advance the terms of the future peace between England and France and establish
the alliance aimed at facilitating the implementation of responsibility for the murder of
the former duke. The most important of the treaties discussed, that of peace of Troyes, foresees
the alliance of the two kingdoms, England and France, under the power of one monarch, but not
their union in one state. Some provisions of the treaty, though, could be used with time with the
view of taking steps to bring the domestic legal orders of England and France further together
and to unite the two states.
Key words: the Middle Ages, the Hundred Years’ war, peace of Troyes, international treaty,
military alliance, history of international law, legal undertakings.