Formigny, battle of

views updated

Formigny, battle of, 1450. By 1450 Henry VI, beset by disaffection at home, was hard-pressed to defend his French territories. A relief expedition under Sir Thomas Kyriel and Sir Matthew Gough was blocked by the comte de Clermont in Normandy on 15 April and badly defeated. The French use of artillery heralded the crushing victory at Castillon three years later and the collapse of England's empire in France.

J. A. Cannon