This is History: A Dynasty to Die For — S8 E10 | The Road to Rouen
Host: Dan Jones
Date: November 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, acclaimed historian Dan Jones takes listeners to the heart of Henry V’s siege of Rouen, an infamous chapter of the Hundred Years War that exemplifies the depths of medieval cruelty and political chaos. “The Road to Rouen” explores not only Henry V’s relentless military campaign but also the context of a fractured, distracted France, riven by civil war and unable to face the English onslaught. Through chilling narration and historical comparison, Jones vividly reconstructs the misery of besieged Rouen, exposing both the ruthlessness of England’s most celebrated warrior-king and the catastrophic ineptitude of a divided French nobility.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Horrors of the Siege of Rouen

• Scene Setting: The episode opens with an unflinching portrayal of the conditions outside Rouen’s walls. Starving civilians, dubbed “useless mouths,” are expelled from the city and left to perish between the city and the English siege lines.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 03:15):
    “The ditch that surrounds the city of Rouen is a terrible thing to see. Everywhere on its dry bed are makeshift homes ... inside these hovels live people, but they're only just recognizable as human.”

• Henry’s Ruthlessness: Unlike typical conventions of siege warfare, Henry V refuses to let these harmless civilians escape, employing starvation as a weapon to break Rouen’s resistance.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 03:56):
    “Normally, when this happens, a besieging army will allow unarmed citizens to pass through the siege lines and drift away as refugees. Not Henry.”

Comparison to Modern Sieges

• Personal Reflection: Jones draws a parallel between medieval sieges and those of recent history, specifically referencing the siege of Dubrovnik during the Yugoslav Wars—a moving anecdote underscoring the timeless tragedy and trauma of siege warfare.
  • Quote (Dan Jones, 05:03):
    “Siege warfare in any age is pretty terrible … The siege of Rouen in 1418–19 is no exception. In fact, it may just rank as one of the grimmest episodes in the whole of the Hundred Years War.”

Military Strategy and the Anatomy of a Siege

• Planning the Siege: Henry V’s calculated approach: encircle the city, blockade the Seine with chains and warships (with support from Portuguese allies), and segment his army to guard every gate. Hunger, not artillery, is his chief weapon.
• Tenacity and Discipline: Morale is bolstered through personal leadership—Henry traverses the camps daily, distributing wine and ordering harsh discipline for infractions.
• Starvation as Tactic: Supplies inside Rouen quickly dwindle, as planned. The citizens had stored six months of rations, but it is all but exhausted within ten weeks.

The French Political Collapse

• Civil War in France: The episode untangles the chaos gripping France—King Charles VI’s insanity, the feuding Burgundians (led by John the Fearless) and Armagnacs have paralyzed national defense. The Dauphin Charles, only 15, is a powerless pawn.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 15:05):
    “No one in power seems capable or even very interested in trying to fix it … the French are totally absorbed in their own catastrophic self-owning psychodrama.”

• Parisian Bloodbath: Jones relays the gruesome events of June 13, 1418, when an enraged mob, influenced by the power struggle, massacres prisoners from the opposing faction—including the Count of Armagnac, in a tale of likely English propaganda.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 16:33):
    “[The Count] is pulled from his cell and hung upside down by his bootstraps. Then he's flayed alive... goose feathers are stuck to the Count's exposed flesh with his own blood.”

The Final Days—Rouen’s Surrender

• French Failure to Respond: Despite impassioned pleas from Rouen’s emissaries to John the Fearless, meaningful relief is delayed by political inertia and duplicity.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 21:52):
    “John the Fearless... has his heart softened a little by this sorry tale. He agrees to send help... But once the messengers are gone, John the Fearless drags his heels.”

• Starvation Forces Capitulation: By New Year’s 1419, Rouen is broken—starving, disease-ridden, and hopeless. Negotiators plead for mercy for the dying poor. Henry, characteristically, refuses.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 24:53):
    “Henry fixes them with his steeliest glare and simply replies, fellas, who put them there? Then he states his own terms. Rouen will surrender unconditionally.”

• Triumphant Entry and Aftermath: Henry enters the ruined city in a chilling scene described by contemporaries: the survivors are “but bones and bare skin with hollow eyes and visage sharp.” Religious processions celebrate victory. Henry is exalted as the true lord of Rouen—and France seems within his grasp.

  • Quote (Dan Jones, 26:47):
    “The answer, very simply, is Henry V. The Lancastrian King of England is a one-man war machine who never knows when to stop and doesn't care about who he mows down to clinch victory.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Ditch Folk’s Plight
  • “Met with stony refusal. The most Henry will allow is for newborn babies to be hoisted up for baptism by priests. That means if they die, they won't go to hell. But living in the ditch is hardly any better. Every hour, things get worse. The cries of the people... get more plaintive, and it becomes ever clearer that Henry is deliberately creating hell on earth.” (Dan Jones, 03:41)
• On the French Psychodrama
  • “The French are totally absorbed in their own catastrophic self-owning psychodrama... If things stay this way for much longer, they'll all be eating fish and chips by Christmas and talking about the weather.” (Dan Jones, 15:46)
• On the Suffering in Rouen after Surrender
  • “The streets so filthy and disgusting from six months of besiegement that they insist there's a collective clean up by the starving citizens before Henry will come and release them from their torment.” (Dan Jones, 25:16)
• Henry’s Final Triumph
  • “Parades of clergy holding crosses go before Henry as he trots into this zombie city mounted on a black horse decked in gold cloth and inspecting what is now unquestionably his property.” (Dan Jones, 26:35)

Important Timestamps

• Siege Begins / Starvation Outside Rouen — 03:15
• Siege Warfare Reflections, Dubrovnik Comparison — 05:03
• Henry’s Strategy & City’s Defenses — 07:23
• French Civil War, Paris Violence — 15:05
• Mob Kills Count of Armagnac — 16:33
• French Inaction, Emissaries Plead with John the Fearless — 21:52
• Rouen Surrenders; Henry’s Terms — 24:53
• Henry’s Triumphal Entry — 26:35

Tone & Style

Dan Jones’s tone is somber, urgent, and unsparingly vivid. While he occasionally adopts dark humor (“Mr. Cuddles”; “catastrophic self-owning psychodrama”), his core message is grave—a meditation on the cruelty of war and the devastating human cost behind Henry V’s glory. The episode honors both historical detail and moral complexity, challenging the listener to reconsider heroism, villainy, and the tragic irony that shaped an era.

Call to Action

Dan Jones closes by turning the judgement over to listeners:

• “No one's hands are clean this episode. So I want to know who was the greater villain, Henry or the fractured French court?”
  Join the discussion and access exclusive content at Patreon.

This episode is an immersive, unsettling, and essential listen for anyone interested in the intersection of warfare, leadership, and the suffering it inflicts—raising poignant questions that resonate far beyond the 15th century.