Henry V wins a victory on St Crispin's day at Agincourt, against a much larger and more heavily armed French force

After a six-month siege Henry V makes a triumphal entry into Rouen, the city of his Norman ancestors

John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, is murdered by the Armagnac faction in the presence of the dauphin - escalating France's civil war

The treaty of Troyes, between the English and the Burgundian faction, grants Henry V the status of heir to the French throne

Henry V marries Catherine, daughter of the French king and sister of the rightful heir to the kingdom, the dauphin, who is on the opposing side

The dauphin proclaims himself Charles VII of France, but with Paris in the hands of his enemies he is known as the king of Bourges

Henry VI, son of Henry V and Catherine of France, is king of England and theoretically king of France before his first birthday

A peasant girl, Joan of Arc, hears the voices of saints urging her to relieve the siege of Orléans

Joan of Arc wins her way into the presence of Charles VII at Chinon and persuades him, eventually, to trust her

Joan of Arc leads French forces in the successful relief of Orléans

Joan of Arc stands nearby while Charles VII is anointed at Reims, then kneels before him and for the first time calls him her king

Joan of Arc is captured in a skirmish with the Burgundians, who subsequently hand her over to the English

Joan of Arc, tried by the Inquisition on behalf of the English in Rouen, is burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic

Charles VII enters Paris, marking conclusively the end of the French civil war

The French clergy pass a resolution at Bourges, limiting the power of the papacy within France, which is adopted by the king as a 'pragmatic sanction'

Naples is captured by Alfonso V, breaking the link with France and uniting Sicily and Naples as an Aragonese kingdom

Piero della Francesca paints masterpieces in his small home town of San Sepolcro

The French bring two small cannon on to the battlefield at Formigny, where they have a significant effect in achieving the French victory

Francesco Sforza, a soldier of fortune, wins power in Milan

Étienne Chevalier commissions from Jean Fouquet a series of illustrations for his Book of Hours

The French win a convincing victory at Castillon, recovering the last stronghold (except Calais) held by the English in France

Charles VII's full recovery of Aquitaine and Normandy effectively brings to an end the Hundred Years' War

Francois Villon, recently released from prison, writes his Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past

Edward IV, landing at Calais with a large army, is bought off at Picquigny with a bribe - ending his attempt to revive the Hundred Years' War

Maximilian, heir to Austria, weds Mary, heiress to Burgundy, in the first of the great marriage alliances which form the Habsburg empire