Bayeux Talk Series: 3 Henry V, Duke of Normandy

A talk by Professor Anne Curry exploring Henry V’s revival of Norman ducal identity during the Hundred Years War, as part of Reading Museum & Town Hall’s Bayeux Talk Series.

Saturday 6 February 2027, 11.00am - 12.00pm

Talk 3: Henry V, Duke of Normandy: Reviving the Memory of William the Conqueror in the Hundred Years War

On 1 August 1417 Henry V, king of England and would-be king of France, landed in Lower Normandy calling himself Duke of Normandy. His intention was to recreate the link between the English crown and the duchy first begun by William the Conqueror in 1066.

Henry often referred to his Norman ducal ancestors and tried to revive their institutions which had been destroyed by the French conquest of Normandy in 1204. He started a new administrative record, the Norman rolls, to record his acts as duke, and gave lands to Englishmen who were believed to be descendants of the Normans who had conquered England in 1066.

Anne Curry is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Southampton and author of a biography of Henry V in the Penguin Monarchs series.

Who: Adults

Price: £15 per person (10% discount available when booking all three talks)

Bookings: Book online.