MADAM,

Monmouth has even looser links with Agincourt than with Nelson unless there is some exciting new proof that Henry V was born in Monmouth Castle in September 1387.

Henrys IV and V, like Henrys VII and VIII, were not born to be kings and no astronomical event or court scribes proclaimed this baby’s birth to a 17-year-old girl in her father-in-law’s occasional residence.

She might have preferred her own family’s castle nearby. Who chose Agincourt Square to rename the traditional market place?

The borough has much genuine history so why celebrate this Shakespearean possibility?  Henry’s youngest brother ‘The Good Duke Humphrey’ has a more lasting legacy as founding contributor to the Bodleian Library.

In France, Azincourt puts on a serious annual re-enactment, with multiple nationalities, horses, fire, fun and films. I was lucky enough to be invited twice by the Azincourt Alliance; it changed to July as authentic Azincourt weather washed out the October events. There is little archaeology - French casualties were ransomed or looted, and after the battle Henry decreed that bodies should be boiled as bones were easier to transport. 

One of our mayors once paid an electioneering visit to the village, clanking our valuable chain which can only be worn on a few official occasions to represent the whole population.

Is it fully insured for overseas jaunts? 

Kirstie Buckland

(Monmouth)