1415: French prisoners at the Battle of Agincourt

ExecutedToday.com ^ | October 25, 2009 | Dogboy

[CheshireTheCat]

In the world of Henry V, the Battle of Agincourt is a source of bursting pride for the English, a wellspring of superiority over the French and proof of the soul of those from the Isle. In spite of the inspiring speeches, the battle has passed into history as one of the enduring examples of a well-positioned army besting a much larger force.

Were it not for the story of the triumphant underdog, Agincourt would have fallen into international obscurity with much of the Hundred Years’ War, a simmering conflict for the French throne that spanned from 1337 to 1453. The notoriety of the Hundred Years’ War comes not from its intensity but from its longevity and breadth: an international conflict that swept up hundreds of wealthy European houses, it featured the first significant post-Roman standing armies, organized cavalry, and formative nationalism in both France and England.

The interminable war centered around the English crown’s claim to succession of the French throne — a claim events had overtaken by the end of the conflict in 1453 — and had already been going off and on for nearly eighty years as we lay our scene in 1415, with King Henry V of England initiating what would be known as the Lancastrian War....

[IronJack]

The English ordered the French prisoners executed because they feared their baggage train would be overrun. Sorry, but I don’t have much sympathy for the French.

By the way, although Henry is usually recognized as the hero of Agincourt, one of his most successful commanders had been the First Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir John Talbot, who led the forces at Harleur, the precursor to Agincourt.

[HotHunt]

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell is a fascinating read and one if the best historical accounts of the battle.

I recommend it highly.

[crz]

“well-positioned army besting a much larger force.”

They pinched them in and the field got muddy.

The English long bow did the trick and the rest got hacked to death.

The average distance for the longbow was over 250 yards and up to 350 yards...some say it could shoot up to 400, but I have a hard time believing that. It would not pierce armor, but the horses really caught hell. So figure the first volley taking out about half the horses and then the attackers had to go around those.

Thats with about 60 thousand shots per minute.

[crz]

Towton was a far worse battle.

[Skooz]

That’s been sitting on my bookshelf for too long now. I need to pull it down and read it.

[p. henry]

“hold their manhoods cheap”. One of the great lines of English literature.

[oldplayer]

Indeed!

[spokeshave]

And the French would cut off the index and first fingers of captured English bowmen.....those with 2 first fingers would wave them at the French....the V salute.

[Spok]

The pope wanted to ban crossbows and the English longbow as inhumane weapons of mass destruction. It wasn’t fair to render the knight’s ponderous armor totally ineffective.

[OldGoatCPO]

Saw a video where an arrow shot from a replica English longbow pierced armor. I remained skeptical because the arrow was launched at around 50 yards. However once bogged down in the muck French knights were easy targets.

[grey_whiskers]

And the French would cut off the index and first fingers of captured English bowmen.....those with 2 first fingers would wave them at the French....the V salute.

"We can still pluck yew!" "Pluck Yew" ... morphed over time into a more recognizable insult. So says the Renaissance Festival Comedy Team, Puke and Snot.

[Sequoyah101]

What a strange site.

[HotHunt]

Bernard Cornwell is the best at writing accurate yet interesting history so the average person will follow what is going on.

Agincourt is written from the perspective of one of the English long bowman who tells the story from a first person point of view. It makes the story more interesting and believable.

History buffs will love it. How the much smaller English troops pick the battlefield to their advantage and use it and the conditions to defeat a much larger, superior French force is one of the best battle scenes ever written.

Cornwell's well-researched tome is very accurate. The reader can literally smell the odors and hear the sounds of the troops up close in hand-to-hand combat as they literally battle for their very lives.

[Tennessee Nana]

Commonly known as the War of the Roses...

[kalee]

For later

[ASOC]

An English Logbow in the hands of a trained archer is a formidable weapon.

See for yourself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DveK-vWS94

[SunkenCiv]

The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War.The battle took place on Friday, 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) in the County of Saint-Pol, Artois, some 40 km south of Calais (now Azincourt in northern France). Henry V's victory at Agincourt, against a numerically superior French army, crippled France and started a new period in the war during which Henry V married the French king's daughter, and their son, later Henry VI of England and Henry II of France, was made heir to the throne of France as well as of England. Henry V led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand fighting. The French king of the time, Charles VI, did not command the French army himself as he suffered from severe psychotic illnesses with moderate mental incapacitation. Instead, the French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party.

This battle is notable for the use of the English longbow in very large numbers, with English and Welsh archers forming most of Henry's army. The battle is the centerpiece of the play Henry V by William Shakespeare.

Henry V invaded France following the failure of negotiations with the French. He claimed the title of King of France through his great-grandfather Edward III, although in practice the English kings were generally prepared to renounce this claim if the French would acknowledge the English claim on Aquitaine and other French lands (the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny). He initially called a Great Council in the spring of 1414 to discuss going to war with France, but the lords insisted that he should negotiate further and moderate his claims. In the following negotiations Henry said that he would give up his claim to the French throne if the French would pay the 1.6 million crowns outstanding from the ransom of John II (who had been captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356), and concede English ownership of the lands of Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Brittany and Flanders, as well as Aquitaine. Henry would marry Princess Catherine, the young daughter of Charles VI, and receive a dowry of 2 million crowns. The French responded with what they considered the generous terms of marriage with Princess Catherine, a dowry of 600,000 crowns, and an enlarged Aquitaine. By 1415, negotiations had ground to a halt, with the English claiming that the French had mocked their claims and ridiculed Henry himself. In December 1414, the English parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. On 19 April 1415, Henry again asked the Great Council to sanction war with France, and this time they agreed.

Henry's army landed in northern France on 13 August 1415, carried by a fleet described by Shakespeare as "a city on the inconstant billows dancing / For so appears this fleet majestical", often reported to comprise 1,500 ships, but probably far smaller, and besieged the port of Harfleur with an army of about 12,000, and up to 20,000 horses. The siege took longer than expected. The town surrendered on 22 September, and the English army did not leave until 8 October. The campaign season was coming to an end, and the English army had suffered many casualties through disease. Rather than retire directly to England for the winter, with his costly expedition resulting in the capture of only one town, Henry decided to march most of his army (roughly 9,000) through Normandy to the port of Calais, the English stronghold in northern France, to demonstrate by his presence in the territory at the head of an army that his right to rule in the duchy was more than a mere abstract legal and historical claim. He also intended the manoeuvre as a deliberate provocation to battle aimed at the dauphin, who had failed to respond to Henry's personal challenge to combat at Harfleur.

The French hoped to raise 9,000 troops, but the army was not ready in time to relieve Harfleur. After Henry V marched to the north, the French moved to block them along the River Somme. They were successful for a time, forcing Henry to move south, away from Calais, to find a ford. The English finally crossed the Somme south of Péronne, at Béthencourt and Voyennes and resumed marching north. Without a river obstacle to defend, the French were hesitant to force a battle. They shadowed Henry's army while calling a semonce des nobles, calling on local nobles to join the army. By 24 October, both armies faced each other for battle, but the French declined, hoping for the arrival of more troops. The two armies spent the night of 24 October on open ground. The next day the French initiated negotiations as a delaying tactic, but Henry ordered his army to advance and to start a battle that, given the state of his army, he would have preferred to avoid, or to fight defensively: that was how Crécy and the other famous longbow victories had been won.

The Most Famous, Bloodiest Medieval Battle - AGINCOURT - Full Documentary | Wisdom Land | Dec 26, 2016