Posted on 10/24/2009 10:38:13 AM PDT by Saije
The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renaults farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one.
No one can ever take away the shocking victory by Henry and his band of brothers, as Shakespeare would famously call them, on St. Crispins Day, Oct. 25, 1415. They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten bogged down in the regions sucking mud, riddled by thousands of arrows from English longbowmen and outmaneuvered by common soldiers with much lighter gear. It would become known as the Battle of Agincourt.
...Agincourts status as perhaps the greatest victory against overwhelming odds in military history and a keystone of the English self-image has been called into doubt by a group of historians in Britain and France who have painstakingly combed an array of military and tax records from that time and now take a skeptical view of the figures handed down by medieval chroniclers.
The historians have concluded that the English could not have been outnumbered by more than about two to one. And depending on how the math is carried out, Henry may well have faced something closer to an even fight, said Anne Curry, a professor at the University of Southampton who is leading the study.
Those cold figures threaten an image of the battle that even professional researchers and academics have been reluctant to challenge in the face of Shakespearean prose and centuries of English pride...
Its just a myth, but its a myth thats part of the British psyche, Ms. Curry said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ME ME ME!
Even have the soundtrack music to the St. Crispin’s Day Speech scene in an iPod “Psych Music” playlist.
Excellent! The Latin requiem at the end was very moving, the comic French scene between the princess and her attendant was charming, if a little precious. The death of Falstaff and the fall of Henry’s old group of roisters teaches a tough lesson about politics,
The French also had large numbers of men at arms, who were nearly as well armored as the knights and had similar problems with the mud.
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks Saije and Pharmboy. |
||
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
I am. I watch it every Oct about this time.
Before the first Gulf War I sketched a plan to liberate Kuwait on a restaurant napkin for a friend. Double envelopment. Armor to the west and Marines from the east, by sea. In the end Schwarzkopf decided he didn't need the eastern prong because the Marines at sea had forced the Iraqis to man the coast, thinning the front line and accomplishing the main mission without firing a shot.
Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more . . . .
I love the film, too.
This story is a typical example of the leftist demoralization wing of their movement. Anything noble, inspiring, nationalistic will be denigrated if they can manage it.
They are despicable people.
True. The accomplishment should not be slighted. The fact is they were at the end of a long campaign season trying to get to the coast, they were in enemy territory, they were outnumbered by even these people's account two to one and the weather was turning foul. It was a desperate fight and one of history's great battles.
And horses collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Even before effective firearms there were disciplined bodies of Swiss & German pikeman that were used to deter heavy cavalry charges. Early muskets were only marginally better than a well-handled bow and a lot less reliable when it rained. So while you're right that the firearm ultimately displaced the armored knight from the battlefield, their ranks had been thinning for some time due to a rediscovery of a combined arms tactical system (indirect fire supporting ranks of pike).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.