Free Republic

October 25 is fraught with anniversaries. It marks a turning point in European history that was to later provide one of the greatest speeches ever to emerge from the English language and that has inspired millions for over 400 years. We are speaking here, of course, of the Battle of Agincourt that was fought on the feast of St. Crispin's Day in 1415 when young King Henry V and his army defeated the French army under the command of Constable d’Albret and his 100,000 men

The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault’s 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. Crispin’s Day, Oct. 25, 1415. They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten...

For the sake of our collective survival, the English-speaking world needs to annually trumpet common achievements, values, and goals. Fortunately, the calendar contains an excellent date. Even better, the holiday's credo has already been composed -- by the greatest content provider ever in any language. Tomorrow, October 25, was once known as the Feast Day of St. Crispin. On this day in 1415, Henry V and his underdog British, outmanned at least by a factor of four, defeated Charles VI of France at the Battle of Agincourt. These days, even though Vatican II has delisted the twin martyred brothers St....