On this day in 1415, the Battle of Agincourt - one of the greatest victories of medieval times - was fought. One of the final battles in the one hundred years war (1337-1453), Agincourt, like so many other battles, is hailed as an English victory over the French. However, far from being an England versus France War, the Hundred Years War is better described as a French Civil War, in which one side simply used a lot of English and Welsh troops. The majority of the English Kings involved in the conflict didnt speak English and were more interested in the French Crown (to which they had claim) than that of England - hence the repeated attempts to conquer France. It was one such expedition that lead to Agincourt, when the young king Henry V led a modest army to France to pursue his claim to the French Crown. He first laid siege to Harfleur and after five weeks the down fell - however, it proved a costly victory as half of the army was lost in the attempt (as many to disease as anything else). Thus reduced, Henry made for Calais where he hoped to meet his fleet and retreat to England. However, the French had other ideas and blocked his progress with a army of 20,000 men. Henry was forced to give battle. The battlefield lay on 1,000 yards of open ground between two woods, which prevented large-scale maneuvers and thus worked to Henry’s advantage. On the morning of October 25, the battle commenced. The English stood their ground as French knights, weighed down by their heavy armor, began a slow advance across the muddy battlefield. The French were met by a furious bombardment of artillery from the English archers, who wielded innovative longbows with a range of 250 yards. French cavalrymen tried and failed to overwhelm the English positions, but the archers were protected by a line of pointed stakes. As more and more French knights made their way onto the crowded battlefield, their mobility decreased further, and some lacked even the room to raise their arms and strike a blow. At this point, Henry ordered his lightly equipped archers to rush forward with swords and axes, and the unencumbered Englishmen massacred the French. Almost 6,000 Frenchmen lost their lives during the Battle of Agincourt, while English casualties stood around several hundred. Despite the odds against him, Henry had won one of the great victories in military history. Henry Vs (1386-1422) proved so decisive that he actually got his wish and was named heir to the French throne not long after. Pics: Henry addresses his nobles before battle The Battle Field Deployments The Battle itself
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 12:12:35 +0000