Battle of Agincourt

October 25th, St. Crispin's Day, 1415

Negotiations

When king Henry V of England entered into negotiations with France in about 1413/14, he insisted on king Edward III’s (his great-grandfather) claim to the French crown. The French ambassador was presented with demands which Charles VI, the king of France, could not grant without losing the independence of his country. One of the points they could agree on, however, was that Henry was to marry Catherine of Valois, Charles’s daughter.

Anecdotal Tennis Balls

Henry is said to have been personally insulted when the Dauphin of France sent a box full of tennis balls to him, together with a message saying that „such things were more adapt to his capacity and disposition then the implements of war“ . Charles and his advisers agreed on calming Henry down and tried to expedite negotiations, but the Dauphin thwarted their plans. There is no proof that the incidents actually happened, though.

The Battle

It took place about halfway through the 100 years war between England and France. According to Nicolas, the English army consisted of 2.500 men-at-arms, 4.000 horse archers, and 1.000 people of different descriptions, but it can be assumed that each nobleman travelled with a number of servants and so forth, so the actual size must have been nearly 30.000 people.

Henry V occupied Harfleur and planned to continue his campaign by marching towards Calais, overrunning eastern Normandy, Ponthieu and western Picardy. But the River Somme posed a problem. Henry and his troops had to march along the riverside further than expected in order to find a passage through the river, because many bridges were destroyed by the French.

French troops, infinitely superior in numbers, came from Bapaume and Péronne to prevent the English from pulling back to the north. By ill luck, for the French, they met at Agincourt. The battle field was surrounded by thick forest and the frontline measured only 1.000 yards. Although the French outnumbered the English, they lost their advantage due to these circumstances.

When the French cavalry attacked, they were shut down by the infamous English archers. Three hours later, the battle came to a disastrous end for the French. The battlefield was blood-soaked and constable d’Albret himself, 12 members of the French aristocracy, about 1.500 knights and 4.500 armed men were killed. English losses were minimal compared to this (cf. Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Watch on Youtube

• The Battle of Agincourt [1] [reconstruction]
• History of Agincourt [2]

Sources

• The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 1(1994).
• Nicolas, Harris. History of the Battle of Agincourt (London: H.Pordes, 1971)