Vibrant BumbusStory
Ah, yes, the Battle of Agincourt(Azincourt) in the original French. One of England's greatest triumphs during the 100 years war(1337-1453) between France and the English.
As for why I created this pet initially....when I was an undergrad in university getting my history BA, I actually did my senior history major thesis on the Battle of Agincourt. Specifically, I did my senior seminar thesis on the mythos that were associated with the battle. It is why I have a dvd copy of Henry V, the one with Kenneth Branagh in my dvd collection because I actually used Shakespeare's Henry V and how the battle was portrayed in literary media as a secondary source in my paper.
More precisely, the Battle of Agincourt(Battaile De Azincourt) in French was a battle that transpired between the French and English empires on St. Crispin's day(October 25, 1415) that resulted in the English winning a decisive victory against the French. The battle has gone down in English battle history as one of its greatest battles, and to a certain extent, like the Greek Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, which the comic 300 by Frank Miller was based on, and in American history, the Battle of the Alamo(February 23, 1836-March 6, 1836) have resulted in becoming almost mythologized in English history. While this isn't the only major battle that's been somewhat mythologized in English history nor in European history as a whole; it is admittedly the one I'm most familiar with, having read several Shakespeare plays both for my own personal enjoyment and for AP English when I was a senior in high school.
Now, having gotten my own personal reasoning as to why I chose this as a pet name out of the way, I'll go a bit into the mythos and actual history of the Battle of Agincourt itself. Henry the V was in his mid-thirties around the time of the Battle of Agincourt, and by 1422 he would die from Dysentery, a mere 7 years after the battle. In 1415, two months prior he had led his troops( 11,000 in total) across the English Channel and attacked Harfleur in Normandy. The town surrendered after 5 weeks, but the young king, as he was known for having ascended the throne at a very young age, lost half his troops to disease and casualties from battle. He decided to march his troops northeast to Calais where, hopefully they would meet-up with the rest of the English fleet and return to England. However, at Agincourt the army was stalled, accosted by a 20,000 strong French army and vastly outnumbered.
The battle itself commenced at 11 am on October 25 in a muddy field between two woods. As the French knights advanced across the field, they were weighed down by their heavy armor which made them unable to advance at a quick pace and thus, continuously shot down by artillery from the English Archers, unable to cross the field to attack. The English archers themselves were both protected by a line of pointed stakes and by a new type of longbow that had recently gone in circulation and allowed them to shoot more artillery at a further range of 250 yards. As more Frenchmen advanced they were continuously struck down until eventually, Henry ordered the English soldiers to attack the slow advancing French with swords and all the French were struck down. Roughly 6,000 Frenchmen lost their lives during the Battle of Agincourt and the battle itself forever went down in English history, forever branded as a story of the underdog winning the day.
Credits
- Story:
Historiography - Profile:
boogleloo - Overlay: dalice
- Map: Pixabay.com
- Information Sources:
- History Channel, Battle of Agincourt
- Brittannica
- British Battles
