October 25, 1415. New York: Penguin Books, 1978 ISBN 0-140-04897-9 (pp. The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War.The battle took place on Friday, 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) in the County of Saint-Pol, Artois, some. The Battle of Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories and was one of the most important English triumphs in the Hundred Years' War, along with the Battle of Crcy (1346) and Battle of Poitiers (1356). David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. It goes on to state thatafter an unexpected victory, the English soldiersmocked thedefeatedFrenchtroopsbywavingtheir middle fingers( here ). Rogers says each of the 10,000 men-at-arms would be accompanied by a gros valet (an armed, armoured and mounted military servant) and a noncombatant page, counts the former as fighting men, and concludes thus that the French in fact numbered 24,000. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent. Soon after the victory at Agincourt, a number of popular folk songs were created about the battle, the most famous being the "Agincourt Carol", produced in the first half of the 15th century. [44] There was a special, elite cavalry force whose purpose was to break the formation of the English archers and thus clear the way for the infantry to advance. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here . In his 2007 film adaptation, director Peter Babakitis uses digital effects to exaggerate realist features during the battle scenes, producing a more avant-garde interpretation of the fighting at Agincourt. The puzzler was: What was this body part? Loades, M. (2013). Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. [135] The battle also forms a central component of the 2019 Netflix film The King. This head-lowered position restricted their breathing and their vision. An account purporting to offer the historical origins of the obscene middle-finger extended hand gesture (varously known as "flipping the bird," "flipping someone off," or the "one-finger salute") is silly, and so obviously a joke that shouldn't need any debunking. Clip from the 1944 movie "Henry V" (137 min). These numbers are based on the Gesta Henrici Quinti and the chronicle of Jean Le Fvre, the only two eyewitness accounts on the English camp. In pursuit of his claim to the French throne, Henry V invaded Normandy with an army of 11,000 men in August 1415. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The image makes the claim that the gesture derives from English soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt, France in 1415. The point is, the middle-finger/phallus equation goes back way before the Titanic, the Battle of Agincourt, or probably even that time Sextillus cut off Pylades with his chariot. Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. The Duke of Brabant (about 2,000 men),[65] the Duke of Anjou (about 600 men),[65] and the Duke of Brittany (6,000 men, according to Monstrelet),[66] were all marching to join the army. The Battle of Agincourt took place on October 25, 1415. The Roman gesturemadeby extending the third finger from a closed fist, thus made the same threat, by forming a similarly phallic shape. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. Medieval warriors didn't take prisoners because by doing so they were observing a moral code that dictated opponents who had laid down their arms and ceased fighting must be treated humanely, but because they knew high-ranking captives were valuable property that could be ransomed for money. Military textbooks of the time stated: "Everywhere and on all occasions that foot soldiers march against their enemy face to face, those who march lose and those who remain standing still and holding firm win. In another of his books Morris describes a variety of sexual insults involving the middle finger, such as the middle-finger down prod, the middle-finger erect, etc., all of which are different from the classic middle-finger jerk. Humble English archers defeated the armoured elite of French chivalry, enshrining both the longbow and the battle in English national legend. . [68], Henry's men were already very weary from hunger, illness and retreat. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. It is unclear whether the delay occurred because the French were hoping the English would launch a frontal assault (and were surprised when the English instead started shooting from their new defensive position), or whether the French mounted knights instead did not react quickly enough to the English advance. The . However, the lack of archaeological evidence at this traditional site has led to suggestions it was fought to the west of Azincourt. [116] Rogers, on the other hand, finds the number 5,000 plausible, giving several analogous historical events to support his case,[112] and Barker considers that the fragmentary pay records which Curry relies on actually support the lower estimates. The next day the French initiated negotiations as a delaying tactic, but Henry ordered his army to advance and to start a battle that, given the state of his army, he would have preferred to avoid, or to fight defensively: that was how Crcy and the other famous longbow victories had been won. Materials characterization, 29(2), 111117. The town surrendered on 22 September, and the English army did not leave until 8 October. After Henry V marched to the north, the French moved to block them along the River Somme. They were successful for a time, forcing Henry to move south, away from Calais, to find a ford. [33], Early on the 25th, Henry deployed his army (approximately 1,500 men-at-arms and 7,000 longbowmen) across a 750-yard (690m) part of the defile. [46] Many lords and gentlemen demanded and got places in the front lines, where they would have a higher chance to acquire glory and valuable ransoms; this resulted in the bulk of the men-at-arms being massed in the front lines and the other troops, for which there was no remaining space, to be placed behind. While the precise number of casualties is unknown, it is estimated that English losses amounted to about 400 and French losses to about 6,000, many of whom were noblemen. with chivalry. It may be difficult to pinpoint exactly when the middle finger gesture originated, but some historians trace its roots to ancient Rome. A labiodental fricative was no less "difficult" for Middle English speakers to pronounce than the aspirated bilabial stop/voiceless lateral combination of 'pl' that the fricative supposedly changed into, nor are there any other examples of such a pronunciation shift occurring in English. The two candidates with the strongest claims were Edward III of England, who was the son of Charles's sister, and Philip, Charles's paternal . This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." Keegan, John. The situation in England, coupled with the fact that France was weakened by its own political crisisthe insanity of Charles VI had resulted in a fight for power among the nobilitymade it an ideal moment for Henry to press his claims. The French monk of St. Denis describes the French troops as "marching through the middle of the mud where they sank up to their knees. Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. While numerous English sources give the English casualties in double figures,[8] record evidence identifies at least 112 Englishmen killed in the fighting,[103] while Monstrelet reported 600 English dead. [5] [b] Henry V 's victory at Agincourt, against a numerically superior French army. Tudor re-invention, leading to the quintessential Shakespearean portrayal of "we happy few", has been the most influential, but every century has made its own accretions. Kill them outright and violate the medieval moral code of civilized warfare? Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. [31] This entailed abandoning his chosen position and pulling out, advancing, and then re-installing the long sharpened wooden stakes pointed outwards toward the enemy, which helped protect the longbowmen from cavalry charges. The brunt of the battle had fallen on the Armagnacs and it was they who suffered the majority of senior casualties and carried the blame for the defeat. The French, who were overwhelmingly favored to win the battle, Continue Reading 41 2 7 Alexander L Participating as judges were Justices Samuel Alito and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The decorative use of the image of Priapusmatched the Roman use ofimages of male genitalia for warding off evil. The cavalry force, which could have devastated the English line if it had attacked while they moved their stakes, charged only after the initial volley of arrows from the English. Henry threatened to hang whoever did not obey his orders. When that campaign took place, it was made easier by the damage done to the political and military structures of Normandy by the battle. The battle probably lasted no longer than three hours and was perhaps as short as half an hour, according to some estimates. Barker, Sumption and Rogers all wrote that the English probably had 6,000 men, these being 5,000 archers and 9001,000 men-at-arms. During World War II the symbol was adopted as a V for victory. PLUCK YEW!". . Barker states that some knights, encumbered by their armour, actually drowned in their helmets.[64]. Contemporary chroniclers did not criticise him for it. The Battle of Agincourt is an iconic moment in English military history. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English. [94][10][11] The list of casualties, one historian has noted, "read like a roll call of the military and political leaders of the past generation". One of the most renowned. [85], The French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in the thousands. [56] Some 200 mounted men-at-arms would attack the English rear. [104] Henry returned a conquering hero, seen as blessed by God in the eyes of his subjects and European powers outside France. [116] One particular cause of confusion may have been the number of servants on both sides, or whether they should at all be counted as combatants. [70]), The tightness of the terrain also seems to have restricted the planned deployment of the French forces. [47] Although it had been planned for the archers and crossbowmen to be placed with the infantry wings, they were now regarded as unnecessary and placed behind them instead. King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415 by Sir John Gilbert, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, Lancashire. This would prevent maneuvers that might overwhelm the English ranks. [27], During the siege, the French had raised an army which assembled around Rouen. In March 2010, a mock trial of Henry V for the crimes associated with the slaughter of the prisoners was held in Washington, D.C., drawing from both the historical record and Shakespeare's play. The Agincourt Carol, dating from around this time and possibly written for Henrys reception in London, is a rousing celebration of the might of the English. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Since then there had been tension between the nobility and the royal house, widespread lawlessness throughout the kingdom, and several attempts on Henry Vs life. I admit that I bring this story up when I talk about the Hundred Years War only to debunk it. Its origins can be traced back to 1066 . Upon hearing that his youngest brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester had been wounded in the groin, Henry took his household guard and stood over his brother, in the front rank of the fighting, until Humphrey could be dragged to safety. When the first French line reached the English front, the cavalry were unable to overwhelm the archers, who had driven sharpened stakes into the ground at an angle before themselves. The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes, or palings, into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off. The main part of the speech begins "This day is called the feast of . [93] In all, around 6,000 of their fighting men lay dead on the ground. The Battle of Agincourt (October 25, 1415) was a pivotal battle in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), resulting in an English victory over the French. With Toby Merrell, Ian Brooker, Philip Rosch, Brian Blessed. The Battle of Agincourt (/dnkr(t)/ AJ-in-kor(t);[a] French: Azincourt [azku]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. To meet and beat him was a triumph, the highest form which self-expression could take in the medieval nobleman's way of life." The effect of the victory on national morale was powerful. The recently ploughed land hemmed in by dense woodland favoured the English, both because of its narrowness, and because of the thick mud through which the French knights had to walk. There had even been a suggestion that the English would run away rather than give battle when they saw that they would be fighting so many French princes. He told his men that he would rather die in the coming battle than be captured and ransomed. [88], Regardless of when the baggage assault happened, at some point after the initial English victory, Henry became alarmed that the French were regrouping for another attack. Another verse begins: You love to be sodomized, Papylus . [69] (The use of stakes was an innovation for the English: during the Battle of Crcy, for example, the archers had been instead protected by pits and other obstacles. [90] In his study of the battle John Keegan argued that the main aim was not to actually kill the French knights but rather to terrorise them into submission and quell any possibility they might resume the fight, which would probably have caused the uncommitted French reserve forces to join the fray, as well. After the battle, the English taunted the survivors by showing off what wasn't cut off. Its up there with heres something that they dont want you to know.. When the archers ran out of arrows, they dropped their bows and, using hatchets, swords, and the mallets they had used to drive their stakes in, attacked the now disordered, fatigued and wounded French men-at-arms massed in front of them. Since pluck yew is rather difficult to say, like pheasant mother plucker, which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows for the longbow, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative f, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. Increasingly, they had to walk around or over fallen comrades. Winston Churchhill can be seen using the V as a rallying call. Opie, Iona and Moira Tatem. After a difficult siege, the English forces found themselves assaulted by a massive French force. [48] On account of the lack of space, the French drew up a third battle, the rearguard, which was on horseback and mainly comprised the varlets mounted on the horses belonging to the men fighting on foot ahead. The English won in a major upset and waved the body part in question at the French in defiance. I thought the French threatened to cut off the primary finger of the English longbowmen (the middle finger was neeed the most to pull the bowstring). The "middle finger" gesture does not derive from the mutilation of English archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The basic premise that the origins of the one-finger gesture and its association with the profane word "fuck" were an outgrowth of the 1415 battle between French and English forces at Agincourt is simple enough to debunk. A BBCNews Magazinereportsimilarlytracesthe gesture back toAncient Greek philosophers ( here ). Last, but certainly not least, wouldn't these insolent archers have been bragging about plucking a bow's string, and not the wood of the bow itself? The latter, each titled Henry V, star Laurence Olivier in 1944 and Kenneth Branagh in 1989. A complete coat of plate was considered such good protection that shields were generally not used,[75] although the Burgundian contemporary sources distinguish between Frenchmen who used shields and those who did not, and Rogers has suggested that the front elements of the French force used axes and shields. [34] The rearguard, leaderless, would serve as a "dumping ground" for the surplus troops. Battle of Agincourt. [93] Entire noble families were wiped out in the male line, and in some regions an entire generation of landed nobility was annihilated. [45] A second, smaller mounted force was to attack the rear of the English army, along with its baggage and servants. It may be in the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of Tramecourt and Azincourt (close to the modern village of Azincourt). Wikipedia. In December 1414, the English parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. Bloomsbury Publishing. It established the legitimacy of the Lancastrian monarchy and the future campaigns of Henry to pursue his "rights and privileges" in France. [20] He initially called a Great Council in the spring of 1414 to discuss going to war with France, but the lords insisted that he should negotiate further and moderate his claims. [128] The original play does not, however, feature any scenes of the actual battle itself, leading critic Rose Zimbardo to characterise it as "full of warfare, yet empty of conflict. Without a river obstacle to defend, the French were hesitant to force a battle. Sumption, thus, concludes that the French had 14,000 men, basing himself on the monk of St. Denis;[119] Mortimer gives 14 or 15 thousand fighting men. Agincourt. [127], Shakespeare's play presented Henry as leading a truly English force into battle, playing on the importance of the link between the monarch and the common soldiers in the fight. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.
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