Contents
The Agincourt, is an English style one-handed sword, commemorates one of the memorable hundred-year battles between England and France. The Battle of Agincourt was a great victory for the English army against the French, who outnumbered them. The battle began on Friday, October 25, 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day), near present-day Azincourt, in northern France.
Henry V led his troops into battle and engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. The French king of the time, Charles VI, did not lead the French army because he suffered from serious illnesses and moderate mental incapacity. Instead, the French were led by Charles Constable d'Albret and several prominent nobles of the French Armagnac party.
The Battle of Agincourt is well documented in at least seven accounts from the time, three of them were eyewitnesses. The approximate location of the battle has never been in dispute and remains relatively unchanged after 500 years. Two of the most frequently cited accounts come from French sources, Jean Le Fevre of St. Remy, who was present at the battle, and the Enguerrand of Monstrelet.
Henry V and his army invaded France after the failure of negotiations with the French. A great council was initially called in the spring of 1414 to discuss the war with France, but the lords insisted that he must continue negotiating and moderate his claims. In subsequent negotiations Henry said that he would renounce his right to the French throne, if the French paid the 1.6 million crowns in circulation since the ransom of John II (who had been captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356), and grant England ownership of the lands of Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Brittany and Flanders, as well as Aquitaine. The French responded with what they considered the generous terms of marriage to Princess Catherine, a dowry of 600,000 crowns, and an enlargement of Aquitaine. In 1415 negotiations had stalled, with the English claim that the French had mocked their demands and ridiculed Henry V.
Henry's army landed in northern France on August 13, 1415 and besieged the port of Harfleur with an army of about 12,000 soldiers. The city surrendered on September 22, and the English army did not leave until October 8. The election campaign was coming to an end, and the English army had suffered many sick leaves. Instead of retreating directly to England for the winter, with his costly expedition resulting in the capture of a single town, Henry decided to march with the bulk of his army (some 9,000 men) through Normandy to the port of Calais, the English fortress in northern France.
The battle was fought in the narrow strip of open land formed between the forests of Tramecourt and Agincourt (near the modern village of Azincourt). The French army was placed at the northern exit in order to prevent the passage of Calais. On October 25, Henry deployed his army (about 1,500 men with swords and 7,000 archers) across a nearly 690-meter portion of the gorge. The army was organized into three "battles", or divisions, the vanguard led by the Duke of York, the main battle led by Henry himself and the rear, led by Lord Camoys. Additionally, Sir Thomas Erpingham, one of Henry's most experienced knights, had a role in the ranking of the archers.
On the morning of October 25, the French were awaiting the arrival of additional troops. The Duke of Brabant (about 2,000 men), the Duke of Anjou (about 600 men), and the Duke of Brittany (6,000 men, according to Montstrelet) were all marching to join the army. This left the French with a question of whether or not to advance towards the English. The English army had many problems such as various diseases, hunger and fatigue and waiting for them was not an option so they decided to attack.
After the war and due to the lack of reliable sources, it is impossible to give an exact number of French and English victims. However, it is clear that although the English were outnumbered, their losses were much less than those of the French. French sources note 4,000 to 10,000 French deaths, with a maximum of 1,600 English deaths. On the other hand, sources from England note that the French victims varied between about 1,500 and 11,000 dead, and the English victims no more than 100.
