Agincourt: 600 years on from England's greatest victory

[Phil G]

This year, St Crispin’s Day, Saturday 25th October will be the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt (1415) which saw King Henry V’s English army achieve a famous victory over the French.

England and France had been bitter enemies for years. When they met on the battlefield – 600 years ago – on 25 October 1415, the odds were stacked against English King Henry V.

http://blog.royalmint.com/marking-600-years-since-the-battle-of-agincourt/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zsxr82p

 

[Hazza]

Thanks! I might be able to cancel my subscription to the History channel Phil!

Historic battle indeed. It's kept the legend of the English longbow alive. Powerful weapon, just not as popular or widely used as legend would have you believe.

 

[Hyjynx]

History is always written by the victors. The French remember this battle a little differently. Quote the French: "Il n'a jamais eu lieu!" (It never happened!). Hence, the idiom: "take a French leave" was coined.

How's that for a bit of history lesson a la Hyjynxdepia? [emoji1][emoji12]


Come for the watches, stay for the drama! [emoji12]

 

[d4m.test]

After seeing Ridley Scott´s Robin Hood remake with Russel Crowe just 3 days ago I looked up the longbow:
shooting rate: 8 -12 arrows per minute
range: the minimum practice range set by Henry VIII was 200m; battle range 249m - 320m
+-70 arrows per Archer initial ammunition carried into battle
English Archer: kept the right hand with the bow steady and put his body weight in with the left, thus generating 350 -600 Newtons of force
in the first minutes of the Agincourt battle 5.500 longbowmen set loose a barrage of 55.000 arrows per minute,
the stretched muddy terrain with the French placed in the center was an ideal target for the English bowmen placed left, right and the front center of it.

 

[John1]

After seeing Ridley Scott´s Robin Hood remake with Russel Crowe just 3 days ago I looked up the longbow:
shooting rate: 8 -12 arrows per minute
range: the minimum practice range set by Henry VIII was 200m; battle range 249m - 320m
+-70 arrows per Archer initial ammunition carried into battle
English Archer: kept the right hand with the bow steady and put his body weight in with the left, thus generating 350 -600 Newtons of force
in the first minutes of the Agincourt battle 5.500 longbowmen set loose a barrage of 55.000 arrows per minute,
the stretched muddy terrain with the French placed in the center was an ideal target for the English bowmen placed left, right and the front center of it.

I had no idea they went into battle with that many bowmen. The movies seem to show maybe a couple hundred archers, people ducking behind shields...but, man, 55,000 arrows a minute raining down would decimate the enemy.