The Battle of Agincourt, 1415: the longbow's day

On a muddy field in northern France, a hungry, outnumbered English army fought the flower of French chivalry, and destroyed it. Agincourt is remembered as the day the longbow humbled the armoured knight, and as one of the most lopsided upsets in the history of war.

A march to disaster

King Henry V of England had landed in France and taken the port of Harfleur, but at a heavy price: a long siege and an outbreak of dysentery that hollowed out his army. Rather than sail home, he marched for the English-held town of Calais. A far larger French army moved to cut him off, and near the village of Agincourt, on 25 October, it finally did.

The field between the woods

The ground favoured the desperate. Henry drew up his men on a narrow, newly ploughed field, boxed in by thick woods on both sides. That funnel meant the French could not use their greater numbers to outflank him. Overnight rain had turned the freshly turned earth to deep, clinging mud.

The French had every advantage but the ground, and the ground was everything.

The arrow storm

The heart of Henry's army was thousands of longbowmen, who planted sharpened stakes to break any charge and then loosed volley after volley into the packed French ranks. Under that iron rain the French men-at-arms advanced on foot, heads down, into the narrowing field.

The mud

The mud did the rest. Weighed down by heavy plate, funnelled together tighter and tighter, the first French line staggered forward exhausted and was cut down where it stumbled. Fresh ranks pushing from behind only piled into the crush. Lightly armoured English archers dropped their bows, took up mallets and knives, and waded in among the trapped knights.

The reckoning

French losses were catastrophic, thousands dead including a great swathe of the nobility, while English dead numbered only in the hundreds. At one tense moment, fearing a fresh attack on his rear, Henry ordered the killing of French prisoners, a decision debated ever since. By evening the field belonged to England.

Legend

Agincourt made Henry's reputation and, for a time, his claim to the French throne, sealed in the Treaty of Troyes. More lasting was the myth: the outnumbered band of brothers, the humble bowman felling the proud knight, a story Shakespeare would carve into English memory nearly two centuries later.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 seen as one of the most lopsided upsets in history?

At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 a hungry, outnumbered English army destroyed the flower of French chivalry, with French losses in the thousands and English dead numbering only in the hundreds. It is remembered as the day the longbow humbled the armoured knight.

How did the terrain decide the Battle of Agincourt in 1415?

At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 Henry V drew up his men on a narrow, newly ploughed field boxed in by thick woods, so the French could not use their greater numbers to outflank him. Overnight rain had turned the earth to deep, clinging mud that trapped the heavily armoured French.

What role did the longbow and the mud play together at Agincourt in 1415?

At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 thousands of longbowmen planted stakes and loosed volley after volley into the packed French ranks as the men-at-arms advanced on foot. Weighed down by plate and funnelled ever tighter in the mud, the French staggered forward exhausted and were cut down where they stumbled.

Why did Henry V order the killing of French prisoners at Agincourt in 1415?

At one tense moment during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, fearing a fresh attack on his rear, Henry V ordered the killing of French prisoners. It was a decision that has been debated ever since.

What were the consequences and legend of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415?

The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 made Henry V's reputation and, for a time, his claim to the French throne, sealed in the Treaty of Troyes. More lasting was the myth of the outnumbered band of brothers, a story Shakespeare carved into English memory nearly two centuries later.

Who won the Battle of Agincourt?

The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was won by the English under King Henry V, whose hungry, outnumbered army destroyed the French. It was a crushing English victory over the flower of French chivalry.