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The longbowmen at Agincourt, 1415

Early on 25 October, Henry deployed approximately 1,500 men-at-arms and 7,000 longbowmen across a 750-yard part of the defile. [1] The battle is well documented by at least seven contemporary accounts, three of them from eyewitnesses. [2]

In brief
  • About 7,000 English longbowmen and 1,500 men-at-arms faced a French army of 14,000–15,000 men. [1][9] A narrow field of recently ploughed, muddy ground hemmed in by woodland favoured the English. [32] Around 6,000 French fighting men were killed, against at least 112 identified English dead. [27][30]

Henry's army landed in northern France on 13 August 1415 and besieged the port of Harfleur, which surrendered on 22 September. [3][4][5] Disease had cost the English many men, yet Henry marched roughly 9,000 of them towards Calais to show that his right to rule in Normandy was more than an abstract legal claim. [5] By the day of the battle they had marched 260 miles in two and a half weeks, with very little food and much sickness. [6]

The French army counted about 10,000 men-at-arms and 4,000–5,000 footmen, including archers and crossbowmen, in all 14,000–15,000 men. [7][8][9] Many lords demanded places in the front lines in hope of glory and ransoms, so most men-at-arms were massed in front. [10] The archers and crossbowmen, once intended for the wings, were placed behind them. [11] The vanguard numbered 4,800 men-at-arms and the main battle 3,000. [12]

For three hours after sunrise there was no fighting. [13] The French expected thousands more men to join them, while Henry's army was weary from hunger, illness and retreat. [14][15] Henry therefore had to abandon his chosen position and pull up the sharpened stakes that protected his longbowmen from cavalry, carry them forward and reinstall them. [16]

The French cavalry charged disorganised and below full numbers. [17] It could neither outflank the longbowmen because of the woodland nor ride through the sharpened stakes. [17] John Keegan argues that the longbows' main effect at this point was to injure horses, which could run out of control when struck. [17] A monk of Saint-Denis reported that wounded, panicking horses galloped through the advancing infantry and trampled it down. [18]

Modern historians are divided on how effective the longbow was against plate armour of the time. [19] Clifford Rogers argued that arrows might not pierce steel breastplates but could penetrate the thinner armour on the limbs. [20] The French walked through deep mud in armour weighing 50–60 pounds, heads lowered against the arrows, which restricted breathing and vision. [21] Packed together, they could scarcely lift their weapons when they reached the English line. [22]

The longbow demanded great strength: its draw weight was at least 81 lbf and possibly more than 130 lbf. [23] Skeletons of longbow archers show enlarged left arms and often osteophytes on the left wrists, left shoulders and right fingers. [23] At Agincourt the archers began shooting from extreme range, about 300 yards, and a monk of Saint-Denis described a terrifying hail of arrow shot. [24]

Alarmed that the French were regrouping, Henry ordered most of the prisoners killed. [25][26] Around 6,000 French fighting men died in the battle, among them the constable, Albret, and three dukes. [27][28][29] Record evidence identifies at least 112 Englishmen killed. [30] Henry was received in triumph in London on 23 November. [31]

Sources

  1. Sumption 2015 , p. 454.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  2. Anne Curry (2000). The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations . Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 22– 26, 201– 205. ISBN 978-0-85115-802-0 . books.google.com. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  3. Beck, Theodore (1974). Cutting Edge: Early History of the Surgeons of London . Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd. p. 58. ISBN 978-0853313663 .. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  4. "Guardian newspaper:French correction: Henry V's Agincourt fleet was half as big, historian claims, 28 July 2015" . TheGuardian.com . 27 July 2015. theguardian.com. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  5. Hibbert 1971 , p. 67.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  6. Mortimer 2009 , pp. 436–437.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  7. Rogers 2008 , pp. 57–59.; Mortimer 2009 , pp. 429, 565.; Sumption 2015 , pp. 452–453.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  8. Mortimer 2009 , pp. 422, 565.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  9. Rogers 2008 , pp. 57, 60–62.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  10. Mortimer 2009 , pp. 428–429, 430; Barker 2015 , pp. 278–279; Curry 2000 , pp. 113, 115, 125.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  11. Barker 2015 , pp. 275, 278–279; Rogers 2008 , pp. 64, 66–67, 69; Phillpotts 1984 , pp. 62; Mortimer 2009 , p. 429, 430.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  12. Mortimer 2009 , p. 429; Sumption 2015 , p. 452; Rogers 2008 , p. 58; Curry 2000 , pp. 107, 132, 181.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  13. Barker 2015 , p. 290.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  14. Barker 2015 , p. 291.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  15. Mortimer 2009 , pp. 436–437.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  16. Keegan 1976 , pp. 90–91.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  17. Keegan 1976 , pp. 92–96.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  18. Barker 2015 , p. 297.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  19. Nicolle, D. (2004). Poitiers 1356: The capture of a king (Vol. 138). Osprey Publishing.; Loades, M. (2013). The longbow. Bloomsbury Publishing.; Jones, P. N. (1992). The metallography and relative effectiveness of arrowheads and armor during the Middle Ages. Materials characterization, 29(2), 111–117.; Military History Monthly February 2016. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  20. Curry, Anne (6 August 2018). "Agincourt: medieval England's finest hour?" . History Extra . Retrieved 23 March 2021 . historyextra.com. via Wikipedia (en): English longbow
  21. Barker 2015 , p. 301.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  22. Curry 2000 , p. 159.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  23. Dr. A.J. Stirland. Raising the Dead: the Skeleton Crew of Henry VIII's Great Ship the Mary Rose. (Chichester 2002) As cited in Strickland & Hardy 2005 , p. [ page needed ]. via Wikipedia (en): English longbow
  24. Mortimer 2009 , pp. 436–439.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  25. Curry 2000 , p. 37.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  26. Barker 2015 , pp. 305–308.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  27. Curry 2000 , pp. 38, 121, 127.; Curry 2006 , pp. 187, 192, 233, 248.; Sumption 2015 , pp. 459, 461.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  28. Barker 2015 , p. 325.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  29. Barker 2015 , pp. xxii, 325, 327.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  30. Barker 2015 , p. 324.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  31. Mortimer 2009 , pp. 475, 479.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt
  32. Wason 2004 , p. 74.; Holmes 1996 , p. 48.. via Wikipedia (en): Battle of Agincourt

Every claim was checked against its source before publication. 22 October 2026