This day, the 26th August, in 1346, the Age of Chivalry ended. The day of the Knight in shining armour was done. It happened, as did so many things that altered the course of civilisation, on a battlefield in France, near Crécy-en-Ponthieu, in an area that gave its name to later notorious battles - the Somme. The Battle of Crécy was, probably the defining combat of arms of the Hundred Years' War. It was a turning point in history because it was the moment when a new armament, the longbow used en masse, was used with utterly devastating effect to cut down hitherto undefeated armoured knights. It was also the first battle where prisoners and wounded were dispatched contrary to chivalric codes of warfare, (ie, if they were badly wounded and hence too expensive to care for and if they had no ransom value) and the illustrious noble cavalry was no longer undefeatable by infantry.
Edward III of England, having succesfully trounced the Jocks, had decided to pop over to France and, whilst topping up on his duty-free, give Philip VI of France a bit of a talking to about handing back one or two bits of Normandy - a sort of "your garden fence seems to have moved itself halfway across my garden" type of discussion. Phil was unimpressed and responded with a galic "up yours, Rosbiff"
So to battle. Edward very cleverly chose a battlefield where he reasoned his 12,000 Englishmen might stand a chance of defending themselves against the 40,000 French who had turned out to give them a slapping. Edward III ordered that everybody should fight on foot and split his army into three groups. His sixteen-year-old son, Edward, the Black Prince, was to command one of them. Edward had a secret weapon - longbowmen recruited from his Welsh dominions. These were peasants who could speak neither French nor English. Edward arrayed them in a V-formation along the crest of the hill. While the French were doing their hair, polishing up their armour, eating snails and swilling wine, the English built a system of ditches, pits and caltrops to maim and bring down the enemy cavalry.
French crossbowmen opened the batting; they launched a shower of volleys to disorganize and frighten the English infantry. This attack was accompanied by the sound of musical instruments, brought by Philip VI to scare the enemy. However, the crossbowmen failed. They could, at best only fire off 3 to 5 volleys a minute and they were no match for the longbowmen, who could fire 10 to 12 arrows in the same period of time. Worse still, the crossbows were hopeless in the wet and had been damaged by a shower that occurred just before the battle. The longbowmen avoided harm to their weapons by simply unstringing their bows until the weather improved. What's more the music was rubbish. Frightened and confused the crossbowmen retreated with heavy losses.
The French noble cavalry, having got very cross with "L'opeless crossbowmen" decided it was time for them to have a bash. However, the obstacles that the English had built while the French were smoking their Galoise slowed the charge to a shambolic hack. At the same time, the Welsh peasants discharged a curtain of arrows on the knights - the bodkin arrowheads ripping through the French armour. The French took frightful losses and at nightfall, Philip VI, himself wounded, ordered retreat. The result was a humiliating defeat for France. The French lost about 12000 men and the English, by unreliable accounts of the time, about 150. Hooray for our brave English boys!!
After the French ran away, the Welsh and English checked the wounded French to see who was worth taking prisoner for ransom. Those knights who were too severely wounded were polished off with misericordias (mercy-givers) which are long daggers inserted through the unprotected underarms and in to the heart. This was a shocking departure from the chivalric code of warfare - never before had peasants been allowed to kill a knight and never before had knights died from anonymous arrows. Thus endeth the Chivalric Age.
Edward III of England, having succesfully trounced the Jocks, had decided to pop over to France and, whilst topping up on his duty-free, give Philip VI of France a bit of a talking to about handing back one or two bits of Normandy - a sort of "your garden fence seems to have moved itself halfway across my garden" type of discussion. Phil was unimpressed and responded with a galic "up yours, Rosbiff"
So to battle. Edward very cleverly chose a battlefield where he reasoned his 12,000 Englishmen might stand a chance of defending themselves against the 40,000 French who had turned out to give them a slapping. Edward III ordered that everybody should fight on foot and split his army into three groups. His sixteen-year-old son, Edward, the Black Prince, was to command one of them. Edward had a secret weapon - longbowmen recruited from his Welsh dominions. These were peasants who could speak neither French nor English. Edward arrayed them in a V-formation along the crest of the hill. While the French were doing their hair, polishing up their armour, eating snails and swilling wine, the English built a system of ditches, pits and caltrops to maim and bring down the enemy cavalry.
French crossbowmen opened the batting; they launched a shower of volleys to disorganize and frighten the English infantry. This attack was accompanied by the sound of musical instruments, brought by Philip VI to scare the enemy. However, the crossbowmen failed. They could, at best only fire off 3 to 5 volleys a minute and they were no match for the longbowmen, who could fire 10 to 12 arrows in the same period of time. Worse still, the crossbows were hopeless in the wet and had been damaged by a shower that occurred just before the battle. The longbowmen avoided harm to their weapons by simply unstringing their bows until the weather improved. What's more the music was rubbish. Frightened and confused the crossbowmen retreated with heavy losses.
The French noble cavalry, having got very cross with "L'opeless crossbowmen" decided it was time for them to have a bash. However, the obstacles that the English had built while the French were smoking their Galoise slowed the charge to a shambolic hack. At the same time, the Welsh peasants discharged a curtain of arrows on the knights - the bodkin arrowheads ripping through the French armour. The French took frightful losses and at nightfall, Philip VI, himself wounded, ordered retreat. The result was a humiliating defeat for France. The French lost about 12000 men and the English, by unreliable accounts of the time, about 150. Hooray for our brave English boys!!
After the French ran away, the Welsh and English checked the wounded French to see who was worth taking prisoner for ransom. Those knights who were too severely wounded were polished off with misericordias (mercy-givers) which are long daggers inserted through the unprotected underarms and in to the heart. This was a shocking departure from the chivalric code of warfare - never before had peasants been allowed to kill a knight and never before had knights died from anonymous arrows. Thus endeth the Chivalric Age.
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