Agincourt: Myths Explained
Dan Snow's History Hit
00:00
The Archery of the French Army
Mediaeval armies were predominantly men at arms, knights and men in armour. But the english found out that they could field archers for much less money. So by the time henry the fifth took his force over it was probably about one thousand, 500 men at arms and seven thousand archers. That proportion tells you a lot about the way they intended to fight. The french infantry were therefore forced to attack with the archers at their flanks shooting into them. And so there was a terrible crush of battle as the french came forward. Their front ranks were hacked down, h following ranks tripped over them. Henry stood over his wounded pro form, beating back all attackers until his brother
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