Battle of Agincourt

The Battle of Agincourt, fought on 25 October 1415 near the village of Azincourt in northern France, was one of the most celebrated English victories of the Hundred Years’ War. On Saint Crispin’s Day, King Henry V led a small, exhausted English army to an unexpected triumph against a much larger French force. The victory restored English prestige, crippled French military power and ushered in a renewed period of English dominance that continued until 1429. The battle remains prominent in historical memory, immortalised in William Shakespeare’s Henry V and studied for its strategic, political and military significance.

Background to the Campaign

In the early fifteenth century relations between England and France deteriorated after decades of intermittent peace. Henry V pressed claims derived from his great-grandfather Edward III, using these to demand full recognition of English holdings in France, including Aquitaine. He was prepared to renounce the English claim to the French crown if substantial concessions were made. The French offered more moderate terms—marriage to Princess Catherine of Valois, a sizeable but reduced dowry and an enlarged Aquitaine—but Henry insisted upon the full payment of arrears from the ransom of John II and the restoration of additional territories such as Normandy, Anjou, Brittany and Flanders.
Negotiations broke down in 1415, prompting Henry to seek approval from the Great Council. Parliament soon passed a double subsidy to fund the war, reflecting widespread aristocratic support for recovering English territorial rights. Henry assembled an army of roughly 12,000 men transported across the Channel by a large fleet. Among his contingent were physicians and surgeons, including Thomas Morstede, who had been contracted to supply specialised personnel and surgical instruments for the expedition.
The English landed at the mouth of the Seine in August 1415 and besieged the port of Harfleur. The defenders resisted longer than expected, and the siege dragged on until late September. The prolonged campaign season, combined with outbreaks of dysentery and other diseases, heavily reduced English strength. With winter approaching, Henry opted against returning directly to England. Instead, he chose to march through Normandy to Calais, aiming to demonstrate his rightful authority in French territory and provoke a decisive engagement.
French forces gathered around Rouen and attempted to block Henry’s progress by defending crossings along the river Somme. Forced southwards, the English eventually crossed the river at Béthencourt and Voyennes. Thereafter both armies manoeuvred northwards, with the French summoning nobles under the semonce des nobles system. By 24 October the two sides faced each other, although the French initially delayed battle while awaiting reinforcements. Henry, keenly aware of his army’s deteriorating condition, advanced the following morning to force combat.

Setting and Army Deployment

The precise battlefield location remains debated, though the traditional site lies between the woods of Tramecourt and Azincourt. Modern scholarship, including recent cartographical analyses, suggests the engagement may have taken place slightly west of the accepted site.
Henry deployed his forces along a narrow defile bordered by woodland, limiting the French ability to outflank him. His army comprised around 1,500 men-at-arms and about 7,000 longbowmen, the latter forming approximately 80 per cent of his troops. The army was divided into three battles: the right under Edward, 2nd Duke of York; the centre under Henry himself; and the left commanded by Thomas, 1st Baron Camoys. The archers were led by Sir Thomas Erpingham, a veteran of earlier campaigns.
The archers placed sharpened stakes into the ground to repel cavalry attacks, a tactic thought to be influenced by earlier engagements such as Nicopolis (1396). Men-at-arms in plate armour formed a compact central line, with longbows positioned on both flanks and likely interspersed in the centre. English troops observed the customary rites of penance before battle, preparing for a contest in which the odds seemed overwhelmingly against them.
The French army, commanded by Charles d’Albret, was composed of heavily armoured men-at-arms drawn from leading noble families loyal to the Armagnac faction. King Charles VI, afflicted by severe mental illness, was unable to lead the army in person. The French deployed in multiple lines, intending to use their superior numbers to crush the English centre.

The Battle

The battlefield was sodden from heavy rain, and the freshly ploughed clay soil quickly worsened under the movement of armoured troops. As the English advanced, the archers drove their stakes into position and unleashed volleys of arrows at the French vanguard. Armoured knights attempted to close the distance but were slowed by the mire, their progress hampered by the confining terrain.
The English archers, lightly armoured and mobile, advanced to harass the French flanks. Arrows penetrated armour joints and caused serious injuries, while wounded horses added chaos to the French ranks. As French men-at-arms pressed forward, they became tightly packed, slipping and falling as they attempted to cross the churned ground. Those who stumbled were often unable to rise under the weight of their armour and the crush of troops behind them.
Henry’s men-at-arms engaged in close-quarter combat once the French reached the English line. The confined space meant the French numerical advantage could not be brought to bear. English troops fought methodically, pushing back the disordered French and capturing many nobles. Henry himself fought among the front ranks, and contemporary accounts note his visor was struck by an axe in the melee.
A second French line attempted to advance but found its way blocked by its own retreating soldiers. The disorganisation became catastrophic, and within hours the French army collapsed across the entire field. Fearing a renewed attack or the possibility of French reinforcements arriving, Henry ordered the execution of many prisoners—an action still debated by historians due to its severity.

Aftermath and Significance

Agincourt produced staggering French casualties, including numerous high-ranking nobles. English losses were comparatively small, though disease continued to weaken Henry’s army thereafter. The victory had major political repercussions: it shattered French morale, bolstered English claims to territorial control and enhanced Henry’s reputation as a divinely favoured monarch and military leader.
In the broader context of the Hundred Years’ War, Agincourt marked the beginning of fourteen years of renewed English ascendancy. This period continued until the revival of French fortunes under the inspiration of Joan of Arc in 1429. The battle’s legacy endured in English cultural memory and literature, especially through Shakespeare’s portrayal of Henry V’s leadership and the celebrated Saint Crispin’s Day speech.