50 Fun Facts About Battle of Agincourt

On which date was the Battle of Agincourt fought?

It was Saint Crispin's Day, which gave Shakespeare his speech.

The battle fell on the feast day of which saint?

Shakespeare's Henry promises his men will be remembered on it every year.

Agincourt was a battle of which long conflict?

The war ran from 1337 to 1453.

Which English king led his army in person at Agincourt?

He fought hand-to-hand and took an axe blow to the helmet.

Why did the French king not command his army at Agincourt?

Charles VI's bouts of madness left the Armagnac nobles in charge.

Who commanded the French army, holding the office of Constable?

He was among the dead, reportedly drowning in his helmet in the mud.

Roughly what share of Henry's army were English and Welsh archers?

The battle is famous for the longbow above all.

Which two earlier English victories are usually named alongside Agincourt?

Crécy was fought in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356.

In which year did Shakespeare write Henry V?

The battle fills Act IV, though no actual fighting is staged.

English dominance after the battle lasted until which defeat in 1429?

That was the siege Joan of Arc famously lifted.

Who was the principal French herald who helped name the battle with Henry afterwards?

They settled on Azincourt, the nearest fortified place.

The English eyewitness account, the Gesta Henrici Quinti, was probably written by whom?

He would have watched from the baggage train.

Henry claimed the French throne through which ancestor?

English kings were generally ready to drop the claim in return for Aquitaine.

Henry demanded the unpaid ransom of which captured French king?

The 1.6 million crowns dated from his capture at Poitiers in 1356.

Which French princess did Henry propose to marry as part of a settlement?

He asked for a dowry of 2 million crowns; the French offered 600,000.

Which port did Henry besiege after landing in August 1415?

It surrendered on 22 September after a longer siege than expected.

Which English-held port was Henry marching towards when the French blocked him?

The march was meant as a provocation to the dauphin as much as a retreat.

Which river did the French defend, forcing Henry to detour south to find a ford?

The English finally crossed south of Péronne.

How far had the English marched in two and a half weeks before the battle?

They were short of food and suffering from dysentery.

The traditional battlefield lies between Azincourt and which other wood?

A lack of finds there has led some historians to place the battle further west.

Who led the right wing of the English army?

He was killed in the battle.

Which elderly veteran commanded the English archers?

Shakespeare gives him a cameo on the eve of battle.

What did the archers drive into the ground to deter cavalry?

At Crécy they had used pits instead; the idea may have come from Nicopolis in 1396.

What penalty did Henry threaten for breaking silence the night before battle?

He wanted his men focused and the French unable to gauge his numbers.

Henry reportedly told his archers the French had vowed to cut off what?

Whether the threat was ever made is still debated.

About how many men-at-arms did the French army have?

Plus 4,000 to 5,000 archers, crossbowmen and shield-bearers.

Which two dukes led the French main battle behind the vanguard?

Both died in the fighting.

What recent weather made the ploughed field so deadly for armoured Frenchmen?

Knights who fell could not get up, and some drowned in their helmets.

How long after sunrise did the two armies stand without fighting?

The French were happy to wait for reinforcements such as the Duke of Brabant.

Why did the English have to pull up and re-plant their stakes?

A charge during the move could have been fatal, but the French cavalry hesitated.

From about what range did the longbowmen open fire?

Good steel armour could stop arrows on the breastplate, but limbs and visors were vulnerable.

When the archers ran out of arrows, which tool did they use as a weapon?

Hatchets, swords and spears came out too.

Henry stood over which wounded brother in the front rank?

Humphrey had been wounded in the groin.

An axe blow to Henry's head knocked a piece off what?

He kept fighting in the front rank.

Who led the raid on the English baggage train that seized one of Henry's crowns?

He was a local knight with about 600 peasants in tow.

Why did Henry order most of the prisoners killed?

Only the highest-ranking, most ransomable captives were spared.

Who refused to take part in killing the prisoners, considering it unchivalrous?

John Keegan thinks only about 200 archers did the work, and few prisoners died.

About how many French fighting men were killed?

The casualty list read "like a roll call" of a generation's leaders.

How many French dukes died at Agincourt?

Alençon, Bar and Brabant, plus nine counts and an archbishop.

Which two French dukes were among the prisoners taken?

The Duke of Orléans spent 25 years in English captivity writing poetry.

Record evidence identifies at least how many English dead?

Monstrelet claimed 600 and Wavrin 1,600, but English sources give double figures.

Which French faction bore the brunt of the defeat and the blame?

The Burgundians marched on Paris within ten days of the battle.

Which historian argued in 2005 that the odds were only about four to three?

She put the French at 12,000 and the English at 9,000, based on pay records.

What is the most famous 15th-century folk song about the victory called?

Later ballads made much of the gift of tennis balls before the campaign.

Which French court writer wrote a poem of grief after the battle?

Chartier's Book of the Four Ladies has four women whose lovers fought there.

What phrase from Henry's eve-of-battle speech in Shakespeare describes his soldiers?

Shakespeare's speech was invoked again when the BEF fought in 1914.

In Shakespeare's play, how many men does Henry say the English lost?

The French are said to have lost 10,000, prompting "O God, thy arm was here".

Who starred in the 1944 film of Henry V, made just before D-Day?

Its battle has an "exhilarating and heroic" tone and a deliberately artificial look.

Who directed and starred in the grittier 1989 Henry V?

His battle drew on images from the Vietnam and Falklands wars.

Who played Henry V in the 2019 film The King?

Robert Pattinson played the Dauphin.