Agincourt, 25 October 1415• Hundred Years War• Henry V• Longbow• Joan of Arc• “Infantry Revolution”• Constantinople

The 100 Years War1337 to 1453

• Edward III, King of England, Duke of Aquitane• His cousin was Philip VI, King of France (thus Lord over

Aquitane)– He demanded that Edward swear allegiance

• Edward refused and plotted to place Robert, Duke of Suffolk, on the French throne

• Edward’s mother, Isabella, sided with Philip• Edward banished her to France and had her lover killed• England had fewer knights, less military experience, and

would have to fight in France

English Military Reforms

• Pay by taxation -- no plunder– English there to kill not

capture• Introduction of longbow

– Could fire five arrows before a knight could close the gap

– Requires skilled archers

Success of the System

• Crécy, 1346– English bowmen killed

1,542 French knights and lost just 200

• Poitiers, 1356– English killed 2,500

knights, lost 1,000• Led to a truce from

1396 to 1413

Henry V, who assumed the English crown in 1413

The Road to Agincourt

• Henry lost 3,000 of his 12,000 men to disease– He had just 900

knights• French found him near

Amiens and converged with 30,000 men

1,000 yards

Aftermath

• French lost 6,000 knights in a single afternoon

• English losses less than 150

• Henry ordered French prisoners killed

• We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Impacts

• French revival under Joan of Arc

• French use of culverins, infantry

• End of mounted knight

Constantinople, 1453

• Most powerful forts in the world

• Had never been taken by force

• Ottoman Turks used 70 guns, including 12 “superbombards”

• With these guns, Ottomans took the city in less than 2 months