Medieval France
. In July 1346, King Edward III opened a new phase of the Hundred Years’ War by landing in Normandy with an army of 15,000 men. By the end of July, the English had captured Caen and then marched to the east to secure other towns in Normandy. Finally, on August 24, they were attacked by the French at Crécy-en-Ponthieu. The French force, under the leadership of their king, Philip VI, numbered 40,000. Given the larger French numbers, the English dismounted and took a defensive position on higher ground to await an attack. The battle began in the late afternoon with a relatively ineffective exchange of archery fire between the English longbowmen and the mercenary Genoese crossbowmen. This lasted only a short time, but the French knights grew impatient. Recognizing their superior numbers and anticipating a quick victory, they charged through their own archers into the lines of dismounted English, commanded in part by Edward, the
Black Prince. After an uphill charge through continuous English archery fire, with their lines confused and in disarray, these knights encountered the English soldiers. Despite constant pressure on the English line, the knights were unable to pierce it and the attack failed, with the French suffering heavy casualties. By midnight, the French army, including the king, retreated from the battlefield. The English rested for a few days, then marched to Calais, which they besieged for nearly a year before capturing it.
Kelly DeVries
[See also: CALAIS; HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR; PHILIP VI]
Burne, Alfred Higgins. The Crécy War. London: Oxford University Press, 1955.
Favier, Jean. La guerre de cent ans. Paris: Fayard, 1980.
Oman, Charles. A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1924, pp. 124–47.
Perroy, Édouard. The Hundred Years War, trans. W.B.Wells. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1951.
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