Azincourt, la clairière du 25 octobre 1415

Azincourt

Henry V had taken Harfleur in September 1415 and was making his way back up to Calais with an army that dysentery had reduced to some six to nine thousand men, most of them archers. The French army, twice as numerous, barred his way here, on a narrow plateau between two woods, on Friday 25 October, the feast of Saint Crispin. It had rained all night; the ground was sodden ploughland. The English archers, planted behind their stakes, shot; the French knights, dismounted, advanced knee-deep in the mud, piled up on a front that was too short, fell on top of one another and were finished off with axe and mallet. The constable d'Albret, the duke of Alençon and the duke of Bar were killed; the duke of Orléans, Charles, who would spend twenty-five years in England, and the marshal Boucicaut were taken. Fearing a counter-attack, Henry had some of the prisoners put to the sword. The chroniclers speak of a chivalry decimated; historians, working from the pay rolls, have brought the figures down — Anne Curry counts about nine thousand English against twelve to fifteen thousand French — without lessening the disaster, which delivered Normandy, and then the kingdom, to the treaty of Troyes. The field is still a field; the two woods are still there.

Wikipédia — Azincourt ↗

Getting there : By the D 928 between Hesdin and Fruges, then the D 71; park in the village, in front of the Azincourt 1415 centre, which presents the battle, the weapons and the archers, and sells a map of the battlefield circuit. This circuit, to be followed by car or on foot, runs along the roads that border the two woods, with panels and silhouettes of soldiers at the main points; a calvary is said to mark, on the road to Maisoncelle, the traditional site of the French lines (to be checked). The centre is closed for part of the winter; enquire before coming. Allow two hours for the centre and the tour of the field.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound