FACTS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT

1. It was the last major British victory in the Hundred Years’ War. 28 year-old King Henry V invaded France to uphold his claim to the French throne.  He was supposedly provoked by a message from the French which consisted of some tennis balls.  The suggestion being that he should limit his efforts to playing games.  Henry raised the money for the expedition through taxes and loans (which were guaranteed by some of the Crown Jewels).
2. Henry’s first move was to take the port of Harfleur. The siege lasted a sapping five weeks.  His men partook of the local oysters from a tainted lowland and dysentery raged through his army.  By the time the city fell, about 1/3 of his men had been felled by the disease.
3. His army was obviously in no shape to continue the campaign and the logical move would have been to reboard and return to England to try again later. However, Henry made the rash decision to return via the port of Calais, which was British territory.  This move involved marching miles through hostile territory with an army that was in terrible shape and facing the motivated French army.
4. The English were exhausted, hungry, and suffering from the dysentery. Many of the men cut holes in the bottoms of their pants so they could quickly relieve themselves on the march.  After a grueling march of 200 miles in sixteen days, their path was blocked by a much larger French army and there was no going around it.
5. The day of the battle, Henry gave his famous “Band of Brothers” speech, according to Shakespeare. He made reference to it being St. Crispin’s Day.  Saints Crispin and Crispinian were brothers born on Oct. 25 in either 285 or 286.  They preached Christianity to the Gauls while running their shoe-making shop.  They came to the notice of the local Roman governor during the reign of Diocletian when Christianity was being cracked down on.  They were tortured and killed by being thrown in the river with millstones around their necks.  They became the patron saints of cobblers, curriers, tanners, and leather-workers.
6. The logical thing would have been for the French to simply block the British path and/or wait for them to attack them in a desperate attempt to break through to Calais. Henry knew his only chance was to fight a defensive battle so he marched toward the French and had his archers fire on them to provoke an attack.  Mission accomplished as the arrogant French knights charged across the muddy field into a blizzard of armor-piercing arrows from the longbows.
7. The British were the best archers in the world because of their training and their weapon. It was compulsory for them to practice on Sundays.  They had already won the Battles of Crecy and Poitiers, so the French were well aware of the potency of the weapon.  Supposedly they threatened to cut off the first two fingers of any archer captured.  The British at Agincourt may have taunted them by holding up those two fingers.
8. Henry’s archers were stationed on his flanks to funnel the French attack into the center. The archers nailed pointed stakes into the ground in front of them to discourage horses from slamming into them.  They stuck their arrows into the ground for ease of reloading, but this had the unintended consequence of introducing germs into French wounds. 
9. The French charge was hampered by the muddy field. Some French suffocated when they fell face down in the mud.  Some were trampled by horses enraged by arrow wounds.  When the battle turned into a melee, some unhorsed French knights were killed by archers armed with their mallets and daggers.
10. Henry was in the thick of the melee. A band of 18 French knights had taken a pledge to kill him and one managed to take an axe to his crown, knocking off a jewel.  However, Henry survived and all 18 died.
11. Henry tainted his victory by ordering the killing of prisoners out of fear they would rearm themselves and join in another attack. He must have been seriously worried because normally knights would be ransomed, so we are talking about a lot of money here.

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/724624/Top-10-facts-about-Agincourt

https://www.historyhit.com/10-facts-about-the-battle-of-agincourt/

https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-battle-of-agincourt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispin_and_Crispinian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

Henry V of England