The Battle of Crécy Book · Pickups

As recounted by Jean Froissart, the grim and cruel Battle of Crécy took place on a Saturday, the twenty-sixth day of August in the Year of Our Lord 1346. It occurred in the ninth year of the bloody war for the French throne waged by King Philip of France and King Edward of England.

The English, though fifteen thousand strong, were vastly outnumbered. Philip had brought twice as many men. Yet Edward positioned his army on the high ground and had more time to prepare. It seemed that God himself had come to his aid. At the start of the battle, English archers slaughtered fifteen hundred Genoese crossbowmen, whose weapons’ strings had been weakened by the heavy rain. King Philip, blind with rage, soon sent in his cavalry to even the odds. Those of the Genoese who had not died from the English arrows were killed by the charging French knights.

The battle was a bloodbath, as the English – contrary to tradition – took no captives. Eventually, unable to break Edward's line of defence, the French had no choice but to surrender, having lost several thousand men, while no more than a few hundred Englishmen had been killed. The wounded King Philip fled to La Broye, accompanied by a mere five of his barons. When the castellan of Broye asked: 'Who comes here at such a late hour?', Philip's answer was: 'The unfortunate king of France'.

And so, the battle of Crécy was over. Yet the bloody war between England and France rages on to this day, with no end in sight.