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Chronicle of Normandy

Chronicle of Normandy is in Late Medieval Books.

1415 Battle of Agincourt

1422 Death of Henry V

Battle of Agincourt

[25th October 1415]. On Friday the twenty-fifth day of the same month, being the feast of St. Crispin, at break of day both sides prepared for battle. At that hour the French were joined by the Dukes of Orleans and of Brabant, and by the Count de Nevers his brother1, who had each brought his little band, resolved to stand or fall with them in the said battle. On that day they were drawn up in order of battle in a valley near Agincourt, and the French had then appointed three hundred horsemen in armour to rout the English archers who were between the main bodies of the two armies, and when the horsemen had formed they thought to charge the archers, but the shower of arrows fell upon them so thickly, that they were compelled to retreat amongst their own people2, by which they broke their vanguard, which was close by ready for action. At the same moment both the horsemen and the foot soldiers ran to fall upon and pillage the horses and baggage of the English which they had left in the rear during the battle. Such was the commencement of the battle on that day in the valley before mentioned, where the ground was so soft that the French foundered in it, for which cause and from their line being broken by (their own) horse, they could not again join battle, but were more and more defeated, and, as God would have it, lost the day. It was then a pitiful sight to behold the dead and the wounded who covered the field, and the number of men-at-arms who turned and fled.

Note 1. The Duke of Brabant and the Count de Nevers were brothers of the Duke of Burgundy.

Note 2. Martial de Paris speaks of the shouts of the English, probably the hearty English Hurrah! "Quant les Angloys o leur charroy Virent la maniere de faire, Et les Françoys en desarroy, Se prendrent à frapper et braire." ["When the English saw their convoy and the manner of doing things, and the French in disarray, they began to strike and shout."] So Des Ursins: "Et firent iceux Anglois à cheval un si grand et merveilleux cry, qu'ils espouventerent nos gens, tellement que tous nos gens dicelle seconde bataille s'enfuirent." ["And those English on horseback made such a great and marvelous cry that they frightened our people, so much so that all our men from that second battle fled."] (Ed. Godefroy, p. 424). It has been supposed that Henry had no cross-bowmen with him at Agincourt, yet, amongst the indentures of war preserved in the State Paper Office, is one with Johan Sire de Saintpée for twenty men-at-arms on horse- back, and one hundred cross- bowmen, twenty horse, and eighty foot, at 9d. and 6d. per day each, date, 26th May, 3rd year. (Privy Seal Writs, Bund. 4 Hen. V.). They might, however, have been left at Harfleur.

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When the Duke of Alençon saw the French in such disorder, he mounted his horse and attempted to rally them, but in vain, for he could do nothing; and when he saw that there was no help for it, he returned to the fight, which still continued, where, as was said, he then performed such feats of arms, and (fought) so gallantly, that it was marvellous to behold, and so there he (fighting) fell. Now, the Duke of Britany and his people, and the people of Louis the late King of Sicily,1 were not present on that day. On the Thursday they lay at Amiens, and as they were setting out on the Friday, they received the news of the defeat, on which account the duke returned, although they were numerous enough to have given the English battle again. In that battle died the Dukes of Brabant, of Alençon, and of Bar, the Count of Nevers, and the Lord d'Albret, who was Constable of France, with seven or eight thousand knights and esquires of France and of Hainault, besides several who were taken prisoners. On the side of the English died the Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk, and of the other (classes) a great number that could not exactly be known because the dead lay all together. The prisoners taken on that day were the Dukes of Orleans and of Bourbon, the Counts of Eu, Ven- dôme, and Richmond, the Marshal Boucicault, and many others. When the battle was over, the people of the King of Sicily came up, when the English feared that they should be again attacked, on which account proclamation was made that each man should put to death his prisoner, except the nobles, and for this cause many prisoners were put to death. The English encamped on the field that same Friday night, and stripped the dead of their arms.

Note 1. Louis, Duke of Anjou, was twice accepted and rejected as king by the Neapolitans, who preferred Lladislaus. Their fickle conduct so disgusted Louis, that when, after the death of the usurper, they wished him to as- cend the throne, he refused to do so. He died at Angers, 29th April, 1417. His father, Louis d'Orléans, was brother to Charles V. of France. (Moréri.)

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In the year of grace fourteen hundred and twenty-one, after these events, there was born in England a son and heir, named Henry, to the King of England, and Madame Katharine of France, his wife, on St. Nicholas' day, the sixteenth1 of December, the tidings of which event were brought to the king as he was besieging Meaux, which city held out a long time. Upon its surrender all the towns and fortresses of the country were delivered up with it, to wit, Compiègne, Crespis en Valois, and many others, so that there were no places in that country which held out against him excepting Montaguillon, which was held by the party of the Dauphin.

Note 1. Other souces state the 6th December 1421.

Death of Henry V

When the siege was over the king left for Corbeuil, to order certain affairs, at which place, as God ordered it, he was attacked by a serious illness which afflicted him a long time. He was carried to the Bois-de-Vincennes, where he was ill about fifteen days, and then, as God ordained, he passed from this world to the other [31st August 1422]. His body, arrayed in his royal robes, was carried to Nôtre Dame at Paris, where a solemn service was per- formed for him, it was then carried to Rouen, where a solemn service for him was performed in the cathe- dral church of Nôtre Dame, thence it was transported to England and placed in a sepulchre at West- minster Abbey with his predecessors.