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Warfare in History
The Battle of Crécy, 1346
First ever large-scale study of Crécy and its context, bringing out its true importance in English and French history.
With additional contributions from Françoise Autrand, Christophe Piel, Michael Prestwich, and Bertrand Schnerb.
On the evening of 26 August 1346, the greatest military power in Christendom, the French royal army withPhilip VI at its head, was defeated by an expeditionary force from England under the command of Edward III. A momentous event that sent shock waves across Europe, the battle of Crécy marked a turning point in the English king's struggle with his Valois adversary. While the French suffered humiliation and crippling casualties, compounded by the consequential loss of Calais a year later, the self-confidence and military reputation of the English - from their king down to the lowliest of archers - soared. Well over half a century before Agincourt, the English had emerged as the most respected fighting force in Europe.
This book assesses the significance of Crécy, and offers new interpretations of both the battle itself and the campaign that preceded it. It includes the latest research on the composition and organisation of the English and French armies, a penetrating analysis of the narrative sources and a revealing re-appraisal of the battlefield. It concludes with a fresh look at the role of the archer in Edward III's victory.
Dr ANDREW AYTON is senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull; Sir PHILIP PRESTON is an independent scholar, and founding secretary of the Battle of Crécy Trust.
With additional contributions from Françoise Autrand, Christophe Piel, Michael Prestwich, and Bertrand Schnerb.
On the evening of 26 August 1346, the greatest military power in Christendom, the French royal army withPhilip VI at its head, was defeated by an expeditionary force from England under the command of Edward III. A momentous event that sent shock waves across Europe, the battle of Crécy marked a turning point in the English king's struggle with his Valois adversary. While the French suffered humiliation and crippling casualties, compounded by the consequential loss of Calais a year later, the self-confidence and military reputation of the English - from their king down to the lowliest of archers - soared. Well over half a century before Agincourt, the English had emerged as the most respected fighting force in Europe.
This book assesses the significance of Crécy, and offers new interpretations of both the battle itself and the campaign that preceded it. It includes the latest research on the composition and organisation of the English and French armies, a penetrating analysis of the narrative sources and a revealing re-appraisal of the battlefield. It concludes with a fresh look at the role of the archer in Edward III's victory.
Dr ANDREW AYTON is senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull; Sir PHILIP PRESTON is an independent scholar, and founding secretary of the Battle of Crécy Trust.
408 pages, Paperback
Published May 17, 2007
About the author
Andrew Ayton
13 books1 followerSenior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Hull.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 6, 2015
This book is intended for academics who are already familiar with Medieval Warfare and the Battle of Crecy. While it has some good information and good analysis of the sources of the battle, I would not recommenced it as a general introduction to the battle. There are many passages in Latin, French, without a translation. It nearly totally skips the vignettes the chronicles include. It is a series of essays, and they do not always tie together nicely. It seemed like equal coverage was not given to all aspects of the battle and campaign, and certain aspects are explained several times with different interpretations. However, the chapter on the battle itself and the last chapter were quite helpful.
December 5, 2014
Incredibly helpful in regards to my research :)
September 28, 2018
This book is a collection of papers presented in a conference.
It's hard academic writing and not easy to read, especially when the author of each paper tried to give a background or refer to something that had been discussed in details by other scholars in the same book.
It's not a good material for common history readers.
One thing really interested me was that there is a paper discussion the Crecy battle site. It's amazing to see how the scholars are trapped by the traditional wisdom and won't think out of the box. In his paper, Sir Phillip Preston reveals a shocking topological feature of the battle ground that there was steep bank of 2 to 5 meters on the slope of the French armies. This would prevent any reasonable tactical deployment. It means the French armies needed to wheel around to enter the small valley between two slopes and wheel around again to face the English line. This simply contradicted to all narratives about the battle where the French armies attacked down the slope then up against the English line. However, the scholar did not even try to question feasibility of the traditional battle site even an archaeological survey organized by him at the site failed to turn out any meaningful relics from the battle.
Michael Livingston's recent book of The Battle of Crécy: A Casebook has re-examined the topic and proposed a more plausible battle site.
It's hard academic writing and not easy to read, especially when the author of each paper tried to give a background or refer to something that had been discussed in details by other scholars in the same book.
It's not a good material for common history readers.
One thing really interested me was that there is a paper discussion the Crecy battle site. It's amazing to see how the scholars are trapped by the traditional wisdom and won't think out of the box. In his paper, Sir Phillip Preston reveals a shocking topological feature of the battle ground that there was steep bank of 2 to 5 meters on the slope of the French armies. This would prevent any reasonable tactical deployment. It means the French armies needed to wheel around to enter the small valley between two slopes and wheel around again to face the English line. This simply contradicted to all narratives about the battle where the French armies attacked down the slope then up against the English line. However, the scholar did not even try to question feasibility of the traditional battle site even an archaeological survey organized by him at the site failed to turn out any meaningful relics from the battle.
Michael Livingston's recent book of The Battle of Crécy: A Casebook has re-examined the topic and proposed a more plausible battle site.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews