Editing Battle of Agincourt (section)

==Numbers at Agincourt==
Most primary sources which describe the battle have the English outnumbered by several times. By contrast, [[Anne Curry]] in her 2005 book ''Agincourt: A New History'' argued, based on research into the surviving administrative records, that the French army was 12,000 strong, and the English army 9,000, proportions of four to three.{{sfn|Curry|2006|p=192}} While not necessarily agreeing with the exact numbers Curry uses, Bertrand Schnerb, a professor of medieval history at the University of Lille, states the French probably had 12,000–15,000 troops.{{sfn|Glanz|2009}} [[Juliet Barker]], [[Jonathan Sumption]] and [[Clifford J. Rogers]] criticized Curry's reliance on administrative records, arguing that they are incomplete and that several of the available primary sources already offer a credible assessment of the numbers involved.{{sfn|Barker|2015|p=xvi}}{{sfn|Sumption|2015|p=814 n. 11}}{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=114–121}} [[Ian Mortimer (historian)|Ian Mortimer]] endorsed Curry's methodology, though applied it more liberally, noting how she "minimises French numbers (by limiting her figures to those in the basic army and a few specific additional companies) and maximises English numbers (by assuming the numbers sent home from Harfleur were no greater than sick lists)", and concluded that "the most extreme imbalance which is credible" is 15,000 French against 8,000–9,000 English.{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|pp=565, 566}} Barker opined that "if the differential really was as low as three to four then this makes a nonsense of the course of the battle as described by eyewitnesses and contemporaries".{{sfn|Barker|2015|p=xvi}}

Barker, Sumption and Rogers all wrote that the English probably had 6,000 men, these being 5,000 archers and 900–1,000 men-at-arms. These numbers are based on the ''Gesta Henrici Quinti'' and the chronicle of Jean Le Fèvre, the only two eyewitness accounts on the English camp.{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=42, 114–121}}{{sfn|Sumption|2015|p=441}} Curry and Mortimer questioned the reliability of the ''Gesta'', as there have been doubts as to how much it was written as propaganda for Henry V. Both note that the ''Gesta'' vastly overestimates the number of French in the battle; its proportions of English archers to men-at-arms at the battle are also different from those of the English army before the siege of Harfleur. Mortimer also considers that the ''Gesta'' vastly inflates the English casualties – 5,000 – at Harfleur, and that "despite the trials of the march, Henry had lost very few men to illness or death; and we have independent testimony that no more than 160 had been captured on the way".{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|p=565}} Rogers, on the other hand, finds the number 5,000 plausible, giving several analogous historical events to support his case,{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=114–121}} and Barker considers that the fragmentary pay records which Curry relies on actually support the lower estimates.

Historians disagree less about the French numbers. Rogers, Mortimer{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|p=429}} and Sumption{{sfn|Sumption|2015|pp=452–453}} all give more or less 10,000 men-at-arms for the French, using as a source the herald of the [[John, Duke of Berry|Duke of Berry]], an eyewitness. The number is supported by many other contemporary accounts.{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=57–59}} Curry, Rogers{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=57, 62–63}} and Mortimer{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|pp=422, 565}} all agree the French had 4 to 5 thousand missile troops. Sumption, thus, concludes that the French had 14,000 men, basing himself on the [[Michel Pintoin|monk of St. Denis]];{{sfn|Sumption|2015|pp=449, 815 (n. 20)}} Mortimer gives 14 or 15 thousand fighting men.{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|p=565}} One particular cause of confusion may have been the number of servants on both sides, or whether they should at all be counted as combatants. Since the French had many more men-at-arms than the English, they would accordingly be accompanied by a far greater number of servants. Rogers says each of the 10,000 men-at-arms would be accompanied by a ''gros [[valet]]'' (an armed, armoured and mounted military servant) and a noncombatant page, counts the former as fighting men, and concludes thus that the French in fact numbered 24,000.{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=57, 60–62}} Barker, who believes the English were outnumbered by at least four to one,{{sfn|Barker|2015|pp=x, 274}} says that the armed servants formed the rearguard in the battle.{{sfn|Barker|2015|pp=278–279}} Mortimer notes the presence of noncombatant pages only, indicating that they would ride the spare horses during the battle and be mistakenly thought of as combatants by the English.{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|pp=421–422}}