Editing Battle of Agincourt (section)

==Setting==
===Battlefield===
The precise location of the battle is not known. It may be in the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of [[Tramecourt]] and Azincourt (close to the modern village of [[Azincourt]]). The lack of archaeological evidence at this traditional site has led to suggestions it was fought to the west of Azincourt.{{Sfn|Sutherland|2015}} In 2019, the historian [[Michael Livingston]] also made the case for a site west of Azincourt, based on a review of sources and early maps.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Livingston |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Livingston |year=2019 |title=Where was Agincourt Fought? |journal=Medieval Warfare |volume=IX |issue=1 |pages=20–33 |issn=2211-5129}}</ref>

===English deployment===
[[File:Map Agincort.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Plan of the Battle of Agincourt]]
Early on the 25th, Henry deployed his army (approximately 1,500 [[man-at-arms|men-at-arms]] and 7,000 [[English longbow|longbowmen]]) across a {{convert|750|yd|adj=on}} part of the [[defile (geography)|defile]]. The army was divided into three groups, with the right wing led by [[Edward, 2nd Duke of York|Edward, Duke of York]], the centre led by the king himself, and the left wing under the old and experienced Baron [[Thomas Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys|Thomas Camoys]]. The archers were commanded by Sir [[Thomas Erpingham]], another elderly veteran.{{sfn|Sumption|2015|p=454}} It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, with men-at-arms and knights in the centre. They might also have deployed some archers in the centre of the line. The English men-at-arms in plate and mail were placed shoulder to shoulder four deep. The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden [[archer's stake|stakes]], or palings, into the ground at an angle to force [[cavalry]] to veer off. This use of stakes could have been inspired by the [[Battle of Nicopolis]] of 1396, where forces of the [[Ottoman Empire]] used the tactic against French cavalry.{{efn|The first known use of angled stakes to thwart a mounted charge was at the Battle of Nicopolis, an engagement between European states and Turkish forces in 1396, twenty years before Agincourt. French knights, charging uphill, were unseated from their horses, either because their mounts were injured on the stakes or because they dismounted to uproot the obstacles, and were overpowered. News of the contrivance circulated within Europe and was described in a book of tactics written in 1411 by [[Jean le Maingre|Boucicault]], Marshal of France.{{sfn|Bennett|1994|pp=7, 15–16}} }}

The English made their [[Sacrament of Penance|confessions]] before the battle, as was customary.{{sfn|Curry|2006|p=166}} Henry, worried about the enemy launching surprise raids, and wanting his troops to remain focused, ordered all his men to spend the night before the battle in silence, on pain of having an ear cut off. He told his men that he would rather die in the coming battle than be captured and [[ransom]]ed.{{sfn|Barker|2015|pp=269–270}}

Henry made a speech emphasising the justness of his cause, and reminding his army of previous great defeats the kings of England had inflicted on the French. The [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]] sources have him concluding the speech by telling his men that the French had boasted that they would cut off two fingers from the right hand of every archer, so that he could never draw a longbow again. Whether this was true is open to question and continues to be debated to this day; however, it seems likely that death was the normal fate of any soldier who could not be ransomed.{{sfn|Barker|2015|p=286}}

===French deployment===
The French army had 10,000 men-at arms{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=57–59}}{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|pp=429, 565}}{{sfn|Sumption|2015|pp=452–453}} plus some 4,000–5,000 miscellaneous footmen ({{lang|fr|gens de trait}}) including archers, crossbowmen{{sfn|Mortimer|2009|pp=422, 565}} ({{lang|fr|arbalétriers}}) and shield-bearers ({{lang|fr|pavisiers}}), totaling 14,000–15,000 men. Probably each man-at-arms would be accompanied by a ''gros valet'' (or varlet), an armed servant, adding up to another 10,000 potential fighting men,{{sfn|Rogers|2008|pp=57, 60–62}} though some historians omit them from the number of combatants.{{sfn|Rogers|2008|p=59 n. 71}}

The French were organized into two main groups (or [[Battle (formation)|battle]]s), a vanguard up front and a main battle behind, both composed principally of men-at-arms fighting on foot and flanked by more of the same in each wing.{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=2015|1pp=278–279, 280|2a1=Curry|2y=2006|2pp=141, 142, 184|3a1=Mortimer|3y=2009|3pp=428–429}} There was a special, elite cavalry force whose purpose was to break the formation of the English archers and thus clear the way for the infantry to advance.{{sfnm|1a1=Curry|1y=2006|1pp=183–184|2a1=Barker|2y=2015|2pp=279, 280}} A second, smaller mounted force was to attack the rear of the English army, along with its baggage and servants.{{sfn|Phillpotts|1984|p=63}} Many lords and gentlemen demanded and received position in the front lines, where they would have a higher chance to acquire glory and valuable ransoms; this resulted in the bulk of the men-at-arms being massed in the front lines and the other troops, for which there was no remaining space, to be placed behind.{{sfnm|1a1=Mortimer|1y=2009|1pp=428–429, 430|2a1=Barker|2y=2015|2pp=278–279|3a1=Curry|3y=2000|3pp=113, 115, 125}} Although it had been planned for the archers and crossbowmen to be placed with the infantry wings, they were now regarded as unnecessary and placed behind them instead.{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=2015|1pp=275, 278–279|2a1=Rogers|2y=2008|2pp=64, 66–67, 69|3a1=Phillpotts|3y=1984|3pp=62|4a1=Mortimer|4y=2009|4p=429, 430}} On account of the lack of space, the French drew up a third battle, the rearguard, which was on horseback and mainly comprised the valets mounted on the horses belonging to the men fighting on foot ahead.{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=2015|1pp=278–279|2a1=Rogers|2y=2008|2pp=61 (n. 79), 62, 64, 66|3a1=Phillpotts|3y=1984|3p=62}}

The French vanguard and main battle numbered respectively 4,800 and 3,000 men-at-arms.{{sfnm|1a1=Mortimer|1y=2009|1p=429|2a1=Sumption|2y=2015|2p=452|3a1=Rogers|3y=2008|3p=58|4a1=Curry|4y=2000|4pp=107, 132, 181}} Both lines were arrayed in tight, dense formations of about 16 ranks each, and were positioned a bowshot length from each other.{{sfn|Rogers|2008|p=63}} Albret, Boucicaut and almost all the leading noblemen were assigned stations in the vanguard.{{sfnm|1a1=Sumption|1y=2015|1p=452|2a1=Barker|2y=2015|2p=279}} The dukes of [[Jean I, Duke of Alençon|Alençon]] and [[Edward III of Bar|Bar]] led the main battle.{{sfn|Barker|2015|p=279}} A further 600 dismounted men-at-arms stood in each wing, with the left under the [[Louis, Count of Vendôme|Count of Vendôme]] and the right under the [[Arthur de Richemont|Count of Richemont]].{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=2015|1pp=279, 280, 322, 331|2a1=Curry|2y=2000|2pp=156, 181, 183|3a1=Curry|3y=2006|3p=182}} To disperse the enemy archers, a cavalry force of 800–1,200 picked men-at-arms,{{sfn|Curry|2000|pp=60–61, 71, 106, 161, 173, 468}} led by [[Clignet de Bréban]] and [[Louis de Bosredon]], was distributed evenly between both flanks of the vanguard (standing slightly forward, like horns).{{sfnm|1a1=Curry|1y=2000|1pp=34, 35, 61, 161|2a1=Rogers|2y=2008|2p=63|3a1=Barker|3y=2015|3p=280|4a1=Mortimer|4y=2009|4pp=429, 599 (n. 109)}} Some 200 mounted men-at-arms would attack the English rear.{{sfn|Sumption|2015|p=454}}{{efn|With 4,800 men-at-arms in the vanguard, 3,000 in the main battle, and 1,200 in the infantry wings,{{sfn|Curry|2000|p=181}} along with 800 and 200 in each cavalry force,{{sfn|Curry|2000|pp=60–61, 71, 106, 161, 173, 468}} the total number of men-at-arms was 10,000.{{sfn|Curry|2000|p=181}} There may have been men-at-arms in the rearguard but, if so, no more than a couple of hundred.{{sfnm|1a1=Rogers|1y=2008|1p=59|2a1=Mortimer|2y=2009|2p=429}} }} The French apparently had no clear plan for deploying the rest of the army.{{sfn|Sumption|2015|p=454}} The rearguard, leaderless, would serve as a "dumping ground" for the surplus troops.{{sfn|Barker|2015|pp=281–282}}

===Terrain===
The field of battle was arguably the most significant factor in deciding the outcome. The recently ploughed land hemmed in by dense woodland favoured the English, both because of its narrowness, and because of the thick [[mud]] through which the French knights had to walk.{{sfn|Wason|2004|p=74}}{{sfn|Holmes|1996|p=48}}

Accounts of the battle describe the French engaging the English men-at-arms before being rushed from the sides by the longbowmen as the [[melee]] developed. The English account in the ''Gesta Henrici'' says: "For when some of them, killed when battle was first joined, fall at the front, so great was the undisciplined violence and pressure of the mass of men behind them that the living fell on top of the dead, and others falling on top of the living were killed as well."{{sfn|Curry|2000|p=37}}

Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. The French monk of St. Denis says: "Their vanguard, composed of about 5,000 men, found itself at first so tightly packed that those who were in the third rank could scarcely use their swords,"<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Curry|2000|p=107}}.</ref> and the Burgundian sources have a similar passage.

Recent heavy rain had made the battle field very muddy, proving very tiring to walk through in full [[plate armour]]. The French monk of St. Denis describes the French troops as "marching through the middle of the mud where they sank up to their knees. So they were already overcome with fatigue even before they advanced against the enemy". The deep, soft mud particularly favoured the English force because, once knocked to the ground, the heavily armoured French knights had a hard time getting back up to fight in the melee. Barker states that some knights, encumbered by their armour, actually drowned in their helmets.{{sfn|Barker|2015|p=303}}