Battle of Crécy

battle_name=Battle of Crécy

Significance

Crécy was a battle in which a much smaller English army of approximately 12,000, commanded by Edward III of England, heavily outnumbered by Philip VI of France's force of between 30,000 and 40,000, was victorious as a result of superior weaponry and tactics. It was a battle where the effectiveness of the English longbow, used en masse, was proven against armoured knights. The French knights, in plate armour, were cut down by the bodkin arrows as they charged the English position up a hill. The result was that the blossom of the French nobility died, perhaps as many as a third (the actual number for each army varies considerably according to the source used).

Related Topics:
Edward III of England - Philip VI of France - English longbow - Bodkin arrows

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The battle is seen by many historians as the beginning of the end of chivalry, because during the course of the battle many of the prisoners and wounded were killed against the chivalric codes of warfare, and knights on horseback were no longer undefeatable by infantry.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~