When did the Battle of Crecy take place?

The famous battle of Crecy took place in 1346. It was the battle of the very first period of the long Hundred Years War between France and England.

Prerequisites

In 1337, English King Edward III announced his claims to the French throne. He equipped a large expedition and tried to capture Paris. His first campaign took place in Flanders, a region in modern Belgium. The British army failed to invade France. This was due to the financial difficulties of the king, as well as his unsuccessful diplomacy.

A few years later, Edward III decided to make another attempt. This time his army landed in Normandy. The army was led by the king himself and his eldest son Edward the Black Prince, who bore the title of Prince of Wales. At the head of the French army was the French monarch Philip VI of the Valois dynasty. It was these commanders-in-chief who collided with each other in Normandy. The culmination of that campaign was the Battle of Crecy.

The landing of the English in Normandy

All summer of 1346 Edward tried to provoke a general battle. Philip was indecisive and several times retreated at the most crucial moment. Because of this strategy, the British already occupied the whole of Normandy and threatened northern France, including Paris.

Finally, on August 26 Edward III took a position on a mountain ridge near the town of Crecy in Picardy. British intelligence did not fail the commander-in-chief. Scouts reported that the French monarch would certainly attack the wagging British. With each new month of the war in France, the economic crisis was increasingly visible. In addition, the northern provinces were plundered by an enemy army, which ate from the local population.

Since the time Edward landed in Normandy, he lost about a tenth of his troops. On the eve of the battle under his leadership was about 12 thousand soldiers. It was a formidable force. Alfred Berne wrote about the British army of that model. "Battle of Crecy" - one of his most famous popular science books on the Middle Ages.

Building the troops

The avant-garde was led by the crown heir, the Black Prince. Its parts were on the right flank. This construction was traditional for the medieval army. He was assisted by experienced military leaders - Earl of Oxford and Earl of Warwick. The right flank was on a small mound, towering above the rest of the British army.

In general, the whole army was stationed on the slope, passing into the river valley. Rear-guard was on the left flank. He was led by the famous military leader Earl of Northampton. In the center behind the defensive line was a reserve regiment. These units were under the direct control of King Edward III. The mill, standing nearby, was useful as an observation post.

Edward's army

It is interesting that the English king decided that the Battle of Crecy should be a foot battle. The day before, the English army had sent all its horses into the convoy. He was in the deep rear and was carefully guarded by the reserve squad. Edward made this decision on the advice of Count Northampton. This commander suggested using his former successful experience of the foot battle in the Battle of Morla, which occurred several years before.

An important role in the army of Edward was played by archers. They had previously indicated the positions on which special holes were dug for convenient storage of arrows and recharging bows. During the battle, each shooter released 30-40 arrows in a few minutes. Since the British were the first to take their positions, they managed to hold a military review and prepare a strategy for the approach of the French.

Failures of French intelligence

An important battle at Crecy was for the French intelligence completely unexpected. In 1346, she was much inferior to the English opponents, who always appeared a few steps ahead. At first Philip went to overtake the enemy army in the wrong direction. When the scouts finally realized their mistake, the communications of the French had already stretched for several kilometers. Soon the king managed to restore discipline and go the right way, but erroneous maneuvers cost him precious time, which later affected the preparedness for battle.

The Battle of Crecy in 1346 was a difficult test for a heterogeneous French army, which can be divided into three parts. In the first were the Genoese mercenaries and the personal guard of the king. The number of this detachment was 6 thousand people. On the eve of the battle it was he who held back the periodic attacks of the British during mutual maneuvers, so he was considerably shabby.

Foreign allies

The presence of the Genoese is not surprising - many foreigners fought for Philip IV. There were monarchs among them. For example, the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg. He was old (by medieval standards) and blind, but still came to the rescue of his long-time ally, who had to fight with the British intervention. In addition, in previous years, John spent much time at the French court. Also in the army of Philip were numerous German mercenaries and small detachments of German dukes and other small princes.

French Home Guard

Finally, the third part of the French army was the peasant militia. Residents of the villages eagerly responded to the call of the authorities to fight against foreign aggression. Although medieval wars have never had a clearly expressed national character, this case is an exception. The peasants badly imagined a military strategy. Many of them were in the army for the first time.

Because of the scarcity of sources of that era, researchers still can not determine the exact size of the troops of Philip. For example, the English chroniclers even quoted a figure of 100 thousand people. However, such data is hard to believe. The victorious party often overestimated its own merits. But one thing is certain: the French army was at least twice as large as the English army (at least 30,000 people). This difference gave Philip confidence in his own abilities. However, not at all, as the king planned, the Battle of Crecy ended. The winner already waited for him on carefully prepared positions ...

Difference in organization

On August 26, 1346 at 16 o'clock the French army reached the valley of the small Meie River. The army was seen by the guards at the mill. Urgent news was immediately reported to Edward III. The English army immediately took its positions. Knights, patrons, archers - they all closely followed the picture on the opposite side of the valley. There the French army was building up.

Even before the Battle of Crecy (1346) began, the British realized that they had an undisputed advantage. It consisted of discipline. A well-trained British army was selected for a long time before being on ships heading for Normandy. All the orders of Edward and the Black Prince were executed as quickly as it was possible at all.

At the same time, the French army could not boast of such training and discipline. The problem was that militiamen, royal detachments and foreign mercenaries did not understand each other well. The ranks were squatting on the neighbors. In the French ranks, even before the start of the battle, there was confusion and confusion, which was noticeable to the British.

Unexpected start of the battle

Among other things, Philip again brought intelligence. He was not informed of the actual location of the enemy army. The king, not far from Crecy, was not going to give battle the same day. When he realized that the enemy's squad was only a few kilometers away, he had to convene an urgent military council, on which the question was raised abruptly: to go or not to go on the offensive on the same day?

Most of the high-ranking French officers were in favor of postponing the fight until the next morning. This decision was logical - before that the army had been on the road all day and was tired by the order. The soldiers needed rest. Philip also was not going anywhere. He agreed with the council and gave the order to stop.

However, here the human factor had its place, because of which the Battle of Crecy started. In short, the smug French knights, seeing their numerical superiority, decided to attack the enemy that same evening. They were the first to rush into the offensive. The construction of the army was such that before the knights were Genoese mercenaries. They also had to go ahead to avoid being hit by their own reckless comrades. Thus began the Battle of Crecy. Opponents and the winner decided that it would take place only in the morning, but the frivolous behavior of part of the French army accelerated the denouement.

Defeat of the French

The first serious losses of the army were sustained after a shootout took place between English archers and Italian crossbowmen who served Philip. Its outcome was logical. The British fired more efficiently than the enemy due to the high rate of long bows. In addition, before the battle it rained, and the Genoese crossbows were very wet, which made them unfit for use.

The Battle of Crecy took place in the era of the birth of artillery. English guns made several volleys in the direction of the French. The nuclear weapons were not yet loaded-guns loaded with grapeshot. In any case, even this primitive technique frightened part of the French troops.

Cavalry followed the crossbowmen. Knights of Philip had to overcome a lot of natural obstacles, including a steep rise, on top of which were the British. The French took more than 16 bloody attacks. None of them has ever been successful.

The losses were enormous. They were estimated at tens of thousands of human lives. Philip himself was wounded. So failed for him in 1346 year. The Battle of Crecy confirmed the advantage of the British. Now Edward could continue his campaign in the north of France. He headed towards the important coastal fortress of Calais.

The reasons for the victory of the British

The result of the battle was shocking for the French. So why did the English win? You can formulate several reasons that will eventually lead to one. Between the two enemy armies lay a huge organizational abyss. The English were well trained, armed and knew what they were on. They fought in a foreign country, behind them was only the sea, which meant that they had nothing to lose.

The French army consisted of hardly trained soldiers, as well as mercenaries, recruited from different countries. This huge human ball was full of contradictions and internal conflicts. The knights did not trust the Genoese, the peasants were suspicious of the feudal lords. All this was the reason for the powerlessness of King Philip IV.

Effects

Many lives took the Battle of Crecy. The date of the battle became a mourning day for the whole of France. In battle, the ally of Philip was killed by the King of Bohemia, John of Luxembourg. The battle showed the effectiveness of long bows, which were used by the British. This new type of weapon completely changed the tactical science of the Middle Ages. The year 1346 became the prologue to all these changes. The Battle of Crecy also became the first battle, where artillery was massively used.

Success on the battlefield allowed Edward to occupy the whole of northern France without hindrance. Soon he laid siege to the important port of Calais. After the break, caused by the epidemic of the plague, the English army several times smashed the French. In 1360, the first stage of the Hundred Years War ended. As a result, the English crown was given to Normandy, Calais, Brittany and Aquitaine - more than half of France. But this did not end a century-long war. The Battle of Crecy was only one of many episodes of the longest bloodshed in medieval Europe.