The French could have withdrawn, maybe early I suppose we could say that's courage that persuades them not to. But of course it's an unknown quantity and they couldn't train against Arrow shot in that kind of way. Edward had selected grounds that exploited his tactical deployment perfectly. He knew that his son supported by his retinue would win. There's a surprising number of heroic teenagers over the course of the hundred years. You just have to go and do it.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the brutal events of 26 August 1346, when the armies of France and England met in a funnel-shaped valley outside the town of Crécy in northern France.
Although the French, led by Philip VI, massively outnumbered the English, under the command of Edward III, the English won the battle, and French casualties were huge. The English victory is often attributed to the success of their longbowmen against the heavy cavalry of the French.
The Battle of Crécy was the result of years of simmering tension between Edward III and Philip VI, and it led to decades of further conflict between England and France, a conflict that came to be known as the Hundred Years War.
With
Anne Curry
Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton
Andrew Ayton
Senior Research Fellow in History at Keele University
and
Erika Graham-Goering
Lecturer in Late Medieval History at Durham University
Producer Luke Mulhall