In 1340 there's a succession dispute in Brittany after the death of Duke John III. Philip backs Jean de Ponte d'Eve, and turns to Edward III for assistance. There's a battle at Morley in late September between a small English army and the forces of Charles de Bois. And so we come to the summer of 1346 when Edward raised an army, said to be the biggest army that had sailed from England, at Salda France. What did he want to achieve? Is he here just to wreak as much destruction as he can? Or is he here with a real targeted purpose of drawing Philip out to battle? I think it's actually a bit
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