France was three times bigger than the trade population. And proportionately richer? Yes, it must be. Except that the English Crown at this point had better access to its wealth via taxation and commercial taxes. It's a 100 years war because it takes the French government apparatus a long time to ramp up. I think Cressy would be more famous than our June Court had Shakespeare written a better play about it. Can you maintain this order? Well, I don't know. That's what I'm worried about. This could be the beginning of World War III.
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