Crécy is a village in
the south of France in the department of Somme near
Abberville. One of the most terrible battles of the
Middle Ages and also one of the most decisive battles of all time was waged in its immediate
vicinity. Invading troops of about 20,000 Englishmen led
by King Edward III (who reigned between 1327-1377) was
outnumbered by about 60,000 Frenchmen headed by King
Philip (1328-1350). The battle ended with a clear-cut
English victory, who depended upon foot archers and took advantage of the disorderly French heavy cavalry.
This battle is also notable for Czech history because of
Czech King Jan of Luxembourg, who brought a support force
of several thousand armor-clad knights to the rescue of
the French. This famous warrior, who was already
completely blind at the time, died a hero’s death in
the battle. Charles IV, his son and future king of
Bohemia, also took part in the battle.
The battle at Crécy was only one of many incidents of
the Hundred Years’ War, which was in fact a series of
eight great conflicts, and plunged Britain and France
into war for more than 100 years (1337-1453).
From a purely military point of view, Crécy was an
undoubted victory of disciplined infantry in an
open field over the best cavalry in Europe. Additionally,
Edward presented himself as a master of tactics of his
time. He understood the impact of disciplined infantry on
cavalry, and was aware of the devastating shooting power
of his archers. Edward made the most of the army he
had under his command.
 Commander: Edward III Army: Approx 20,000 soldiers Left Wing: Count of Northampton and Count Arundel, Bishop of Durham with 1,000 armor-clad cavalrymen and 3,000 archers Right Wing: Black Prince, Count of Warwick and Count of Oxford with 1,000 armor-clad cavalrymen, 1,000 Welsh light-armed cavalrymen and 3,000 archers Reserve: King Edward with 700 armor-clad cavalrymen and 2,000 archers |
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 Commander: King Philip VI Army: Exact numbers are not known and estimates differ. There were files of 6,000 Genoese crossbow shooters led by Odon Dorioa and Carl Grimaldi and 12,000 knights and armor-clad cavalrymen |
Edward III disembarked in 1346 near Cherbourg and marched inland. He seized the city of Caen and proceeded to Rouen. His advance was stopped by destroyed bridges over the Seine, so he set out for the north. The Somme river had burst its banks was another obstacle for him. Meanwhile, the French raised a numerous army and began their pursuit. Edward started to retreat to Flanders, crossed the Somme near Blanchetaque, and found a good battlefield close to the village of Crécy-en-Pontieu. He transferred his army to the nearby woods as a defensive measure against the anticipated French attack.
The army of Edward III (comprising 12,000 men, out of which two thirds were archers), took up a good position on a gentle slope with both wings protected.
The right wing, closest to Crécy, was commanded by Edward’s son, the sixteen-year-old Black Prince, who was accompanied by the counts of Warwick and Oxford, Sir Godfrey of Harcourt, and four knights from the Order of the Garter: Sir Thomas Holland, Sir John Chandos, Lord Stafford, and Lord Burghersh. With them were 1,000 armor-clad cavalrymen, 1,000 Welsh light-armed cavalrymen, and about 3,000 archers.
On the left, not far from the village of Wadicourt, were positioned the Count of Northampton, Count Arundel, and the Bishop of Durham, with 1,000 armor-clad cavalrymen, 3,000 archers, and Welsh infantrymen.
The royal reserve was placed up the slope, and covered the gap between the two spearheads. It consisted of 700 dismounted armor-clad knights and approximately 2,000 archers. Edward himself headed this formation. The king took up his position in a windmill halfway between his and Prince of Wales’s detachments. He could watch the whole operation and issue orders from there.
The main body of each unit was a tight phalanx made up of 1,000 dismounted armed men probably 6 ranks deep and about 250 yards (225 m) long. The archers were grouped on the outside wings of each detachment, and staggered in steps to gain convergent firing positions. Wing archers of both spearheads formed an inverted ”V“ ahead of the army, tip pointing towards the enemy. It is not known whether the Welsh light infantry was mixed with the archers or stood close together with the dismounted armed men in the central phalanx.
There was a small reserve of armor-clad cavalrymen behind the center of each unit, ready to counterattack swiftly if the French offensive penetrated the front lines.
During the day the English and Welsh infantrymen dug out a considerable number of small holes on the undulating fields near their center as traps for the horses of the French cavalry.
Crécy was probably the first European battle where gunpowder weapons were used. However, they did not inflence the result of the battle extensively.
The French army led by King Philip VI was both cosmopolitan and disorientated. Besides the French nobility there was the Roman King Charles IV,
the Counts of Namur and Hainalt, the Duke of Lorraine, and King Jaime II of Majorca as well as several hundred German and Czech knights headed by the blind Czech King Jan of Luxembourg. The French army was composed of 12,000 armor-clad knights and cavalrymen (the flower of French chivalry), approximately 17,000 light-armed cavalrymen,and over 25,000 recruits - an undisciplined crowd of foot-soldiers , who were only a small contribution to the French tactics. On the contrary, a contingent of 6,000 Genoese crossbowmen
led by Odon Dorioa and Carl Grimaldi was of great significance. The French knights showed their contempt for these soldiers of fortune and paid no attention to their complaints that they were tired after an eighteen-hour march and that the persistent rain had loosened the strings of their crossbows.
This army, which was outspread in an endless column without any kind of reconaissance unit happened to met the English line of battle at about 6 in the afternooon.
Philip tried to stop the progresion to provide some rest for his army, and attempted to set up camp out of the enemy’s range. The insubordinate French knights, however, refused to obey him. Philip was driven to despair at not persuading his army to pull back and rest, so he decided to attack instead.
Philip put his crossbow men in the lead, but could not control the hot-headed knights full of pride and ignorance. The French advance guard started to apack themselves in confusion behind the Genoese.
A short gust of rain and storm passed over the battlefield, making the surface slippery and much more dificult to walk upon. Then, the setting sun broke through the clouds.
The disciplined Genoese, lined up tightly and headed by the counts of Alencon and Flanders, crossed the valley and began to move up the slope against the English. The crossbowmen were followed by the first line of French armor-clad cavalrymen. They stopped about 150 yards (135 m) short of the English front and shot the first salvo from their crossbows. Because of the wet bowstrings, the quarrels did not reach far enough, and the English archers returned fire immediately with a fierce attack, aided by cannon firing round ball carved from rock.
The Genoese panicked and tried to get out of range of the English armers and cannon, but they could not force their way through the horde of French horsemen behind them who refused to get out of the way. The impatient French advance guard gave their horses a touch of spurs and charged over the Genoese, knocking them down under a mighty disorganized avalanche.
The slippery slope was qucikly covered with a swirling mass of men and horse in full battle array stumbling over the unfortunate Genoese. All of the French army was also continually under a rain of English arrows.
Only a few men of the Alecon front line managed to attack dismounted English knights after most of the French first wave had been swept away by arrows. Moreover, no measure to clean the field had been taken before the second French wave charged in to the fight. This caused more havoc, in which the blind Czech king (tied to knights on both sides) was killed.
More and more sections of the French column heedlessly charged into the terrible tangle, and were hit by the continual rain of English arrows.
Edward apparently took an excellent step to guarantee a regular supply of arrows when he ordered his archers to run to the field after each French attack and retrieve spent arrows to use again.
The French commanders showed no sense of tactics during the battle. Each group of knights seemed to have only one aspiration - to strike the enemy head-on, without any sign of maneuvering or launching any flanking maneuvers.
A couple of Alencon armor-clad cavalrymen constituted the only danger for the English when they avoided the archers and penetrated into the group around the Black Prince, but they were overpowered after a bitter struggle. At one moment the young prince was pulled off his horse and saved by his flag bearer Richard Fitzsimmons.
Edward III himself was engaged in a fight with Eustach de Ribeaumont and was struck to the ground twice. At last Eustach was overwhelmed, captured, and later reprieved by the king for fighting so courageously.
The French attacked fifteen times in a row (the last attack after dusk), but were forced to withdraw in the end after suffering heavy losses. The English remained in their formations until dawn.
Both the Czech and Majorka kings fighting for the French were killed, and with them died 1,542 noblemen and knights and 10,000 to 20,000 other men-at-arms, crossbowmen, infantrymen, and thousands of horses. Philip himself lost two horses and was wounded (as were many other noblemen and knights). He managed to escape from the fight, because the English maintaned iron discipline and never pursued defeated enemies.
After the Battle
of Crécy the only city that came into English possession was Calais, which provided them with a landing area ideal for invasion and became the principle European port for wool export. A more important outcome of the battle was that England established a reputation as a western European military power, and English soldiers then rose to fame as mercenaries in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France.
the END
English bow
English bow was constructed from a Welsh bow. It was 1.5 to 2 meters long, and made primarily from yew-tree, but sometimes also from elm or ash-tree. In comparison with modern practice when the bowstring is drawn to the archer’s ear, it was then drawn with a strong, continuous movement away from the body. One had to have a pulling power of 35 - 40 kg (77 - 88lbs) to draw the bowstring. Every archer’s quiver contained 24 arrows up to 91 cm long provided with goose feathers. It could carry as far as 275 m. Besides this, every archer had 16 heavier, but shorter arrows, which could easily penetrate mail armor, and from a shorter distance even armor plated with metal. These arrows were about 70 cm long, and could fly as far as 155 m. They could be used accurately on individual targets to within 70 - 90 meters. An experienced archer could shoot 10 - 15 arrows per minute (with a continual need of practice), which explains the destructive power caused by the hail of arrows that hit the French knights in the first minutes of the Battle of Crécy.
A sword, ax, dagger, club or a hunting knife, and sometimes also a smaller round shield were other weapons that the archers had at their disposal. Well-equipped archers could also have a mail shirt or a leather coat with metal plates sewed on. Their heads were protected by helmets or simply with a felt hat.