1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

by Mortimer, Ian

  As we have seen, records of contract and pay exist which allow us to be certain that, when the English army set out from Harfleur, it included 1,500–1,600 men-at-arms, a similar number of pages, 6,600–7,000 archers, and a few dozen chaplains, clerks, surgeons and royal servants, plus any of the reinforcements who had arrived since 15 August. With regard to the numbers of fighting men – men-at-arms and archers – the total was at least 8,100.2 Depending on the number of reinforcements from England (an indeterminate number), the actual number sent home sick (possibly five hundred fewer, meaning there were five hundred more in the army), and the actual number of Cheshire archers who set out on the campaign (possibly four hundred more), there may have been several hundred more men than this figure of 8,100. Most English chronicles support this, stating that there were between eight and eleven thousand Englishmen at Agincourt.3 Despite the trials of the march, Henry had lost very few men to illness and death; and we have independent testimony that no more than 160 had been captured on the way.4 If we conclude that Henry had between eight and nine thousand fighting men with him, we cannot be far wrong. He certainly had considerably more than the 5,900 men that the author of the Gesta claims in his hagiographical account of Henry.

  The critical question is one of how many French troops there were gathering between Agincourt and Tramecourt, to the south of Ruisseauville. Unfortunately the chronicle of Ruisseauville itself, which accurately states that there were between eight and nine thousand English fighting men, does not give a figure for the French army. The Burgundian writers claim there were eight thousand men-at-arms and four thousand archers, plus 1,500 crossbowmen in the vanguard, and another 1,400 (or 2,400) men-at-arms on the wings.5 Although we have no pay records, these numbers do correspond roughly with the ten thousand men-at-arms recorded by the duke of Berry’s herald, Gilles le Bouvier; and since this was written from the Armagnac perspective it is thus a counterbalance to the Burgundian chroniclers’ accounts.6

  In taking these observations a stage further, Anne Curry assessed the numbers of men in the French companies as indicated in these sources and then compared them to the sizes of companies which were ordered to be mustered, and made allowances for the additional retinues brought to the battle from individual lords with lands in the north of France.7 This method, which is the most refined yet employed, suggests that there were about eight or nine thousand men-at-arms gathering around the spot where the constable had set his banners. Most companies had been instructed to raise half as many crossbowmen and archers as men-at-arms, so it would be reasonable to assume there were four or five thousand archers and crossbowmen too. Professor Curry suggests this proportion was not achieved, and that the total number of French fighting men was about 12,000.8 If it was achieved – and the presence of many local men and men from the Marches of Boulogne suggests there were other contingents which we should consider – there may have been fourteen or fifteen thousand fighting men, as the Burgundian chronicles suggest.9 But there were nowhere near the sixty thousand fighting men which the English claim; and this figure is the lowest given for the French army in any English chronicle – some estimates being as high as 160,000.

  Professor Curry concluded that the two armies were far more closely matched than most historians assume: twelve thousand fighting Frenchmen against nine thousand fighting Englishmen, a ratio of four-to-three. Although her method minimises French numbers (by limiting her figures to those in the basic army and a few specific additional companies) and maximises English numbers (by assuming the numbers sent home from Harfleur were no greater than the sick lists), her work is a robust challenge to anyone familiar with the old school of Agincourt history (in which six thousand Englishmen defeated twenty-five or thirty thousand Frenchmen). There simply is no evidence that there were that many troops on the French side – except in the pages of chroniclers whose ability to gauge what thirty thousand men looked like must be questioned, even if they were present on the day. It needs to be borne in mind that their main precedent for describing the size of an army in a battle was the Old Testament – which regularly mentions armies of tens or hundreds of thousands of men. The figures preferred in this study incorporate room for error, allowing for more Frenchmen and slightly fewer Englishmen than Professor Curry does, but the most extreme imbalance which is credible is fifteen thousand French troops against 8,100 English: a ratio of about two-to-one.

  Table 1: THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY BEFORE 1399

  Table 2: THE FRENCH ROYAL FAMILY

  Table 3: THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY AFTER 1399

  Select Bibliography and

  List of Abbreviations

  Works which are abbreviated in the notes are here given under both the abbreviation and the editor’s or author’s name. All places of publication are London unless otherwise stated.

  Unpublished Manuscripts in the National Archives

  DL 25/1649

  DL 28/1/6

  C53/184–5

  E 101/47/11

  E 101/321/26–29

  E 101/404/21.

  E 101/404/23

  E 101/406/21–30

  E 358/6

  E 361/7

  E 403/620–623

  E 405/28

  E 407/11

  A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household (1790)

  Christopher Allmand, Henry V (1992)

  Christopher Allmand (ed.), Society at War (Woodbridge, 1998)

  Rémy Ambühl, ‘A Fair Share of the Profits? The Ransoms of Agincourt (1415)’, Nottingham Medieval Studies, 50 (2006), pp. 129–50

  Rowena Archer and Simon Walker (eds), Rulers and Ruled in Late Medieval England: Essays presented to Gerald Harriss (1995)

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  R. L. Atkinson, ‘Richard II and the Death of the Duke of Gloucester’, EHR, 38 (1923), pp. 563–4

  Gérard Bacquet, Azincourt (Bellegarde, 1977)

  J. F. Baldwin, The King’s Council in England During the Middle Ages (Oxford, 1913, reprinted 1969)

  Juliet Barker, Agincourt: the King, the Campaign, the Battle (2005)

  M. L. Bellaguet (ed.), Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys contenant le Règne de Charles VI, de 1380 à 1422, vol. 5 (Paris, 1844)

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  Henry IV’, Albion, 26 (1994), pp. 253–72

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CPR: Calendar of the Patent Rolls 1413–1416 (1910)

  Anne Curry, Agincourt: a New History (Stroud, 2006)

  Anne Curry, ‘The Military Ordinances of Henry V: Texts and Contexts’, in

  Given-Wilson, Kettle and Scales (eds), War, Government and Aristocracy, pp. 214–49

  Anne Curry (ed.), Agincourt 1415: Henry V, Sir Thomas Erpingham and the Triumph of the English Archers (Stroud, 2000)

  Anne Curry (ed.), The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations (Woodbridge, 2000)

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  Frederick Devon (ed.), Issues of the Exchequer (1837)

  Keith Dockray, Warrior King: the Life of Henry V (Stroud, 2007)

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  Gwilym Dodd, ‘Patronage, Petitions and Grace’, in Dodd and Biggs (eds), Rebellion and Survival, pp. 105–35

  Mark Duffy, Royal Tombs of Medieval England (Stroud, 2003)

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  Christopher Dyer, Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, revised edn, 1998)

  EHD: A. R. Myres (ed.), English Historical Documents vol. 4: 1327–1485 (1969)

  EHR: English Historical Review

  Fears: Ian Mortimer, The Fears of Henry IV: the Life of England’s Self-Made King (2007)

  Christopher Fletcher, Richard II: Manhood, Youth and Politics, 1377–1399 (Oxford, 2008)

  Foedera: Thomas Rymer (ed.), Foedera, conventiones, literae, et cujuscunque generis acta publica (20 vols, 1704–35)

  John Fox, Acts and Monuments of Matters Most Special and Memorable Happening in the Church, with an Universall Historie of the Same, vol. 1 (1641)

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  James E. Gilbert, ‘A Medieval “Rosie the Riveter”? Women in France and Southern England during the Hundred Years War’, in Villalon and Kagay (eds), The Hundred Years War, pp. 333–64

  Chris Given-Wilson, The Royal Household and the King’s Affinity: Service, Politics and Finance in England 1360–1413 (1986)

  Chris Given-Wilson (ed.), The Chronicle of Adam Usk (Oxford, 1997)

  Chris Given-Wilson (ed.), Parliamentary Rolls of Medieval England (CD ROM ed., Woodbridge, 2005)

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  John Grime, The Lanterne of Lyght (1535)

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  Sir William Hardy and Edward L. C. P. Hardy (eds), A Collection of the Chronicles and Ancient Histories …by John de Waurin, Lord of Forestel … 1399–1422 (1887)

  G. L. Harriss, ‘The King and his Magnates’, in Harriss (ed.), Henry V: the Practice of Kingship, pp. 53–74

  G. L. Harriss (ed.), Henry V: the Practice of Kingship (Stroud, 1993)

  Gerald Harriss, Cardinal Beaufort: a Study of Lancastrian Ascendancy and Decline (Oxford, 1988)

  Gerald Harriss, Shaping the Nation: England 1360–1461 (Oxford, 2005)

  Barbara Harvey, Living and Dying in England 1100–1540: the Monastic Experience (Oxford, 1993; reprinted 1995)

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  F. C. Hingeston (ed.), The Book of the Illustrious Henries by John Capgrave (1858)

  F C. Hingeston (ed.), The Chronicle of England by John Capgrave (1858) F. C. Hingeston (ed.), Royal and Historical Letters During the Reign of Henry

  IV, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland (2 vols, 1860, 1964)

  HKW: R. A. Brown, H. M. Colvin and A. J. Taylor, History of the King’s Works: the Middle Ages (2 vols, 1963)

  Harold F. Hutchinson, Henry V: a Biography (1967)

  Ronald Hutton, The Rise and Fall of Merry England: the Ritual Year 1400–1700 (Oxford, 1994)

  Issues: Frederick Devon (ed.), Issues of the Exchequer (1837)

  E. F. Jacob, Archbishop Henry Chichele (1967)

  E. F. Jacob, Henry V and the Invasion of France (1947)

  E. F. Jacob, The Register of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1414–1443, Canterbury and York Series, vols 42, 45–7 (4 vols, 1937–47)

  Thomas Johnes (ed.), The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet (2 vols, 1853)

  H. A. Kelly, ‘English Kings and the Fear of Sorcery’, Mediaeval Studies, 39 (1977), pp. 206–38

  C. L. Kingsford (ed.), The First English Life of Henry V (Oxford, 1911), pp. 11–12

  J. L. Kirby (ed.), Calendar of Signet Letters of Henry IV and Henry V (1978)

  J. L. Kirby (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem … vol. 20: 1–5 Henry V (1995)

  Louise Ropes Loomis (trans.), The Council of Constance: the Unification of the Church (New York, 1961)

  H. R. Luard (ed.), Flores Historiarum (3 vols, 1890)

  William Marx (ed.), An English Chronicle 1377–1461: a New Edition (Woodbridge, 2003)

  Gervase Mathew, The Court of Richard II (1968)

  K. B. McFarlane, ‘England: the Lancastrian Kings, 1399–1461’, in C. W. Previté-Orton and Z. N. Brooke (eds), The Cambridge History of Medieval Europe, vol 8: the Close of the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1936), pp. 362–93

  K. B. McFarlane, Lancastrian Kings and Lollard Knights (Oxford, 1972)

  Peter McNiven, Heresy and Politics in the Reign of Henry IV: the Burning of John Badby (Woodbridge, 1987)

  Monstrelet: Thomas Johnes (ed.), The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet (2 vols, 1853)

  D. A. L. Morgan, ‘The political after-life of Edward III: the apotheosis of a Warmonger’, EHR, 112 (1997), pp. 856–81

  Philip Morgan, ‘Memories of the Battle of Shrewsbury’ (paper delivered at Nottingham 2006)

  Ian Mortimer, ‘Henry IV’s Date of Birth and the Royal Maundy’, Historical Research, 80 (2007), pp. 567–76

  Ian Mortimer, ‘Richard II and the Succession to the Crown’, History, 91, 303 (2006), pp. 320–36

  Ian Mortimer, The Fears of Henry IV: the Life of England’s Self-Made King (2007)

  Ian Mortimer, The Perfect King: the Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation (2006)

  Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England (2008)

  Ian Mortimer, ‘York or Lancaster? Who was the Rightful Heir to the Throne in 1460?’, Richard III Society Bulletin (Autumn 2008), pp. 20–4

  A. R. Myres (ed.), English Historical Documents vol. 4: 1327–1485 (1969)

  J. Nichols (ed.), A Collection of All the Wills Now Known to be Extant of the Kings and Queens of England … (1780, reprinted New York, 1969)

  Donald M. Nicol, ‘A Byzantine Emperor in England: Manuel II’s visit to London in 1400–1401’, University of Birmingham Historical Journal, 12, 2 (1970), pp. 204–25

  Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, History of the Battle of Agincourt and of the Expedition of Henry the Fifth into France in 1415 (2nd ed., 1832)

  Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (ed.), Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England (7 vols, 1834–37)

  Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (ed.), Testamenta Vetusta: Illustrations from Wills of Manners, Customs, etc. from the Reign of Henry the Second to the Accession of Elizabeth I, vol. 1 (1826)

  ODNB: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography from the earliest times to the year 2000 (on-line edition, Oxford, 2004, with corrections and additions)

  George Oliver, Monasticon D
iocesis Exonienses (Exeter, 1846)

  Mark Ormrod, ‘The Rebellion of Archbishop Scrope and the Tradition of Opposition to Royal Taxation’, in Dodd and Biggs (eds), Rebellion and Survival, pp. 162–79

  W. M. Ormrod, ‘The Personal Religion of Edward III’, Speculum, 64 (1989), pp. 849–911

  A. J. Otway-Ruthven, A History of Medieval Ireland (1968, reprinted 1993)

  Papal Registers: J. A. Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters vol. 6: 1404–1415 (1904)

  Kate Parker, ‘Politics and Patronage in Lynn 1399–1416’, in Dodd and Biggs (eds), Rebellion and Survival, pp. 210–27

  Perfect King: Ian Mortimer, The Perfect King: the Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation (2006)

  Ernest Petit, Itinéraires de Philippe le Hardi et de Jean Sans Peur, ducs de Bourgogne (Paris, 1888)

  Edward Powell, ‘The Strange Death of Sir John Mortimer: Politics and the Law of Treason in Lancastrian England’, in Archer and Walker (eds), Rulers and Ruled in Late Medieval England, pp. 83–98

  Edward Powell, ‘The Restoration of Law and Order’, in Harriss (ed.), Henry V: the Practice of Kingship, pp. 53–74

  David Preest and James G. Clark (eds), The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham, 1376–1422 (Woodbridge, 2005)