Battle of Crecy in the The Hundred Years War

Battle of Crecy in the The Hundred Years War The Battle of Crà ©cy was fought August 26, 1346, during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). Largely a dynastic struggle for the French throne, the conflict began following the death of Philip IV and his sons, Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV. This ended the Capetian Dynasty which had ruled France since 987.   As no direct male heir lived, Edward III of England, Philip IVs grandson by his daughter Isabella, pressed his claim to the throne. This was rejected by the French nobility who preferred Philip IVs nephew, Philip of Valois. The War Begins Crowned Philip  VI in 1328, he called for Edward to do homage to him for the valuable  fief of Gascony. Though initially unwilling to this,  Edward relented and accepted Philip as King of France in 1331 in return for continued  control over Gascony. By doing so, he surrendered his rightful claim  to the throne. In 1337, Philip VI revoked Edward IIIs control of Gascony and commenced raiding the English coast. In response, Edward reasserted his claims to the French throne and began building alliances with the nobles of Flanders and the Low Countries.   In 1340, Edward scored a decisive naval victory at Sluys which gave England control of the Channel for the duration of the war. This was followed by an invasion of the Low Countries and an abortive siege of Cambrai. After plundering Picardy, Edward withdrew back to England to raise funds for future campaigns as well as to deal with the Scots who had used his absence to mount a series of raids across the border. Six years later, having assembled around 15,000 men and 750 ships at Portsmouth, he again planned to invade France.   A Return to France Sailing for Normandy, Edward landed on the Cotentin Peninsula that July. Quickly capturing Caen on July 26, he moved east towards the Seine. Alerted that King Philip VI was assembling a large army in Paris, Edward turned north and began moving along the coast. Pressing on, he crossed the Somme after winning the Battle of Blanchetaque on August 24. Tired from their endeavors, the English army encamped near the Forest of Crà ©cy. Eager to defeat the English and angry that he had failed to trap them between the Seine and Somme, Philip raced towards Crà ©cy with his men. The English Command Alerted to the approach of the French army, Edward deployed his men along a ridge between the villages of Crà ©cy and Wadicourt. Dividing his army, he assigned command of the right division to his sixteen-year old son Edward, the Black Prince with assistance from the Earls of Oxford and Warwick, as well as Sir John Chandos. The left division was led by the Earl of Northampton, while Edward, commanding from a vantage point in a windmill, retained leadership of the reserve. These divisions were supported by large numbers of archers equipped with the English longbow. Armies Commanders: England Edward IIIEdward, the Black Prince12,000-16,000 men France Philip VI20,000-80,000 men Preparing for Battle While waiting for the French to arrive, the English busied themselves by digging ditches and laying out caltrops in front of their position. Advancing north from Abbeyville, the lead elements of Philips army arrived near the English lines around mid-day on August 26. Scouting the enemy position, they recommended to Philip that they encamp, rest, and wait for the entire army to arrive. While Philip agreed with this approach, he was overruled by his nobles who wished to attack the English without delay. Quickly forming for battle, the French did not wait for the bulk of their infantry or supply train to arrive. The French Advance Advancing with Antonio Doria and Carlo Grimaldis Genoese crossbowmen in the lead, the French knights followed with lines led by the Duke D’Alencon, Duke of Lorraine, and Count of Blois, while Philip commanded the rearguard. Moving to the attack, the crossbowmen fired a series of volleys at the English. These proved ineffective as a brief thunderstorm before the battle had wet and slackened the crossbowstrings. The English archers on the other hand had simply untied their bowstrings during the storm. Death from Above This coupled with the longbows ability to fire every five seconds gave the English archers a dramatic advantage over the crossbowmen who could only get off one to two shots per minute. The Genoese position was worsened by the fact that in the rush to battle their pervises (shields to hide behind while reloading) had not been brought forward. Coming under devastating fire from Edwards archers, the Genoese began withdrawing. Angered by the crossbowmens retreat, the French knights fired insults at them and even cut several down. Charging forward, the French front lines fell into confusion as they collided with the retreating Genoese. As the two bodies of men tried to move past each other they came under fire from the English archers and five early cannon (some sources debate their presence). Continuing the attack, the French knights were forced to negotiate the slope of the ridge and the man-made obstacles. Cut down in large numbers by the archers, the felled knights and their horses blocked the advance of those to the rear. During this time, Edward received a message from his son requesting aid. Upon learning that the younger Edward was healthy, the king refused stating â€Å"I am confident he will repel the enemy without my help, and Let the boy win his spurs. As evening approached the English line held, repelling sixteen French charges. Each time, the English archers brought down the attacking knights. With darkness falling, a wounded Philip, recognizing he had been defeated, ordered a retreat and fell back to the castle at La Boyes. Aftermath The Battle of Crà ©cy was one of the greatest English victories of the Hundred Years War and established the superiority of the longbow against mounted knights. In the fighting, Edward lost between 100-300 killed, while Philip suffered around 13,000-14,000 (some sources indicate it may have been as high as 30,000). Among the French losses were the heart of the nations nobility including the Duke of Lorraine, Count of Blois, and the Count of Flanders, as well as John, King of Bohemia and the King of Majorca. In addition eight other counts and three archbishops were slain. In the wake of the battle, the Black Prince paid tribute to the nearly blind King John of Bohemia, who had fought valiantly before being slain, by taking his shield and making it his own. Having earned his spurs, the Black Prince became one of his fathers best field commanders and won a stunning victory at Poitiers in 1356. Following the victory at Crà ©cy, Edward continued north and laid siege to Calais. The city fell the next year and became a key English base for the remainder of the conflict.

Initiation Story Araby by James Joyce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol - Essay Example The paper "Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol" compares the artworks of the two artists, Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol was charmed to popularity and became one of the significant figures to pop art in the United States, in which he uses manufactured materials as his source for creating exceptional artworks. Despite their individual approaches and influences to art, both have the passion in painting as the primary and fundamental medium in doing their artworks. However, Andy Warhol gained popularity in the art, advertisement, and entertainment industries because of his usage to different mediums in creating artworks, such as filmmaking, carving, sketching, cartooning, and photography. In contrast to Vincent van Gogh, he was more on the usage of different methods of painting in order to capture a fleeting result of hue, value, and intensity within his artwork. However, his approach was criticized by other artists because he neglected the importance of outlining the partic ulars and carried on directly to putting of colors in his paintings. In addition, Warhol and van Gogh have their similar way of presenting their artworks, but they differ on the techniques being used. For example, van Gogh’s famous painting is the â€Å"Starry Night,† which portrays stars illuminating the city at night. In this artwork, van Gogh painted the lines in a horizontally calm direction, but with a texture that seems to be crude in a manner to present a foreground and background structure for the viewers.

Thurgood Marshall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Thurgood Marshall - Essay Example Moreover she is considered as a role model for Americans in general irrespective of the sex. Sandra Day O’ Conner is believed to be a great compromiser in her approaches and opinions expressed in court. In her opinion â€Å"Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability† (Sandra Day O’Connor). She was a great advocate of equality in human right issues while she was in her office at Supreme Court as a judge. Ability was the main criteria stressed by Sandra Day O’ Conner for discriminating people rather than the sex, race or culture. Sandra Day O’ Conner actually tried to give a new dimension to the American judicial system. In her opinion the court’s role is just to interpret the law, not to legislate it. (Sandra Day O’Connor) Legislation should be done by the government or the parliament and the role of a judge is to analyze the cases with respect to the existing laws rather than creating new laws. Sandra Day OConnor was successful in giving a new direction to the American constitutional laws with respect to affirmative action, voting rights, church†and†state issues, takings under the Fifth Amendment, states rights, abortion etc. (Answers.com) Since she was a female judge, her opinions about the abortion rights has been widely accepted in America. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first female Supreme Court judge in America who was successful in giving new dimensions to American judiciary. She was successful in segregating the role of the government and the rights of the individual in American social life. Since she was the first woman judge in Supreme Court her opinions and verdicts were watched eagerly by the American public. Apart from being a female judge, she has created a unique place for her in American

Gene one scenario Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gene one scenario - Coursework Example The first case determines the company’s taking some risk for the purpose of improving its business, while all the leadership members might not be satisfied or confident with the program, like the resignation obtained from Angela Thomas (Scenario: Gene One). In the other situation, although the internal conflicts might not arise, however the company would not find a better means to improve its business. Considering the dedication, responsibility and the performance of Don, the CEO of the company, it can be reflected that the best solution for the company would be to continue with its new plans. It needs to be understood in this context that in order for the company to keep up its position in the industry, it would have to reach out more to the public and deliver itself. Only dedicating towards research work might not be sufficient. In the process, taking some risks is justified, since business cannot be organized without

Future&Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

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Gene one scenario Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gene one scenario - Coursework Example The first case determines the company’s taking some risk for the purpose of improving its business, while all the leadership members might not be satisfied or confident with the program, like the resignation obtained from Angela Thomas (Scenario: Gene One). In the other situation, although the internal conflicts might not arise, however the company would not find a better means to improve its business. Considering the dedication, responsibility and the performance of Don, the CEO of the company, it can be reflected that the best solution for the company would be to continue with its new plans. It needs to be understood in this context that in order for the company to keep up its position in the industry, it would have to reach out more to the public and deliver itself. Only dedicating towards research work might not be sufficient. In the process, taking some risks is justified, since business cannot be organized without