New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991 ISBN 0-471-53672-5 (pp. King Henry V of England led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand fighting. The one-finger salute, or at any rate sexual gestures involving the middle finger, are thousands of years old. It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare 's play Henry V, written in 1599. [104] Henry returned a conquering hero, seen as blessed by God in the eyes of his subjects and European powers outside France. In Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome, Anthony Corbeill, Professor of Classics at the University of Kansas wrote: The most familiar example of the coexistence of a human and transhuman elementis the extended middle finger. The trial ranged widely over whether there was just cause for war and not simply the prisoner issue. False. According to research, heres the true story: Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. The key word for describing the battle of Agincourt is mud . Whether this was true is open to question and continues to be debated to this day; however, it seems likely that death was the normal fate of any soldier who could not be ransomed. Unable to cross the Somme River because of French defenses, he was forced to take a detour inland and cross farther upstream. Recent heavy rain made the battle field very muddy, proving very tiring to walk through in full plate armour. The Battle of Agincourt was immortalized by William Shakespeare in his play Henry V. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. It seems to me that the single upturned middle finger clearly represents an erect penis and is the gestural equivalent of saying f*ck you! As such, it is probably ancient Wikipedia certainly thinks so, although apparently it became popular in the United States in the late nineteenth century under the influence of Italian immigration, replacing other rude gestures like thumbing the nose or the fig sign. Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. [citation needed]. The battle remains an important symbol in popular culture. 78-116). This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes, or palings, into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off. [19], Henry V invaded France following the failure of negotiations with the French. The longbow. The English numbered roughly 5,000 knights, men-at-arms, and archers. In the ensuing negotiations Henry said that he would give up his claim to the French throne if the French would pay the 1.6million crowns outstanding from the ransom of John II (who had been captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356), and concede English ownership of the lands of Anjou, Brittany, Flanders, Normandy, and Touraine, as well as Aquitaine. Thinking it was an attack from the rear, Henry had the French nobles he was holding prisoner killed. Several heralds, both French and English, were present at the battle of Agincourt, and not one of them (or any later chroniclers of Agincourt) mentioned anything about the French having cut off the fingers of captured English bowman. When the archers ran out of arrows, they dropped their bows and, using hatchets, swords, and the mallets they had used to drive their stakes in, attacked the now disordered, fatigued and wounded French men-at-arms massed in front of them. [17] Two of the most frequently cited accounts come from Burgundian sources, one from Jean Le Fvre de Saint-Remy who was present at the battle, and the other from Enguerrand de Monstrelet. [43], The French were organized into two main groups (or battles), a vanguard up front and a main battle behind, both composed principally of men-at-arms fighting on foot and flanked by more of the same in each wing. Fixed formatting. King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415 by Sir John Gilbert, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, Lancashire. Maybe it means five and was a symbol of support for Henry V? The army was divided into three groups, with the right wing led by Edward, Duke of York, the centre led by the king himself, and the left wing under the old and experienced Baron Thomas Camoys. (Its taking longer than we thought.) [39] Curry, Rogers[118] and Mortimer[42] all agree the French had 4 to 5 thousand missile troops. A complete coat of plate was considered such good protection that shields were generally not used,[75] although the Burgundian contemporary sources distinguish between Frenchmen who used shields and those who did not, and Rogers has suggested that the front elements of the French force used axes and shields. Osprey Publishing. You would think that anything English predating 1607, such as the language, Protestantism, or the Common Law, would have been a part of Americas patrimony. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. These heralds were not part of the participating armies, but were, as military expert John Keegan describes, members of an "international corporation of experts who regulated civilized warfare." As the mle developed, the French second line also joined the attack, but they too were swallowed up, with the narrow terrain meaning the extra numbers could not be used effectively. [50] Both lines were arrayed in tight, dense formations of about 16 ranks each, and were positioned a bowshot length from each other. The French hoped to raise 9,000 troops, but the army was not ready in time to relieve Harfleur. Two are from the epigrammatist Martial: Laugh loudly, Sextillus, when someone calls you a queen and put your middle finger out., (The verse continues: But you are no sodomite nor fornicator either, Sextillus, nor is Vetustinas hot mouth your fancy. Martial, and Roman poets in general, could be pretty out there, subject-matter-wise. [74], The plate armour of the French men-at-arms allowed them to close the 1,000 yards or so to the English lines while being under what the French monk of Saint Denis described as "a terrifying hail of arrow shot". Some historians trace its origins to ancient Rome. The third line of the French army, recoiling at the pile of corpses before them and unable to make an effective charge, was then massacred swiftly. [92], The French had suffered a catastrophic defeat. The battle probably lasted no longer than three hours and was perhaps as short as half an hour, according to some estimates. The Battle of Agincourt took place on October 25, 1415. The Battle of Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories and was one of the most important English triumphs in the Hundred Years' War, along with the Battle of Crcy (1346) and Battle of Poitiers (1356). Singer Robbie Williams insults the viewer. This would prevent maneuvers that might overwhelm the English ranks. Giving the Finger - Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. [107], Most primary sources which describe the battle have English outnumbered by several times. Increasingly, they had to walk around or over fallen comrades. However, the lack of archaeological evidence at this traditional site has led to suggestions it was fought to the west of Azincourt. [85], The French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in the thousands. 42 Share 3.9K views 4 years ago There is an old story that allegedly gives the background of how we came to use the middle finger as an insult along with the alleged origin of the "F-word". [86], The only French success was an attack on the lightly protected English baggage train, with Ysembart d'Azincourt (leading a small number of men-at-arms and varlets plus about 600 peasants) seizing some of Henry's personal treasures, including a crown. This moment of the battle is portrayed both as a break with the traditions of chivalry and as a key example of the paradox of kingship. It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, written in 1599. A widely shared image on social media purportedly explains the historic origins of the middle finger, considered an offensive gesture in Western culture. Contents. To meet and beat him was a triumph, the highest form which self-expression could take in the medieval nobleman's way of life." Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. 33-35). Military textbooks of the time stated: "Everywhere and on all occasions that foot soldiers march against their enemy face to face, those who march lose and those who remain standing still and holding firm win. The number is supported by many other contemporary accounts. [34][d] The French apparently had no clear plan for deploying the rest of the army. The insulting gesture of extending one's middle finger (referred to as digitus impudicus in Latin) originated long before the Battle of Agincourt. The city capitulated within six weeks, but the siege was costly. [44] There was a special, elite cavalry force whose purpose was to break the formation of the English archers and thus clear the way for the infantry to advance. [106] This lack of unity in France allowed Henry eighteen months to prepare militarily and politically for a renewed campaign. Fighting ignorance since 1973. with chivalry. By 24 October, both armies faced each other for battle, but the French declined, hoping for the arrival of more troops. .). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Humble English archers defeated the armoured elite of French chivalry, enshrining both the longbow and the battle in English national legend. They were blocking Henry's retreat, and were perfectly happy to wait for as long as it took. The field that the French had to cross to meet their enemy was muddy after a week of rain and slowed their progress, during which time they endured casualties from English arrows. The Battle of Agincourt forms a key part of Shakespeare's Henry V. Photo by Nick Ansell / POOL / AFP) Myth: During the Hundred Years War, the French cut off the first and second fingers of any. However, a need to reassert his authority at home (as well as his own ambition and a sense of justice) led Henry V to renew English claims in France. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. ", "Miracle in the Mud: The Hundred Years' War's Battle of Agincourt", The Agincourt Battlefield Archaeology Project, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Agincourt&oldid=1137126379, 6,000 killed (most of whom were of the French nobility), Hansen, Mogens Herman (Copenhagen Polis Centre), This page was last edited on 2 February 2023, at 23:13. This claim is false. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured soldiers. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [56] Some 200 mounted men-at-arms would attack the English rear. [139] The museum lists the names of combatants of both sides who died in the battle. They shadowed Henry's army while calling a semonce des nobles,[30] calling on local nobles to join the army. In such a "press" of thousands of men, Rogers suggested that many could have suffocated in their armour, as was described by several sources, and which was also known to have happened in other battles. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. Keegan, John. [citation needed], In any event, Henry ordered the slaughter of what were perhaps several thousand French prisoners, sparing only the highest ranked (presumably those most likely to fetch a large ransom under the chivalric system of warfare). In the words of Juliet Barker, the battle "cut a great swath through the natural leaders of French society in Artois, Ponthieu, Normandy, Picardy. [26] He also intended the manoeuvre as a deliberate provocation to battle aimed at the dauphin, who had failed to respond to Henry's personal challenge to combat at Harfleur. The Battle of Agincourt (/dnkr(t)/ AJ-in-kor(t);[a] French: Azincourt [azku]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. His men-at-arms were stationed in the centre, flanked by wedges of archers who carried longbows that had an effective range of 250 yards (229 metres). He contrasts the modern, English king and his army with the medieval, chivalric, older model of the French. Without the middle finger it would be impossible for the English soldiers to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore incapable of fighting in the future. When the French rejected Henrys substantial territorial demands, he arrived in Normandy in August 1415 with a force of about 12,000 men and laid siege to the city of Harfleur. Since then there had been tension between the nobility and the royal house, widespread lawlessness throughout the kingdom, and several attempts on Henry Vs life. The fighting lasted about three hours, but eventually the leaders of the second line were killed or captured, as those of the first line had been. Why is the missionary position called that? [89] A slaughter of the French prisoners ensued. In Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution, Desmond Morris and colleagues note that the digitus infamis or digitus impudicus (infamous or indecent finger) is mentioned several times in the literature of ancient Rome. When the first French line reached the English front, the cavalry were unable to overwhelm the archers, who had driven sharpened stakes into the ground at an angle before themselves. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415)Battle resulting in the decisive victory of the English over the French in the Hundred Years' War. At least one scholar puts the French army at no more than 12,000, indicating that the English were outnumbered 2 to 1. So they were already overcome with fatigue even before they advanced against the enemy". Subject: Truth About the Finger In the film Titanic the character Rose is shown giving the finger to Jack, another character. (There is an Indo-European connection between the p-sound and f-sound see the distinction between the Latin pater and the Germanic Vater/father but that split occurred a long time ago.) The decorative use of the image of Priapusmatched the Roman use ofimages of male genitalia for warding off evil. The two candidates with the strongest claims were Edward III of England, who was the son of Charles's sister, and Philip, Charles's paternal . Without a river obstacle to defend, the French were hesitant to force a battle. These numbers are based on the Gesta Henrici Quinti and the chronicle of Jean Le Fvre, the only two eyewitness accounts on the English camp. Despite the lack of motion pictures and television way back in the 15th century, the details of medieval battles such as the one at Agincourt in 1415 did not go unrecorded. [130] Critic David Margolies describes how it "oozes honour, military glory, love of country and self-sacrifice", and forms one of the first instances of English literature linking solidarity and comradeship to success in battle. Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. With 4,800 men-at-arms in the vanguard, 3,000 in the main battle, and 1,200 in the infantry wings. [110][111][112] Ian Mortimer endorsed Curry's methodology, though applied it more liberally, noting how she "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 sick lists)", and concluded that "the most extreme imbalance which is credible" is 15,000 French against 8,0009,000 English. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore [soldiers would] be incapable of fighting in the future. The Battle of Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories and was one of the most important English triumphs in the Hundred Years' War, along with the Battle of Crcy (1346) and Battle of Poitiers (1356). Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. French chroniclers agree that when the mounted charge did come, it did not contain as many men as it should have; Gilles le Bouvier states that some had wandered off to warm themselves and others were walking or feeding their horses. Winston Churchhill can be seen using the V as a rallying call. This was an innovative technique that the English had not used in the Battles of Crcy and Poitiers. Although it could be intended as humorous, the image on social media is historically inaccurate. [93] Entire noble families were wiped out in the male line, and in some regions an entire generation of landed nobility was annihilated. [91] Such an event would have posed a risk to the still-outnumbered English and could have easily turned a stunning victory into a mutually destructive defeat, as the English forces were now largely intermingled with the French and would have suffered grievously from the arrows of their own longbowmen had they needed to resume shooting. "[67] On top of this, the French were expecting thousands of men to join them if they waited. The Face of Battle.New York: Penguin Books, 1978 ISBN 0-140-04897-9 (pp. When Henry V acceded to the English throne in 1413, there had been a long hiatus in the fighting. before a defensive battle was possible. ), And even if killing prisoners of war did not violate the moral code of the times, what would be the purpose of taking archers captive, cutting off their fingers, and then executing them? Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. While numerous English sources give the English casualties in double figures,[8] record evidence identifies at least 112 Englishmen killed in the fighting,[103] while Monstrelet reported 600 English dead. The Gesta Henrici places this after the English had overcome the onslaught of the French men-at-arms and the weary English troops were eyeing the French rearguard ("in incomparable number and still fresh"). The fact that Winston Churchill sometimes made his V-for-victory gesture rudely suggests that it is of much more recent vintage. The f-word itself is Germanic with early-medieval roots; the earliest attested use in English in an unambiguous sexual context is in a document from 1310. [96] Of the great royal office holders, France lost its constable (Albret), an admiral (the lord of Dampierre), the Master of Crossbowmen (David de Rambures, dead along with three sons), Master of the Royal Household (Guichard Dauphin) and prvt of the marshals. Opie, Iona and Moira Tatem. The idea being that you need two fingers to draw a bow, which makes more sense, and thus links up a national custom with a triumphant moment in national history! The image makes the claim that the gesture derives from English soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt, France in 1415. If the two-fingered salute comes from Agincourt, then at what point was it reduced to one finger in North America? The Battle of Agincourt was dramatised by William Shakespeare in Henry V featuring the battle in which Henry inspired his much-outnumbered English forces to fight the French through a St Crispin's Day Speech, saying "the fewer men, the greater share of honour". Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French,anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Soon after the victory at Agincourt, a number of popular folk songs were created about the battle, the most famous being the "Agincourt Carol", produced in the first half of the 15th century. The French monk of St. Denis says: "Their vanguard, composed of about 5,000 men, found itself at first so tightly packed that those who were in the third rank could scarcely use their swords,"[63] and the Burgundian sources have a similar passage. . Adam Koford, Salt Lake City, Utah, Now for the facts. But lets not quibble. The French monk of St. Denis describes the French troops as "marching through the middle of the mud where they sank up to their knees. [54] To disperse the enemy archers, a cavalry force of 8001,200 picked men-at-arms,[55] led by Clignet de Brban and Louis de Bosredon, was distributed evenly between both flanks of the vanguard (standing slightly forward, like horns). Omissions? [21] On 19 April 1415, Henry again asked the Great Council to sanction war with France, and this time they agreed. After the battle, the English taunted the survivors by showing off what wasn't cut off. |. [77][78][79][80] Rogers suggested that the longbow could penetrate a wrought iron breastplate at short range and penetrate the thinner armour on the limbs even at 220 yards (200m). [113] Barker opined that "if the differential really was as low as three to four then this makes a nonsense of the course of the battle as described by eyewitnesses and contemporaries".[110]. David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. Battles were observed and chronicled by heralds who were present at the scene and recorded what they saw, judged who won, and fixed names for the battles. This article was. [23] Thomas Morstede, Henry V's royal surgeon,[24] had previously been contracted by the king to supply a team of surgeons and makers of surgical instruments to take part in the Agincourt campaign. The ransoming of prisoners was the only way for medieval soldiers to make a quick fortune, and so they seized every available opportunity to capture opponents who could be exchanged for handsome prices. The image makes the further claim that the English soldiers chanted pluck yew, ostensibly in reference to the drawing of the longbow. (Indeed, Henry V was heavily criticized for supposedly having ordered the execution of French prisoners at Agincourt. Archers were not the "similarly equipped" opponents that armored soldiers triumphed in defeating -- if the two clashed in combat, the armored soldier would either kill an archer outright or leave him to bleed to death rather than go to the wasteful effort of taking him prisoner. The French army blocked Henry's way to the safety of Calais, and delaying battle would only further weaken his tired army and allow more French troops to arrive. Another verse begins: You love to be sodomized, Papylus . New York: Penguin Books, 1978 ISBN 0-140-04897-9 (pp. [84] The exhausted French men-at-arms were unable to get up after being knocked to the ground by the English. Originally representing the erect phallus, the gesture conveyssimultaneously a sexual threat to the person to whom it is directed andapotropaicmeans of warding off unwanted elements of the more-than-human. ( here ). Upon his death, a French assembly formed to appoint a male successor. Henry would marry Catherine, Charles VI's young daughter, and receive a dowry of 2million crowns. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2019 with bachelor's degrees in English Language and Literature and Medieval Studies. Made just prior to the invasion of Normandy, Olivier's rendition gives the battle what Sarah Hatchuel has termed an "exhilarating and heroic" tone, with an artificial, cinematic look to the battle scenes. The military aspects of this account are similarly specious. Eventually the archers abandoned their longbows and began fighting hand-to-hand with swords and axes alongside the men-at-arms. The body part which the French proposed to cut off of the English after defeating them was, of course, the middle finger, without which it is impossible to draw the renowned English longbow. 1.3M views 4 months ago Medieval Battles - In chronological order The year 1415 was the first occasion since 1359 that an English king had invaded France in person. [22], Henry's army landed in northern France on 13 August 1415, carried by a vast fleet. Course Hero uses AI to attempt to automatically extract content from documents to surface to you and others so you can study better, e.g., in search results, to enrich docs, and more.
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