On 26 August 1346, the Battle of Crecy was fought between the English under Edward III against the French under Philip VI during the Hundred Years War.
Why did it happen?
In 1328, the French king Charles IV of Capet died without a successor, and the French throne passed on to Philip VI of Valois. Edward III of England argued that he had a better claim to the French throne than Philip because his mother, Isabella, was the daughter of Philip IV. On 11 November 1337, Edward began the Hundred Years War by capturing the island of Cadsand off the coast of Flanders, hoping to forge alliances with Flemish nobles to attack the French. In 1340, Edward won a naval victory at the Battle of Sluys but was stalled at the unsuccessful Siege of Tournai, preventing any further invasions of France for the next six years. In July 1346, Edward crossed the English Channel to land in Normandy, where he cut a destructive swathe through French territory before turning northeast, where a larger French army met him under King Philip VI at Crecy.
Who was involved?
The English army at Crecy numbered 4,000 infantry, 8,000 archers, and 20 artillery. The English army was arrayed into three divisions: Edward III commanded the rear division of 1,000 infantry and 2,000 archers; the Duke of Northampton led the left wing of 1,000 infantry, 3,000 archers and 10 artillery; Edward the Black Prince led the right wing with 2,000 infantry, 3,000 archers, and 10 artillery. The French army at Crecy numbered 3,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry and 6,000 crossbowmen. The French army was arrayed into four lines with the crossbowmen in the vanguard, followed by three lines of cavalry: John of Bohemia and Alencon led the first line; Blois and Lorraine the second line; and Philip VI the third line. The infantry was arrayed in front of the villages of Estrees and Fontaine.
What happened?
The Genoese crossbowmen in the French army began the battle by advancing up the slope to fire their first volley, only to be dispersed by the English archers who outstripped them in range and rate of fire. Unable to restrain his knight’s enthusiasm, King Philip VI ordered his cavalry to charge the English positions, only to become bogged down by the retreating crossbowmen and the dense fire of the English archers. Although a few French cavalry reached the English right wing, they were cut down by the Black Prince’s archers and Welsh light infantry. As the second line of French cavalry charged, King John of Bohemia was killed in the fighting. King Edward III advanced his left wing slightly downhill to relieve pressure on the English right wing to face the French right flank, raking it with arrows and artillery fire. After fifteen consecutive charges, the French army retreated after sustaining 4,000 casualties. In contrast, the English lost only 200 killed.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Crecy was an English victory. After the battle, Edward III marched north to besiege the port city of Calais, which fell in September 1347. However, due to financial difficulties and the arrival of the Black Death, Edward could not consolidate his gains, and a truce was agreed upon, which would last until 1356. England would win two significant victories over the French at Poitiers (1356) and Agincourt (1415) due to the effectiveness of English archers. Indeed, after Crecy, “Her combination of bow and pike was to win her innumerable victories over the French in the next 80 years, allowing her to absorb vast areas of French territory” (Regan, 2002, p.70). It was not until the victories of Joan of Arc in 1429 that the tide turned in favour of the French, and the English were driven almost wholly out of France in 1453.
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Montgomery, Bernard. A History of Warfare. London, Collins, 1968.
Regan, Geoffrey. Battles That Changed History: Fifty Decisive Battles Spanning Over 2,500 Years of Warfare. London, Andre Deutsch, 2002.
Snow, Peter. Battles Map by Map. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2021.
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