John Keegan argues that the longbows' main influence on the battle at this point was injuries to horses: armoured only on the head, many horses would have become dangerously out of control when struck in the back or flank from the high-elevation, long-range shots used as the charge started. [50] Both lines were arrayed in tight, dense formations of about 16 ranks each, and were positioned a bowshot length from each other. Corrections? It goes on to state thatafter an unexpected victory, the English soldiersmocked thedefeatedFrenchtroopsbywavingtheir middle fingers( here ). [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). Subject: Truth About the Finger In the film Titanic the character Rose is shown giving the finger to Jack, another character. [104] Henry returned a conquering hero, seen as blessed by God in the eyes of his subjects and European powers outside France. 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. 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. [52] The dukes of Alenon and Bar led the main battle. 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. October 25, 1415. Thinking it was an attack from the rear, Henry had the French nobles he was holding prisoner killed. Legend says that the British archers were so formidable that the ones captured by the French had their index and middle fingers cut off so that they . Mortimer also considers that the Gesta vastly inflates the English casualties 5,000 at Harfleur, and that "despite the trials of the march, Henry had lost very few men to illness or death; and we have independent testimony that no more than 160 had been captured on the way". When did the middle finger become offensive? - BBC News The Burgundian sources have him concluding the speech by telling his men that the French had boasted that they would cut off two fingers from the right hand of every archer, so that he could never draw a longbow again. 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 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. He told his men that he would rather die in the coming battle than be captured and ransomed. [23] The army of about 12,000 men and up to 20,000 horses besieged the port of Harfleur. Agincourt was a battle like no other but how do the French remember According to contemporary English accounts, Henry fought hand to hand. [19], Henry V invaded France following the failure of negotiations with the French. Tudor re-invention, leading to the quintessential Shakespearean portrayal of "we happy few", has been the most influential, but every century has made its own accretions. 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. The French had originally drawn up a battle plan that had archers and crossbowmen in front of their men-at-arms, with a cavalry force at the rear specifically designed to "fall upon the archers, and use their force to break them,"[71] but in the event, the French archers and crossbowmen were deployed behind and to the sides of the men-at-arms (where they seem to have played almost no part, except possibly for an initial volley of arrows at the start of the battle). Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The trial ranged widely over whether there was just cause for war and not simply the prisoner issue. False claim: "Middle finger" gesture derives from English soldiers at "Guardian newspaper:French correction: Henry V's Agincourt fleet was half as big, historian claims, 28 July 2015", "Living Dictionary of the French Language", "Limitations imposed by wearing armour on Medieval soldiers' locomotor performance", "High Court Rules for French at Agincourt", "High Court Justices, Legal Luminaries Debate Shakespeare's 'Henry V', "The Development of Battle Tactics in the Hundred Years War", "Historians Reassess Battle of Agincourt", The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, "Henry V's Greatest Victory is Besieged by Academia", The Little Grey Horse Henry V's Speech at Agincourt and the Battle Exhortation in Ancient Historiography, "The Battle of Agincourt: An Alternative location? The French knights were unable to outflank the longbowmen (because of the encroaching woodland) and unable to charge through the array of sharpened stakes that protected the archers. 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. . 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. After the victory, Henry continued his march to Calais and arrived back in England in November to an outpouring of nationalistic sentiment. It may be in the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of Tramecourt and Azincourt (close to the modern village of Azincourt). [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. Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. [48] On account of the lack of space, the French drew up a third battle, the rearguard, which was on horseback and mainly comprised the varlets mounted on the horses belonging to the men fighting on foot ahead. 138). It lasted longer than Henry had anticipated, and his numbers were significantly diminished as a result of casualties, desertions, and disease. 33-35). If the one-fingered salute comes from Agincourt, as the graphic suggests, then at what point did it get transformed into two fingers in England? [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 recently ploughed land hemmed in by dense woodland favoured the English, both because of its narrowness, and because of the thick mud through which the French knights had to walk. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-19-282916-5 (p. 454). This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and so the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking yew". On the morning of 25 October, the French were still waiting for additional troops to arrive. 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. By 24 October, both armies faced each other for battle, but the French declined, hoping for the arrival of more troops. This was an innovative technique that the English had not used in the Battles of Crcy and Poitiers. After Henry V marched to the north, the French moved to block them along the River Somme. What does DO NOT HUMP mean on the side of railroad cars? Update [June 20, 2022]: Updated SEO/social. Rogers suggested that the French at the back of their deep formation would have been attempting to literally add their weight to the advance, without realising that they were hindering the ability of those at the front to manoeuvre and fight by pushing them into the English formation of lancepoints. King Charles VI of France did not command the French army as he suffered from psychotic illnesses and associated mental incapacity. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. [126], Shakespeare's depiction of the battle also plays on the theme of modernity. [20] He initially called a Great Council in the spring of 1414 to discuss going to war with France, but the lords insisted that he should negotiate further and moderate his claims. Agincourt 1415: The Triumph of the Longbow (Video 1993) - IMDb What it is supposed to represent I have no idea. The origins of the sign aren't confirmed, but popular folklore suggests that its original meaning, packed with insult and ridicule, first appeared in the 20th century in the battle of Agincourt. Winston Churchhill can be seen using the V as a rallying call. T he battle of Agincourt, whose 600th anniversary falls on St Crispin's Day, 25 October, is still tabloid gold, Gotcha! There was no monetary reward to be obtained by capturing them, nor was there any glory to be won by defeating them in battle. The point is, the middle-finger/phallus equation goes back way before the Titanic, the Battle of Agincourt, or probably even that time Sextillus cut off Pylades with his chariot. [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). Jean de Wavrin, a knight on the French side wrote that English fatalities were 1,600 men of all ranks. [101] The bailiffs of nine major northern towns were killed, often along with their sons, relatives and supporters. Battle of Agincourt: English victory over the French | Britannica In pursuit of his claim to the French throne, Henry V invaded Normandy with an army of 11,000 men in August 1415. Battle of Agincourt - English History King Henry V of England led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand fighting. 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. 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. [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. The longbow. 78-116). [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. The situation in England, coupled with the fact that France was weakened by its own political crisisthe insanity of Charles VI had resulted in a fight for power among the nobilitymade it an ideal moment for Henry to press his claims. Certainly, d'Azincourt was a local knight but he might have been chosen to lead the attack because of his local knowledge and the lack of availability of a more senior soldier. 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." 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. Maybe it means five and was a symbol of support for Henry V? French knights, charging uphill, were unseated from their horses, either because their mounts were injured on the stakes or because they dismounted to uproot the obstacles, and were overpowered. This would prevent maneuvers that might overwhelm the English ranks. At least one scholar puts the French army at no more than 12,000, indicating that the English were outnumbered 2 to 1. PDF THE ENGLISH VS FRENCH - Carolina Traditional Archers Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415)Battle resulting in the decisive victory of the English over the French in the Hundred Years' War. A Short History of "Flipping the Bird" - OddFeed This is the answer submitted by a listener: Dear Click and Clack, Thank you for the Agincourt 'Puzzler', which clears up some profound questions of etymology, folklore and emotional symbolism. The English won in a major upset and waved the body part in question at the French in defiance. Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. The Battle of Agincourt took place during the the Hundred Years' War, a conflict which, despite its name, was neither one single war nor did it last one hundred years. This battle concluded with King Harold of England dying at the hands of the Norman King William, which marked the beginning of a new era in England. Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415), decisive battle in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. The basic premise that the origins of the one-finger gesture and its association with the profane word "fuck" were an outgrowth of the 1415 battle between French and English forces at Agincourt is simple enough to debunk. Since the French had many more men-at-arms than the English, they would accordingly be accompanied by a far greater number of servants. [123] Other ballads followed, including "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France", raising the popular prominence of particular events mentioned only in passing by the original chroniclers, such as the gift of tennis balls before the campaign. When the English won the battle the soldiers waved their middle fingers at the French in defiance, thus flipping the bird was born Keegan, John. 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. Osprey Publishing. [87] Whether this was part of a deliberate French plan or an act of local brigandage is unclear from the sources. In his 2007 film adaptation, director Peter Babakitis uses digital effects to exaggerate realist features during the battle scenes, producing a more avant-garde interpretation of the fighting at Agincourt. Battle of Agincourt. The cavalry force, which could have devastated the English line if it had attacked while they moved their stakes, charged only after the initial volley of arrows from the English. [53] A further 600 dismounted men-at-arms stood in each wing, with the left under the Count of Vendme and the right under the Count of Richemont. [93] Among them were 90120 great lords and bannerets killed, including[95] three dukes (Alenon, Bar and Brabant), nine counts (Blmont, Dreux, Fauquembergue, Grandpr, Marle, Nevers, Roucy, Vaucourt, Vaudmont) and one viscount (Puisaye), also an archbishop. This famous English longbow was . [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. Image source Moreover, with this outcome Henry V strengthened his position in his own kingdom; it legitimized his claim to the crown, which had been under threat after his accession. Battle of Agincourt - Wikipedia People who killed their social betters from a distance werent very well liked, and would likely have paid with their lives as did all the French prisoners, archers or otherwise, whom Henry V had executed at Agincourt, in what some historians consider a war crime. [59], The field of battle was arguably the most significant factor in deciding the outcome. 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. To meet and beat him was a triumph, the highest form which self-expression could take in the medieval nobleman's way of life." News of the contrivance circulated within Europe and was described in a book of tactics written in 1411 by. Agincourt 1415: The Triumph of the Longbow: Directed by Graham Holloway. [89] A slaughter of the French prisoners ensued. The play focuses on the pressures of kingship, the tensions between how a king should appear chivalric, honest, and just and how a king must sometimes act Machiavellian and ruthless. "[102], Estimates of the number of prisoners vary between 700 and 2,200, amongst them the dukes of Orlans and Bourbon, the counts of Eu, Vendme, Richemont (brother of the Duke of Brittany and stepbrother of Henry V) and Harcourt, and marshal Jean Le Maingre.[12]. Axtell, Roger E. Gestures: The Dos and Taboos of Body Language Around the World.New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991 ISBN 0-471-53672-5 (pp. It. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Henry threatened to hang whoever did not obey his orders. A Dictionary of Superstitions. It sounds rather fishy to me. 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. [97] According to the heralds, 3,069 knights and squires were killed,[e] while at least 2,600 more corpses were found without coats of arms to identify them. Although it could be intended as humorous, the image on social media is historically inaccurate. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. The battle remains an important symbol in popular culture. With 4,800 men-at-arms in the vanguard, 3,000 in the main battle, and 1,200 in the infantry wings. The Battle of Agincourt - The European Middle Ages This famous weapon was made of the . There had even been a suggestion that the English would run away rather than give battle when they saw that they would be fighting so many French princes. Barker, following the Gesta Henrici, believed to have been written by an English chaplain who was actually in the baggage train, concluded that the attack happened at the start of the battle. The town surrendered on 22 September, and the English army did not leave until 8 October. giving someone the middle finger When that campaign took place, it was made easier by the damage done to the political and military structures of Normandy by the battle. Henry would marry Catherine, Charles VI's young daughter, and receive a dowry of 2million crowns. 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! Idiom Origins - Middle finger - History of Middle finger The French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party. The "middle finger" gesture does not derive from the mutilation of English archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 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). As John Keegan wrote in his history of warfare: "To meet a similarly equipped opponent was the occasion for which the armoured soldier trained perhaps every day of his life from the onset of manhood. Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. 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. [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. Agincourt. Theodore Beck also suggests that among Henry's army was "the king's physician and a little band of surgeons". [72], The French cavalry, despite being disorganised and not at full numbers, charged towards the longbowmen. 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. Dear Cecil: Can you confirm the following? Participating as judges were Justices Samuel Alito and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 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. 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. 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"). One popular "origin story" for the middle finger has to do with the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. They were blocking Henry's retreat, and were perfectly happy to wait for as long as it took. In the song Hotel California, what does colitas mean? [128] The original play does not, however, feature any scenes of the actual battle itself, leading critic Rose Zimbardo to characterise it as "full of warfare, yet empty of conflict. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Why do some people have that one extra-long fingernail on the pinkie finger. Contemporary chroniclers did not criticise him for it. During this battle, the medieval archers started ahead of the army and commenced the action. Shakespeare's version of the battle of Agincourt has been turned into several minor and two major films. Pluck yew - onlysky.media How different cultures perceive emojis in workplace communication . Departing from Harfleur on October 8, Henry marched northward toward the English-held port of Calais, where he would disembark for England, with a force of 1,000 knights and men-at-arms and 5,000 archers. Battle of Agincourt - HISTORY [31] This entailed abandoning his chosen position and pulling out, advancing, and then re-installing the long sharpened wooden stakes pointed outwards toward the enemy, which helped protect the longbowmen from cavalry charges. 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. They shadowed Henry's army while calling a semonce des nobles,[30] calling on local nobles to join the army. [34][d] The French apparently had no clear plan for deploying the rest of the army. The one-finger salute, or at any rate sexual gestures involving the middle finger, are thousands of years old. Common estimates place the English army at about 6,000, while the French army probably consisted of 20,000 to 30,000 men. The Battle of Agincourt originated in 1328. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird". The decorative use of the image of Priapusmatched the Roman use ofimages of male genitalia for warding off evil. The historian Suetonius, writing about Augustus Caesar, says the emperor expelled [the entertainer] Pylades . PLUCK YEW!". [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). First of all, the word pluck begins with the blend pl, which would logically become fl if the voiceless bilabial plosive p has actually transformed into the labiodentalfricative f, which is by no means certain. [73] The mounted charge and subsequent retreat churned up the already muddy terrain between the French and the English. The Hundred Years' War. Without a river obstacle to defend, the French were hesitant to force a battle. Barker states that some knights, encumbered by their armour, actually drowned in their helmets.[64]. The Battle of Agincourt was another famous battle where longbowmen had a particularly important . A truce had been formally declared in 1396 that was meant to last 28 years, sealed by the marriage of the French king Charles VIs daughter to King Richard II of England. Why is the missionary position called that? The English eyewitness account comes from the anonymous author of the Gesta Henrici Quinti, believed to have been written by a chaplain in the King's household who would have been in the baggage train at the battle. The French, who were overwhelmingly favored to win the battle, Continue Reading 41 2 7 Alexander L A Dictionary of Superstitions.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-19-282916-5 (p. 454). In the other reference Martial writes that a certain party points a finger, an indecent one, at some other people. Eventually the archers abandoned their longbows and began fighting hand-to-hand with swords and axes alongside the men-at-arms. [93] Entire noble families were wiped out in the male line, and in some regions an entire generation of landed nobility was annihilated. This was not strictly a feudal army, but an army paid through a system similar to that of the English. One final observation: any time some appeal begins with heres something that intelligent people will find edifying you should be suspicious. [47] Although it had been planned for the archers and crossbowmen to be placed with the infantry wings, they were now regarded as unnecessary and placed behind them instead. [21] On 19 April 1415, Henry again asked the Great Council to sanction war with France, and this time they agreed. The Battle of Agincourt (Pt 1) - YouTube [32] In 2019, the historian Michael Livingston also made the case for a site west of Azincourt, based on a review of sources and early maps. This article was. And for a variety of reasons, it made no military sense whatsoever for the French to capture English archers, then mutilate them by cutting off their fingers. The city capitulated within six weeks, but the siege was costly. Battle of Agincourt | Facts, Summary, & Significance | Britannica [106] This lack of unity in France allowed Henry eighteen months to prepare militarily and politically for a renewed campaign. The impact of thousands of arrows, combined with the slog in heavy armour through the mud, the heat and difficulty breathing in plate armour with the visor down,[83] and the crush of their numbers, meant the French men-at-arms could "scarcely lift their weapons" when they finally engaged the English line. This use of stakes could have been inspired by the Battle of Nicopolis of 1396, where forces of the Ottoman Empire used the tactic against French cavalry. Sumption, thus, concludes that the French had 14,000 men, basing himself on the monk of St. Denis;[119] Mortimer gives 14 or 15 thousand fighting men. As the English were collecting prisoners, a band of French peasants led by local noblemen began plundering Henrys baggage behind the lines. It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, written in 1599. The legend that the "two-fingered salute" stems from the Battle of Agincourt is apocryphal Although scholars and historians continue to debate its origins, according to legend it was first. Contemporary accounts describe the triumphal pageantry with which the king was received in London on November 23, with elaborate displays and choirs attending his passage to St. Pauls Cathedral.