Agincourt

Agincourt (äzhăNkOOr') [key], modern Fr. Azincourt, village, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France. There, during the Hundred Years War, Henry V of England with some 6,000 men defeated a French army six times that size on Oct. 25, 1415. His success, which was due mainly to the superiority of the masses of English longbow men over the heavily armored French knights, demonstrated the obsolescence of the methods of warfare of the age of chivalry. The victory enabled the English to conquer much of France. The battle is the central scene of Shakespeare's drama Henry V.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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