Battle of Agincourt: It’s Saint Crispin’s Day. King Henry V of England and his troops, having landed in Normandy, are heading toward Calais. The French muster tens of thousands of soldiers to stop them. The battle takes place at Agincourt, in a narrow passage between two woods, with muddy terrain that severely limits the French’s movement. English archers pepper the French troops with arrows (hundreds of thousands in a few minutes), disadvantaged by their large numbers and their compact size. It’s a massacre: more than 10,000 Frenchmen die, including 125 princes and more than 800 knights; only 25 Englishmen fall. The French customarily amputate the index and middle fingers of captured Englishmen from their right hands to prevent them from shooting again. Since then, the English have held up their index and middle fingers as a sign of defiance to their adversaries. William Shakespeare drew inspiration from the event for his Henry V and then Kenneth Branagh for the homonymous film
