Henry V - Speech at Agincourt - Eve of Saint Crispin's Day

ON THIS DAY 25 OCTOBER 

 The Battle of Agincourt was one of the greatest English victories in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Agincourt in northern France. England's unexpected victory against a numerically superior French army boosted English morale and prestige, crippled France, and started a new period of English dominance in the war. The celebrated St Crispin's Day speech is a part of William Shakespeare's play, Henry V, Act IV Scene iii 18–67. An extract follows:

 "This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be rememberèd— We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.'

The 600th Anniversary of The Battle of Agincourt

The timeless story of a young king who led men to acts of extraordinary heroism is a defining moment in English history, says historian and MP Tristram Hunt 

Heroic: Laurence Olivier stars as Henry V

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother …
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here.”

So King Henry V, as Shakespeare imagined it, inspires his troops before battle.
The stirring words are now a part of English culture, celebrating our national sense of pride, sacrifice, patriotism and duty.

And as we reflect – with the growth of Scottish nationalism and calls for the break up of Great Britain – on what it means to be English, the Battle of Agincourt looms large.

But far too few today know the history.

King Harry’s words were spoken on the eve of St Crispin’s Day, October 25, 1415, as he led his
Welsh archers and English soldiers into war.

Sunday marks the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt – an epic event in our island story; a day of bloodshed that changed European history; and a display of leadership that became legend.

When we think about our own Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan, our auld enmity with France, or the morality of war, Agincourt is a powerful starting place.

The roots of this bloody battle, fought near the village of Azincourt in northern France, lay in the Hundred Years War which set England against France between 1337 and 1453.

Read more at The Mirror >>

French Accuse the English of War Crimes

On what was historically St. Crispin's Day, 593 years ago today, 150,000 French were defeated by 6,000 English at Agincourt, France. The great battle was commemorated in Shakespeare's immortal history play, Henry V.

But if you can't win a war, you can always revise the history. So nearly 600 years after the battle, revisionist historians from all over France will gather at the historic battlefield for a conference that will:

"suggest that the extent of the feat of arms was massively exaggerated, with claims that the English were hugely outnumbered a lie. More controversially still, they will say that the foreign invaders used numerous underhand tactics against an honourable enemy."

The Telegraph has the story of today's conference of revisionist French historians.

Too bad we'll miss the conference in 2538 that explains France's glorious role in the liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny.