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The road to Crécy: the English invasion of France, 1346

by Marilyn Livingstone

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1911,136,065 (4.13)1
The Road to Crécy tells the story of the English expedition to France in 1346 which climaxed with the battle of Crécy.nbsp; On 26 August 1346 on a low ridge outside the village of Crécy-en-Ponthieu in northwestern France, an English army of perhaps 12,000 men under the command of King Edward III faced a combined French and German force five times their number under Edward's rival King Philip VI. The result, on the part of the French at least, was seen as a foregone conclusion. The English army, largely composed of foot soldiers and tired after days of marching and fighting, would be ridden down and overwhelmed by the armoured knights of France, then universally regarded as the finest fighting men in Europe. A few hours later, all was over. Thousands of French knights and auxiliary troops lay dead or dying on the slopes of the ridge, shot down as they advanced by English and Welsh archers. King Philip, wounded twice by enemy arrows, had fled the field. The events of those few hours had changed the course of the Hundred Years War, the balance of military power in Western Europe, and the nature of warfare itself.… (more)
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Witzel and Livingstone have greatly added to my understanding of this critical battle of the middle 14th century. The Road to Crecy is a narrative of the Crecy campaign, culminating in the famous battle in Pothieu. While other writers-Jonathan Sumption and Alfred Burne-also tell this story, Witzel and Livingstone follow in the footsteps of the current crop of Hundred Years War historians, draw on recently uncovered records to share the story in much greater detail. We are left with a picture of Edward III's army that begins upbeat and well-provisioned, though frequently out of hand and drawn to pillage, that becomes less well-fed and less secure as it journeys farther from its Norman landing site.

As French power grows in response to Phillippe VI's summons, the English become more desperate to find their way north to join forces with Anglo-Flemish forces. However, crossing the Seine and Somme rivers are major obstacles to Edward's plans as Phillippe throws out his net in an attempt to trap the invaders and force them to fight a battle on his terms. Edward's escape across the Somme at Blanchetaque and his decision to fight at Crecy are well documented. The authors's conclusions that the French army was ill-controlled and organized poorly is nothing new.

The real benefit of this book is the story of the campaign itself. It creates a context for understanding the battle, and the epilogue furthers the discussion with the understanding that Crecy, though a major victory in the Hundred Years War, only began the discussion that would last until 1453. ( )
  ksmyth | Jul 26, 2009 |
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The Road to Crécy tells the story of the English expedition to France in 1346 which climaxed with the battle of Crécy.nbsp; On 26 August 1346 on a low ridge outside the village of Crécy-en-Ponthieu in northwestern France, an English army of perhaps 12,000 men under the command of King Edward III faced a combined French and German force five times their number under Edward's rival King Philip VI. The result, on the part of the French at least, was seen as a foregone conclusion. The English army, largely composed of foot soldiers and tired after days of marching and fighting, would be ridden down and overwhelmed by the armoured knights of France, then universally regarded as the finest fighting men in Europe. A few hours later, all was over. Thousands of French knights and auxiliary troops lay dead or dying on the slopes of the ridge, shot down as they advanced by English and Welsh archers. King Philip, wounded twice by enemy arrows, had fled the field. The events of those few hours had changed the course of the Hundred Years War, the balance of military power in Western Europe, and the nature of warfare itself.

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