It lasted longer than Henry had anticipated, and his numbers were significantly diminished as a result of casualties, desertions, and disease. Nicolle, D. (2004). It. It seems clear, however, that the English were at a decided numerical disadvantage. [84] The exhausted French men-at-arms were unable to get up after being knocked to the ground by the English. Maybe it means five and was a symbol of support for Henry V? Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. The next line of French knights that poured in found themselves so tightly packed (the field narrowed at the English end) that they were unable to use their weapons effectively, and the tide of the battle began to turn toward the English. . [5] [b] Henry V 's victory at Agincourt, against a numerically superior French army. They might also have deployed some archers in the centre of the line. The archers were commanded by Sir Thomas Erpingham, another elderly veteran. 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. The town surrendered on 22 September, and the English army did not leave until 8 October. He considered a knight in the best-quality steel armour invulnerable to an arrow on the breastplate or top of the helmet, but vulnerable to shots hitting the limbs, particularly at close range. T he battle of Agincourt, whose 600th anniversary falls on St Crispin's Day, 25 October, is still tabloid gold, Gotcha! In Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution, Desmond Morris and colleagues note that the digitus infamis or digitus impudicus (infamous or indecent finger) is mentioned several times in the literature of ancient Rome. The Battle of Agincourt is well documented by at least seven contemporary accounts, three from eyewitnesses. Singer Robbie Williams insults the viewer. [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. 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. 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. Early in the morning on October 25 (the feast day of St. Crispin), 1415, Henry positioned his army for battle on a recently plowed field bounded by woods. [citation needed], The French responded with what they considered the generous terms of marriage with Catherine, a dowry of 600,000 crowns, and an enlarged Aquitaine. But frankly, I suspect that the French would have done a lot worse to any captured English archers than chopping off their fingers. [81] In any case, to protect themselves as much as possible from the arrows, the French had to lower their visors and bend their helmeted heads to avoid being shot in the face, as the eye- and air-holes in their helmets were among the weakest points in the armour. During World War II the symbol was adopted as a V for victory. The French could not cope with the thousands of lightly armoured longbowmen assailants (who were much less hindered by the mud and weight of their armour) combined with the English men-at-arms. [101] The bailiffs of nine major northern towns were killed, often along with their sons, relatives and supporters. But frankly, I suspect that the French would have done a lot worse to any captured English archers than chopping off their fingers. It was often reported to comprise 1,500 ships, but was probably far smaller. [76] Modern historians are divided on how effective the longbows would have been against plate armour of the time. [88] In some accounts the attack happened towards the end of the battle, and led the English to think they were being attacked from the rear. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. The Face of Battle. Details the English victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt. The Battle of Agincourt (/dnkr(t)/ AJ-in-kor(t);[a] French: Azincourt [azku]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. Henry V's victory in the mud of Picardy remains the . An account purporting to offer the historical origins of the obscene middle-finger extended hand gesture (varously known as "flipping the bird," "flipping someone off," or the "one-finger salute") is silly, and so obviously a joke that shouldn't need any debunking. "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? Henry V and the resumption of the Hundred Years War, That fought with us upon Saint Crispins day, https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Agincourt, World History Encyclopedia - Battle of Agincourt, Warfare History Network - Miracle in the Mud: The Hundred Years' War's Battle of Agincourt, Battle of Agincourt - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The English finally crossed the Somme south of Pronne, at Bthencourt and Voyennes[28][29] and resumed marching north. Wikipedia. What does DO NOT HUMP mean on the side of railroad cars? Many folkloric or etymological myths have sprung up about its origin, especially the widely quoted one about the interplay between the French and English soldiery at the battle of Agincourt 1415, where the French threatened to amputate the middle fingers of the English archers to prevent them from drawing their bows, which of course is absolute With 4,800 men-at-arms in the vanguard, 3,000 in the main battle, and 1,200 in the infantry wings. However, the lack of archaeological evidence at this traditional site has led to suggestions it was fought to the west of Azincourt. ), And even if killing prisoners of war did not violate the moral code of the times, what would be the purpose of taking archers captive, cutting off their fingers, and then executing them? Didn't it originate at Agincourt? The English had very little food, had marched 260 miles (420km) in two and a half weeks, were suffering from sickness such as dysentery, and were greatly outnumbered by well-equipped French men-at-arms. The Hundred Years' War. [51] Albret, Boucicaut and almost all the leading noblemen were assigned stations in the vanguard. The Battle of Agincourt was dramatised by William Shakespeare in Henry V featuring the battle in which Henry inspired his much-outnumbered English forces to fight the French through a St Crispin's Day Speech, saying "the fewer men, the greater share of honour". 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. It supposedly describes the origin of the middle-finger hand gesture and, by implication, the insult "fuck you". This head-lowered position restricted their breathing and their vision. However, a need to reassert his authority at home (as well as his own ambition and a sense of justice) led Henry V to renew English claims in France. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English. On the morning of 25 October, the French were still waiting for additional troops to arrive. On February 1, 1328, King Charles IV of France died without an heir. The ransoming of prisoners was the only way for medieval soldiers to make a quick fortune, and so they seized every available opportunity to capture opponents who could be exchanged for handsome prices. After a difficult siege, the English forces found themselves assaulted by a massive French force. [38], The French army had 10,000 men-at arms[39][40][41] plus some 4,0005,000 miscellaneous footmen (gens de trait) including archers, crossbowmen[42] (arbaltriers) and shield-bearers (pavisiers), totaling 14,00015,000 men. [116] One particular cause of confusion may have been the number of servants on both sides, or whether they should at all be counted as combatants. In the words of Juliet Barker, the battle "cut a great swath through the natural leaders of French society in Artois, Ponthieu, Normandy, Picardy. At least one scholar puts the French army at no more than 12,000, indicating that the English were outnumbered 2 to 1. The Battle of Agincourt took place on October 25, 1415. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. Loades, M. (2013). King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415 by Sir John Gilbert, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, Lancashire. After several decades of relative peace, the English had resumed the war in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French. [62] Le Fvre and Wavrin similarly say that it was signs of the French rearguard regrouping and "marching forward in battle order" which made the English think they were still in danger. Henry threatened to hang whoever did not obey his orders. [18] A recent re-appraisal of Henry's strategy of the Agincourt campaign incorporates these three accounts and argues that war was seen as a legal due process for solving the disagreement over claims to the French throne. A BBCNews Magazinereportsimilarlytracesthe gesture back toAncient Greek philosophers ( here ). The Duke of Brabant (about 2,000 men),[65] the Duke of Anjou (about 600 men),[65] and the Duke of Brittany (6,000 men, according to Monstrelet),[66] were all marching to join the army. Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. Another verse begins: You love to be sodomized, Papylus . And where does the distinction between one and two fingers come from? The deep, soft mud particularly favoured the English force because, once knocked to the ground, the heavily armoured French knights had a hard time getting back up to fight in the mle. [114][115] Curry and Mortimer questioned the reliability of the Gesta, as there have been doubts as to how much it was written as propaganda for Henry V. Both note that the Gesta vastly overestimates the number of French in the battle; its proportions of English archers to men-at-arms at the battle are also different from those of the English army before the siege of Harfleur. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. They shadowed Henry's army while calling a semonce des nobles,[30] calling on local nobles to join the army. It goes on to state thatafter an unexpected victory, the English soldiersmocked thedefeatedFrenchtroopsbywavingtheir middle fingers( here ). This material may not be reproduced without permission. There is no evidence that, when captured in any scenario,archers had their finger cut off by the enemy( bit.ly/3dP2PhP ). (Storyline based on the play by William Shakespeare "The Cronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Batt. [82], The surviving French men-at-arms reached the front of the English line and pushed it back, with the longbowmen on the flanks continuing to shoot at point-blank range. [22], Henry's army landed in northern France on 13 August 1415, carried by a vast fleet. Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. 1.3M views 4 months ago Medieval Battles - In chronological order The year 1415 was the first occasion since 1359 that an English king had invaded France in person. Although an audience vote was "too close to call", Henry was unanimously found guilty by the court on the basis of "evolving standards of civil society".[136][137][138]. False. They were successful for a time, forcing Henry to move south, away from Calais, to find a ford. [89] A slaughter of the French prisoners ensued. It seems it was purely a decision of Henry, since the English knights found it contrary to chivalry, and contrary to their interests, to kill valuable hostages for whom it was commonplace to ask ransom. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother pheasant plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows), the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'f', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. Thus, when the victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, they said, "See, we can still pluck yew! Despite the lack of motion pictures and television way back in the 15th century, the details of medieval battles such as the one at Agincourt in 1415 did not go unrecorded. 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! Your opponent is not going to pay you (or pay you much) for the return of mutilated soldiers, so now what do you do with them? During this battle, the medieval archers started ahead of the army and commenced the action. According to research, heres the true story: 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. giving someone the middle finger The original usage of this mudra can be traced back as far as the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Agincourt, Henry V's famous victory over the French on 25 October 1415, is a fascinating battle not just because of what happened but also because of how its myth has developed ever since. Jean de Wavrin, a knight on the French side wrote that English fatalities were 1,600 men of all ranks. The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes, or palings, into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off. [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. Contemporary accounts [ edit] 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. [c], The English made their confessions before the battle, as was customary. These numbers are based on the Gesta Henrici Quinti and the chronicle of Jean Le Fvre, the only two eyewitness accounts on the English camp. By most contemporary accounts, the French army was also significantly larger than the English, though the exact degree of their numerical superiority is disputed. The English King Henry V and his troops were marching to Calais to embark for England when he was intercepted by forces which outnumbered his. The body part which the French proposed to cut off of the English after defeating them was, of course, the middle finger, without which it is impossible to draw the renowned English longbow. [127], Shakespeare's play presented Henry as leading a truly English force into battle, playing on the importance of the link between the monarch and the common soldiers in the fight. [62] By contrast, Anne Curry in her 2005 book Agincourt: A New History, argued, based on research into the surviving administrative records, that the French army was 12,000 strong, and the English army 9,000, proportions of four to three. 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. 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. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore [soldiers would] be incapable of fighting in the future. Wikipedia. Subject: Truth About the Finger In the film Titanic the character Rose is shown giving the finger to Jack, another character. The campaign season was coming to an end, and the English army had suffered many casualties through disease. This claim is false. The "middle finger" gesture does not derive from the mutilation of English archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415), decisive battle in the Hundred Years War (13371453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." The main part of the speech begins "This day is called the feast of . David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994. [104] Henry returned a conquering hero, seen as blessed by God in the eyes of his subjects and European powers outside France. The image makes the claim that the gesture derives from English soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt, France in 1415. 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. [23] The army of about 12,000 men and up to 20,000 horses besieged the port of Harfleur. The French hoped to raise 9,000 troops, but the army was not ready in time to relieve Harfleur. The 'middle finger salute' is derived from the defiant gestures of English archers whose fingers had been severed by the French at the Battle of Agincourt. The French army blocked Henry's way to the safety of Calais, and delaying battle would only further weaken his tired army and allow more French troops to arrive. The two armies spent the night of 24 October on open ground. When the English won the battle the soldiers waved their middle fingers at the French in defiance, thus flipping the bird was born The fact that Winston Churchill sometimes made his V-for-victory gesture rudely suggests that it is of much more recent vintage. In 1999, Snopesdebunked more of the historical aspects of the claim, as well as thecomponent explaininghow the phrase pluck yew graduallychanged form to begin with an f( here ). Adam Koford, Salt Lake City, Utah, Now for the facts. It continued as a series of battles, sieges, and disputes throughout the 14th century, with both the French and the English variously taking advantage. [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). Juliet Barker quotes a contemporary account by a monk from St. Denis who reports how the wounded and panicking horses galloped through the advancing infantry, scattering them and trampling them down in their headlong flight from the battlefield. 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. Battle of Agincourt. After the battle, the English taunted the survivors by showing off what wasn't cut off. [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. This was not strictly a feudal army, but an army paid through a system similar to that of the English. [69] (The use of stakes was an innovation for the English: during the Battle of Crcy, for example, the archers had been instead protected by pits and other obstacles. Some historians trace its origins to ancient Rome. [92], The French had suffered a catastrophic defeat. [citation needed]. 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. PLUCK YEW!". And I aint kidding yew. 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. The battle remains an important symbol in popular culture. As the story goes, the French were fighting with the English and had a diabolical (and greatly advertised) plan of cutting off the middle fingers of any captured English archers so they could never taunt the French with arrows plucked in their . Some historians trace its origins to ancient Rome. 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. Made just prior to the invasion of Normandy, Olivier's rendition gives the battle what Sarah Hatchuel has termed an "exhilarating and heroic" tone, with an artificial, cinematic look to the battle scenes. The battle repeated other English successes in the Hundred Years War, such as the Battle of Crcy (1346) and the Battle of Poitiers (1356), and made possible Englands subsequent conquest of Normandy and the Treaty of Troyes (1420), which named Henry V heir to the French crown. [90] In his study of the battle John Keegan argued that the main aim was not to actually kill the French knights but rather to terrorise them into submission and quell any possibility they might resume the fight, which would probably have caused the uncommitted French reserve forces to join the fray, as well. In the other reference Martial writes that a certain party points a finger, an indecent one, at some other people. When the archers ran out of arrows, they dropped their bows and, using hatchets, swords, and the mallets they had used to drive their stakes in, attacked the now disordered, fatigued and wounded French men-at-arms massed in front of them. [107], Most primary sources which describe the battle have English outnumbered by several times. Contents. 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. [Adam attaches the following memo, which has been floating around the Internet for some time.] On October 25, 1415, during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) between England and France, Henry V (1386-1422), the young king of England, led his forces to victory at the Battle of . The English account in the Gesta Henrici says: "For when some of them, killed when battle was first joined, fall at the front, so great was the undisciplined violence and pressure of the mass of men behind them that the living fell on top of the dead, and others falling on top of the living were killed as well."[62]. [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. Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. The historian Suetonius, writing about Augustus Caesar, says the emperor expelled [the entertainer] Pylades . It was a disastrous attempt. Since pluck yew is rather difficult to say, like pheasant mother plucker, which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows for the longbow, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative f, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. Since the French had many more men-at-arms than the English, they would accordingly be accompanied by a far greater number of servants. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore [soldiers would] be incapable of fighting in the future. The Burgundians seized on the opportunity and within 10 days of the battle had mustered their armies and marched on Paris. Historians disagree less about the French numbers. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the gesture is known as giving the bird. And yew all thought yew knew everything! The latter, each titled Henry V, star Laurence Olivier in 1944 and Kenneth Branagh in 1989. The French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party. In December 1414, the English parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. The . . This symbol of rocking out is formed by tucking the middle and index finger and holding them in place with the thumb. At issue was the question of the legitimate succession to the French crown as well as the ownership of several French territories. Barker, Sumption and Rogers all wrote that the English probably had 6,000 men, these being 5,000 archers and 9001,000 men-at-arms. [105] Other benefits to the English were longer term. The Agincourt Carol, dating from around this time and possibly written for Henrys reception in London, is a rousing celebration of the might of the English. And although the precise etymology of the English word fuck is still a matter of debate, it is linguistically nonsensical to maintain that that word entered the language because the "difficult consonant cluster at the beginning" of the phase 'pluck yew' has "gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'f.'" The English won in a major upset and waved the body part in question at the French in defiance. News of the contrivance circulated within Europe and was described in a book of tactics written in 1411 by. 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? 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. [135] The battle also forms a central component of the 2019 Netflix film The King. A list of English archers killed at Agincourt, as recorded in the village's museum, The story of the battle has been retold many times in English, from the 15th-century, Dates in the fifteenth century are difficult to reconcile with modern calendars: see, The first known use of angled stakes to thwart a mounted charge was at the Battle of Nicopolis, an engagement between European states and Turkish forces in 1396, twenty years before Agincourt. It may be difficult to pinpoint exactly when the middle finger gesture originated, but some historians trace its roots to ancient Rome. 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). With Toby Merrell, Ian Brooker, Philip Rosch, Brian Blessed. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 ( Saint Crispin's Day ), near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France. 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. The trial ranged widely over whether there was just cause for war and not simply the prisoner issue. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [34] The rearguard, leaderless, would serve as a "dumping ground" for the surplus troops. It sounds rather fishy to me. Do you return these prisoners to your opponents in exchange for nothing, thereby providing them with trained soldiers who can fight against you another day? Thepostalleges that the Frenchhad planned to cut offthe middle fingers ofall captured English soldiers,to inhibit them fromdrawingtheir longbowsin futurebattles. Fighting commenced at 11:00 am, as the English brought their longbows within killing range and the first line of French knights advanced, led by cavalry. [56] Some 200 mounted men-at-arms would attack the English rear. In a book on the battle of Agincourt, Anne Curry, Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the University of Southampton, addressed a similar claim prescribed to the V-sign, also considered an offensive gesture: No chronicle or sixteenth-centuryhistory says that English archers made any gesture to the French after the battle in order to show they still had their fingers. Increasingly, they had to walk around or over fallen comrades.