Crécy, Battle of

The Battle of Crécy takes place on August 26, 1346 in north-east France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III.

The French attack the English while they are traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.

The English army had landed in the Cotentin Peninsula on July 12.

It had burnt a path of destruction through some of the richest lands in France to within two miles (three kilometers) of Paris, sacking many towns on the way.

The English had then marched north, hoping to link up with an allied Flemish army which had invaded from Flanders.

Hearing that the Flemish had turned back, and having temporarily outdistanced the pursuing French, Edward had his army prepare a defensive position on a hillside near Crécy-en-Ponthieu.

Late on August 26, the French army, which greatly outnumbers the English, attacks.

During a brief archery duel a large force of French mercenary crossbowmen is routed by Welsh and English longbowmen.

The French now launch a series of cavalry charges by their mounted knights.

These are disordered by their impromptu nature, by having to force their way through the fleeing crossbowmen, by the muddy ground, by having to charge uphill, and by the pits dug by the English.

The attacks are further broken up by the effective fire from the English archers, which causes heavy casualties.

By the time the French charges reach the English men-at-arms, who have dismounted for the battle, they have lost much of their impetus.

The ensuing hand-to-hand combat is described as "murderous, without pity, cruel, and very horrible".

The French charges continue late into the night, all with the same result: fierce fighting followed by a French repulse.

The English now lay siege to the port of Calais.

The battle cripples the French army's ability to relieve the siege; the town will fall to the English the following year and remain under English rule for more than two centuries, until 1558.

Crécy establishes the effectiveness of the longbow as a dominant weapon on the Western European battlefield.

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