He claimed the title of King of France through his great-grandfather Edward III of England, although in practice the English kings were generally prepared to renounce this claim if the French would acknowledge the English claim on Aquitaine and other French lands (the terms of the Treaty of Brtigny). 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. [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. . Barker, following the Gesta Henrici, believed to have been written by an English chaplain who was actually in the baggage train, concluded that the attack happened at the start of the battle. 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. The archers were commanded by Sir Thomas Erpingham, another elderly veteran. I thought the French threatened to cut off the primary finger of the English longbowmen (the middle finger was neeed the most to pull the bowstring). When that campaign took place, it was made easier by the damage done to the political and military structures of Normandy by the battle. [123] Other ballads followed, including "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France", raising the popular prominence of particular events mentioned only in passing by the original chroniclers, such as the gift of tennis balls before the campaign. The one-finger salute, or at any rate sexual gestures involving the middle finger, are thousands of years old. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. England had been fraught with political discord since Henry IV of the house of Lancaster (father of Henry V) had usurped the throne from Richard II in 1399. [110][111][112] Ian Mortimer endorsed Curry's methodology, though applied it more liberally, noting how she "minimises French numbers (by limiting her figures to those in the basic army and a few specific additional companies) and maximises English numbers (by assuming the numbers sent home from Harfleur were no greater than sick lists)", and concluded that "the most extreme imbalance which is credible" is 15,000 French against 8,0009,000 English. Soon after the victory at Agincourt, a number of popular folk songs were created about the battle, the most famous being the "Agincourt Carol", produced in the first half of the 15th century. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991 ISBN 0-471-53672-5 (pp. One popular "origin story" for the middle finger has to do with the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. "[129], The play introduced the famous St Crispin's Day Speech, considered one of Shakespeare's most heroic speeches, which Henry delivers movingly to his soldiers just before the battle, urging his "band of brothers" to stand together in the forthcoming fight. The English numbered roughly 5,000 knights, men-at-arms, and archers. He told his men that he would rather die in the coming battle than be captured and ransomed. [34] It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, with men-at-arms and knights in the centre. 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. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. Henry would marry Catherine, Charles VI's young daughter, and receive a dowry of 2million crowns. Legend says that the British archers were so formidable that the ones captured by the French had their index and middle fingers cut off so that they . Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. While the precise number of casualties is unknown, it is estimated that English losses amounted to about 400 and French losses to about 6,000, many of whom were noblemen. The English won in a major upset and waved the body part in question at the French in defiance. Its not known whether one displayed the digitus infamis in the same manner that we (well, you) flip the bird today. The French had originally drawn up a battle plan that had archers and crossbowmen in front of their men-at-arms, with a cavalry force at the rear specifically designed to "fall upon the archers, and use their force to break them,"[71] but in the event, the French archers and crossbowmen were deployed behind and to the sides of the men-at-arms (where they seem to have played almost no part, except possibly for an initial volley of arrows at the start of the battle). But frankly, I suspect that the French would have done a lot worse to any captured English archers than chopping off their fingers. The historian Suetonius, writing about Augustus Caesar, says the emperor expelled [the entertainer] Pylades . 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]. [27], During the siege, the French had raised an army which assembled around Rouen. Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. [53] A further 600 dismounted men-at-arms stood in each wing, with the left under the Count of Vendme and the right under the Count of Richemont. The decorative use of the image of Priapusmatched the Roman use ofimages of male genitalia for warding off evil. One of the most renowned. [94][10][11] The list of casualties, one historian has noted, "read like a roll call of the military and political leaders of the past generation". Although the victory had been militarily decisive, its impact was complex. The Battle of Agincourt (/dnkr(t)/ AJ-in-kor(t);[a] French: Azincourt [azku]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Materials characterization, 29(2), 111117. Kill them outright and violate the medieval moral code of civilized warfare? This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as plucking the yew. Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Over the years some folk etymologies have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Take on the burden and expense of caring for them? The situation in England, coupled with the fact that France was weakened by its own political crisisthe insanity of Charles VI had resulted in a fight for power among the nobilitymade it an ideal moment for Henry to press his claims. It was often reported to comprise 1,500 ships, but was probably far smaller. It continued as a series of battles, sieges, and disputes throughout the 14th century, with both the French and the English variously taking advantage. Without the middle finger it would be impossible for the English soldiers to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore incapable of fighting in the future. This use of stakes could have been inspired by the Battle of Nicopolis of 1396, where forces of the Ottoman Empire used the tactic against French cavalry. Since then there had been tension between the nobility and the royal house, widespread lawlessness throughout the kingdom, and several attempts on Henry Vs life. The Face of Battle.New York: Penguin Books, 1978 ISBN 0-140-04897-9 (pp. 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. Henry managed to subjugate Normandy in 1419, a victory that was followed by the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which betrothed Henry to King Charles VIs daughter Catherine and named him heir to the French crown. Its origins can be traced back to 1066 . If the two-fingered salute comes from Agincourt, then at what point was it reduced to one finger in North America? The puzzler was: What was this body part? 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? On February 1, 1328, King Charles IV of France died without an heir. Military textbooks of the time stated: "Everywhere and on all occasions that foot soldiers march against their enemy face to face, those who march lose and those who remain standing still and holding firm win. Modern test and contemporary accounts conclude that arrows could not penetrate the better quality steel armour, which became available to knights and men-at-arms of fairly modest means by the middle of the 14th century, but could penetrate the poorer quality wrought iron armour. Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. 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. 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? 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 . After a difficult siege, the English forces found themselves assaulted by a massive French force. Probably each man-at-arms would be accompanied by a gros valet (or varlet), an armed servant, adding up to another 10,000 potential fighting men,[7] though some historians omit them from the number of combatants. . By most contemporary accounts, the French army was also significantly larger than the English, though the exact degree of their numerical superiority is disputed. with chivalry. The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War.The battle took place on Friday, 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) in the County of Saint-Pol, Artois, some. This symbol of rocking out is formed by tucking the middle and index finger and holding them in place with the thumb. [93] Entire noble families were wiped out in the male line, and in some regions an entire generation of landed nobility was annihilated. Last, but certainly not least, wouldn't these insolent archers have been bragging about plucking a bow's string, and not the wood of the bow itself? It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare 's play Henry V, written in 1599. What it is supposed to represent I have no idea. Keegan also speculated that due to the relatively low number of archers actually involved in killing the French knights (roughly 200 by his estimate), together with the refusal of the English knights to assist in a duty they saw as distastefully unchivalrous, and combined with the sheer difficulty of killing such a large number of prisoners in such a short space of time, the actual number of French prisoners put to death may not have been substantial before the French reserves fled the field and Henry rescinded the order. [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. This famous weapon was made of the . [37], Henry made a speech emphasising the justness of his cause, and reminding his army of previous great defeats the kings of England had inflicted on the French. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. The cavalry force, which could have devastated the English line if it had attacked while they moved their stakes, charged only after the initial volley of arrows from the English. [26] He also intended the manoeuvre as a deliberate provocation to battle aimed at the dauphin, who had failed to respond to Henry's personal challenge to combat at Harfleur. [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. [76] Modern historians are divided on how effective the longbows would have been against plate armour of the time. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. 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. query that we are duty bound to provide a bit of historical and linguistic information demonstrating why this anecdote couldn't possibly be accurate: The 'Car Talk' show (on NPR) with Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers have a feature called the 'Puzzler', and their most recent 'Puzzler' was about the Battle of Agincourt. It seems clear, however, that the English were at a decided numerical disadvantage. 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. [125] Shakespeare illustrates these tensions by depicting Henry's decision to kill some of the French prisoners, whilst attempting to justify it and distance himself from the event. In the Battle of Agincourt, the French threatened the English Soldiers that they would cut off their fingers and when they failed the Englishmen mocked them by showing their fingers. ), 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? Several heralds, both French and English, were present at the battle of Agincourt, and not one of them (or any later chroniclers of Agincourt) mentioned anything about the French having cut off the fingers of captured English bowman. A Dictionary of Superstitions. [23] The army of about 12,000 men and up to 20,000 horses besieged the port of Harfleur. 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. 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. The two armies spent the night of 24 October on open ground. [22], Henry's army landed in northern France on 13 August 1415, carried by a vast fleet. 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. The Battle of Agincourt forms a key part of Shakespeare's Henry V. Photo by Nick Ansell / POOL / AFP) Myth: During the Hundred Years War, the French cut off the first and second fingers of any. [34][d] The French apparently had no clear plan for deploying the rest of the army. Why not simply kill them outright in the first place? The French hoped to raise 9,000 troops, but the army was not ready in time to relieve Harfleur. In the song Hotel California, what does colitas mean? It established the legitimacy of the Lancastrian monarchy and the future campaigns of Henry to pursue his "rights and privileges" in France. 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. It did not lead to further English conquests immediately as Henry's priority was to return to England, which he did on 16 November, to be received in triumph in London on the 23rd. Although it could be intended as humorous, the image on social media is historically inaccurate. [106] This lack of unity in France allowed Henry eighteen months to prepare militarily and politically for a renewed campaign. A widely shared image on social media purportedly explains the historic origins of the middle finger, considered an offensive gesture in Western culture. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. And where does the distinction between one and two fingers come from? [104] Henry returned a conquering hero, seen as blessed by God in the eyes of his subjects and European powers outside France. Historians disagree less about the French numbers. Agincourt came on the back of half a century of military failure and gave the English a success that repeated victories such as Crcy and Poitiers. Turning to our vast classical library, we quickly turn up three references. It supposedly describes the origin of the middle-finger hand gesture and, by implication, the insult "fuck you". The Battle of Agincourt (October 25, 1415) was a pivotal battle in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), resulting in an English victory over the French. Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. French chroniclers agree that when the mounted charge did come, it did not contain as many men as it should have; Gilles le Bouvier states that some had wandered off to warm themselves and others were walking or feeding their horses. One final observation: any time some appeal begins with heres something that intelligent people will find edifying you should be suspicious. 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. [121] Mortimer notes the presence of noncombatant pages only, indicating that they would ride the spare horses during the battle and be mistakenly thought of as combatants by the English.[122]. This would prevent maneuvers that might overwhelm the English ranks. Thus, when the victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, they said, "See, we can still pluck yew! The city capitulated within six weeks, but the siege was costly. The English were not in an ideal condition to fight a battle. 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? The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent. The effect of the victory on national morale was powerful. [32] In 2019, the historian Michael Livingston also made the case for a site west of Azincourt, based on a review of sources and early maps. Inthe book,Corbeillpoints to Priapus, a minor deityhedatesto 400 BC, whichlater alsoappears in Rome as the guardian of gardens,according to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Greece and Rome( here ).