The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations (Warfare in History, 10) - Hardcover

Curry, Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0851158021 ISBN 13: 9780851158020

Publisher: Boydell Press, 2000

Synopsis

Latest title, destined to be the Agincourt sourcebook for years to come, in the Warfare in History: Sources and Interpretations series.

Accessible collections of primary sources covering the Hundred Years War are still remarkably few and far between, and teachers of the subject will find Curry's volume a valuable addition to their bibliographies and teaching aids.FRENCH HISTORY

"Agincourt! Agincourt! Know ye not Agincourt?" So began a ballad of around 1600. Since the event itself [25 October 1415], the great military engagement has occupied a special place in both English andFrench consciousness, respectively as either one of the greatest military successes ever, or as the "accursed day". Much ink has been spilt on the battle but do we really know Agincourt? Not since Harris Nicolas's History of the Battle of Agincourt (1827-33) has there been a full attempt to survey the sources until now: this book brings together, in translation and with commentary, English and French narrative accounts and literary works of the fifteenth century. It also traces the treatment of the battle in sixteenth-century English histories and in the literary representations of, amongst others, Shakespeare and Drayton. After examining how later historians interpreted the battle, it concludes with the first full assessment of the extremely rich administrative records which survive for the armies which fought "upon Saint Crispin's day".

ANNE CURRY is Professor of Medieval Historyat the University of Southampton.

CONTENTS Twenty-six chronicle sources, English and French
Accounts from six sixteenth-century English historians
Twenty-one records of contemporary reception of the battle, and the development of the literary tradition, in England and France
Summaries of interpretations from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries
Excerpts from eighteen administrative records relating to the Englishand French armies

About this title

About the Author

Anne Curry is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton, and author of many works on the Hundred Years War, particularly on the battle of Agincourt. She also edited the 1422-53 section of the Parliament Rolls of Medieval England.

From the Back Cover

Twenty-six chronicle sources, English and French.

Accounts from six sixteenth-century English historians.

Twenty-one records of contemporary reception of the battle, and the development of the literary tradition, in England and France.

Summaries of interpretations from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries.

Excerpts from eighteen administrative records relating to the English and French armies.

From the Inside Flap

'Agincourt! Agincourt! Know ye not Agincourt?'

So began a ballad of around 1600. Since the event itself (25 October 1415), Agincourt has occupied a special place in both English and French consciousness. Some early French writers could not bring themselves to mention it by name, using instead descriptions such as 'the accursed day'. For the English, it was one of the greatest military successes ever, and thus was celebrated and commemorated in many forms over the centuries which followed. In the First World War, there were stories of angelic Agincourt bowmen giving support and inspiration to the British army.

Much ink has been spilt on the battle but do we really know Agincourt? Many historical works have relied on one or two well known sources or even on Shakespeare. Not since Harris Nicolas's History of the Battle of Agincourt was published (1827-33) has there been a full attempt to survey the sources. This book brings together, in translation and with commentary, English and French narrative accounts and literary works of the fifteenth century. It also traces the treatment of the battle in sixteenth -century English histories and in the literary output of, amongst others, Shakespeare and Drayton. After examining how later historians interpreted the battle, it concludes with the first full assessment of the extremely rich administrative records which survive for the armies which fought 'upon Saint Crispin's day'.

Edition details

• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0851158021
• ISBN 13: 9780851158020
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 490