Battle of Crécy

Battle of Crécy, important engagement between the armies of England and France, occurring on August 26, 1346, near the village of Crécy-en-Ponthieu (in present-day Somme Department), northern France, during the Hundred Years' War. The battle was fought after the second invasion of France by Edward III, king of England, and was the first major encounter of the war. Edward established a position on the slope of a hill and arrayed his forces in three divisions, two in the front line and one in reserve. Each division consisted of a center of dismounted knights and men-at-arms, flanked on both sides by forward-curving wings of archers armed with longbows. The total English force numbered about 3,900 knights, 11,000 archers, and 5,000 light troops. The French army, led by King Philip VI, was composed of at least 12,000 mounted knights, 6,000 Genoese mercenary crossbowmen, 20,000 town militia, a number of foot soldiers, and a division of cavalry under King John of Bohemia.

The French advanced in a disorganized manner, their crossbowmen being no match for the English archers. Even the charging knights could not penetrate the two front lines of the dismounted men-at-arms. Each new advancing contingent of mounted French knights became entangled in their own forces already at battle and were thus exposed at close range to the arrows of Edward’s longbowmen. The French knights made 16 distinct charges, but by midnight the battle was over. English losses were negligible; at least 1,500 French knights lay dead.

In the Battle of Crécy the English proved, for the first time in continental warfare, that the longbow was superior to the crossbow in both range and rapidity of fire. The victory also dealt a severe blow to the old feudal concept of warfare by proving that a combination of archers and dismounted men-at-arms could withstand the charge of armored knights on horseback.