After a long and perilous march he reached a little village about midway between Cre’cy and Calais.  There he encountered the enemy in great force.  Both sides prepared for battle.  The French had fifty thousand troops to Henry’s seven or eight thousand; but the latter had that determination which wins victories.  He said to one of his nobles who regretted that he had not a larger force: 

                        “No, my fair cousin;
        If we are marked to die, we are enough
        To do our country loss; and if we live,
        The fewer men, the greater share of honor."[1]

[1] Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” Act IV, scene iii.

A heavy rain had fallen during the night, and the plowed land over which the French must cross was so wet and miry that their heavily armed horsemen sank deep at every step.  The English bowmen, on the other hand, being on foot, could move with ease.  Henry ordered every archer to drive a stake, sharpened at both ends, into the ground before him.  This was a substitute for the modern bayonet, and presented an almost impassable barrier to the French cavalry.

As at Cre’cy and Poitiers, the English bowmen gained the day (SS238, 241).  The sharp stakes stopped the enemy’s horses, and the blinding showers of arrows threw the splendidly armed knights into wild confusion.  With a ringing cheer Henry’s troops rushed forward.

“When down their bows they threw,
And forth their swords they drew,
And on the French they flew: 
No man was tardy. 
Arms from the shoulder sent;
Scalps to the teeth they rent;
Down the French peasants went: 
These ere men hardy."[2]

[2] These vigorous lines, from Drayton’s “Ballad of Agincourt” (1606), if not quite true to the letter of history (since it is doubted whether any French peasants were on the field), are wholly true to its spirit.

When the fight was over, the King asked, “What is the name of that castle yonder?” He was told it was called Agincourt.  “Then,” said he, “from henceforth this shall be known as the battle of Agincourt.”  This decisive victory made the winner feel sure that he could now hold his throne in spite of all plots against him (S288).

290.  Treaty of Troyes, 1420; Henry’s Death.

Henry went back in triumph to England.  Two years later, he again invaded France.  His victorious course continued.  By the Treaty of Troyes (1420) he gained all that he had planned to get.  He obtained large sums of money, the French Princess Catharine in marriage, and the promise of the crown of France on the death of her father, Charles VI, who was then insane and feeble.  Meantime Henry was to govern the French kingdom as regent.

Henry returned to England with the bride he had won by the sword, but he was soon recalled to France by a revolt against his power.  He died there, leaving an infant son, Henry.  Two months afterward Charles VI died, so that by the terms of the treaty Henry’s son now inherited the French Crown.