Another verse begins: You love to be sodomized, Papylus . A BBCNews Magazinereportsimilarlytracesthe gesture back toAncient Greek philosophers ( here ). The French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party. The English eyewitness account comes from the anonymous author of the Gesta Henrici Quinti, believed to have been written by a chaplain in the King's household who would have been in the baggage train at 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. [39] Curry, Rogers[118] and Mortimer[42] all agree the French had 4 to 5 thousand missile troops. Saint Crispin's Day - Wikipedia The metallography and relative effectiveness of arrowheads and armor during the Middle Ages. 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. 33-35). Rogers says each of the 10,000 men-at-arms would be accompanied by a gros valet (an armed, armoured and mounted military servant) and a noncombatant page, counts the former as fighting men, and concludes thus that the French in fact numbered 24,000. Henry V's victory in the mud of Picardy remains the . The image makes the further claim that the English soldiers chanted pluck yew, ostensibly in reference to the drawing of the longbow. What does DO NOT HUMP mean on the side of railroad cars? Why do some people have that one extra-long fingernail on the pinkie finger. He considered a knight in the best-quality steel armour invulnerable to an arrow on the breastplate or top of the helmet, but vulnerable to shots hitting the limbs, particularly at close range. They shadowed Henry's army while calling a semonce des nobles,[30] calling on local nobles to join the army. During this battle, the medieval archers started ahead of the army and commenced the action. On February 1, 1328, King Charles IV of France died without an heir. What it is supposed to represent I have no idea. 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). French history myths: The 'two fingers' insult comes from the Battle of [52] The dukes of Alenon and Bar led the main battle. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent. [c], The English made their confessions before the battle, as was customary. because when a spectator started to hiss, he called the attention of the whole audience to him with an obscene movement of his middle finger. Morris also claims that the mad emperor Caligula, as an insult, would extend his middle finger for supplicants to kiss. The traditional view of the years 131821 is one of domination by This was an innovative technique that the English had not used in the Battles of Crcy and Poitiers. Thinking it was an attack from the rear, Henry had the French nobles he was holding prisoner killed. ), 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? . 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. Turning to our vast classical library, we quickly turn up three references. It was often reported to comprise 1,500 ships, but was probably far smaller. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English. [135] The battle also forms a central component of the 2019 Netflix film The King. The brunt of the battle had fallen on the Armagnacs and it was they who suffered the majority of senior casualties and carried the blame for the defeat. [105] Other benefits to the English were longer term. A Dictionary of Superstitions.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-19-282916-5 (p. 454). [22], Henry's army landed in northern France on 13 August 1415, carried by a vast fleet. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. The king received an axe blow to the head, which knocked off a piece of the crown that formed part of his helmet. The battle remains an important symbol in popular culture. Wikipedia. The earliest known photograph of "the finger," given by Charles "Old The battle probably lasted no longer than three hours and was perhaps as short as half an hour, according to some estimates. [27], During the siege, the French had raised an army which assembled around Rouen. The town surrendered on 22 September, and the English army did not leave until 8 October. Contemporary accounts [ edit] Legendinc.com Giving the Finger History [97] According to the heralds, 3,069 knights and squires were killed,[e] while at least 2,600 more corpses were found without coats of arms to identify them. Agincourt and the Middle Finger | First Floor Tarpley Battle of Agincourt - English History In the other reference Martial writes that a certain party points a finger, an indecent one, at some other people. [56] Some 200 mounted men-at-arms would attack the English rear. Plucking The Yew - Jerry Pournelle Agincourt 1415: The Triumph of the Longbow: Directed by Graham Holloway. 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. Henry threatened to hang whoever did not obey his orders. [91] Such an event would have posed a risk to the still-outnumbered English and could have easily turned a stunning victory into a mutually destructive defeat, as the English forces were now largely intermingled with the French and would have suffered grievously from the arrows of their own longbowmen had they needed to resume shooting. According to most chroniclers, Henry's fear was that the prisoners (who, in an unusual turn of events, actually outnumbered their captors) would realise their advantage in numbers, rearm themselves with the weapons strewn about the field and overwhelm the exhausted English forces. They had been weakened by the siege at Harfleur and had marched over 200 miles (more than 320 km), and many among them were suffering from dysentery. People who killed their social betters from a distance werent very well liked, and would likely have paid with their lives as did all the French prisoners, archers or otherwise, whom Henry V had executed at Agincourt, in what some historians consider a war crime. [74], The plate armour of the French men-at-arms allowed them to close the 1,000 yards or so to the English lines while being under what the French monk of Saint Denis described as "a terrifying hail of arrow shot". Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here . A Dictionary of Superstitions. In a book on the battle of Agincourt, Anne Curry, Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the University of Southampton, addressed a similar claim prescribed to the V-sign, also considered an offensive gesture: No chronicle or sixteenth-centuryhistory says that English archers made any gesture to the French after the battle in order to show they still had their fingers. Its not known whether one displayed the digitus infamis in the same manner that we (well, you) flip the bird today. 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. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. It seems to me that the single upturned middle finger clearly represents an erect penis and is the gestural equivalent of saying f*ck you! As such, it is probably ancient Wikipedia certainly thinks so, although apparently it became popular in the United States in the late nineteenth century under the influence of Italian immigration, replacing other rude gestures like thumbing the nose or the fig sign. The Most Famous, Bloodiest Medieval Battle - AGINCOURT - Full - YouTube [25] The siege took longer than expected. According to contemporary English accounts, Henry fought hand to hand. [50] Both lines were arrayed in tight, dense formations of about 16 ranks each, and were positioned a bowshot length from each other. After the initial wave, the French would have had to fight over and on the bodies of those who had fallen before them. Update [June 20, 2022]: Updated SEO/social. Corrections? Barker, Sumption and Rogers all wrote that the English probably had 6,000 men, these being 5,000 archers and 9001,000 men-at-arms. [85], The French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in the thousands. 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. Barker states that some knights, encumbered by their armour, actually drowned in their helmets.[64]. [130] Critic David Margolies describes how it "oozes honour, military glory, love of country and self-sacrifice", and forms one of the first instances of English literature linking solidarity and comradeship to success in battle. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [96] Of the great royal office holders, France lost its constable (Albret), an admiral (the lord of Dampierre), the Master of Crossbowmen (David de Rambures, dead along with three sons), Master of the Royal Household (Guichard Dauphin) and prvt of the marshals. 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. The f-word itself is Germanic with early-medieval roots; the earliest attested use in English in an unambiguous sexual context is in a document from 1310. The legend that the "two-fingered salute" stems from the Battle of Agincourt is apocryphal Although scholars and historians continue to debate its origins, according to legend it was first. They were blocking Henry's retreat, and were perfectly happy to wait for as long as it took. [34] The rearguard, leaderless, would serve as a "dumping ground" for the surplus troops. The Agincourt Carol, dating from around this time and possibly written for Henrys reception in London, is a rousing celebration of the might of the English. [69] (The use of stakes was an innovation for the English: during the Battle of Crcy, for example, the archers had been instead protected by pits and other obstacles. [49], The French vanguard and main battle numbered respectively 4,800 and 3,000 men-at-arms. Wikipedia. [90] In his study of the battle John Keegan argued that the main aim was not to actually kill the French knights but rather to terrorise them into submission and quell any possibility they might resume the fight, which would probably have caused the uncommitted French reserve forces to join the fray, as well. The two armies spent the night of 24 October on open ground. King Henry V of England led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand fighting. 10+ True Battle Agincourt Facts That Will Make You Look Stupid One popular "origin story" for the middle finger has to do with the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. This battle concluded with King Harold of England dying at the hands of the Norman King William, which marked the beginning of a new era in England. Many folkloric or etymological myths have sprung up about its origin, especially the widely quoted one about the interplay between the French and English soldiery at the battle of Agincourt 1415, where the French threatened to amputate the middle fingers of the English archers to prevent them from drawing their bows, which of course is absolute