New book traces the growing nationalism in France in the 15th century as the result of the events at Agincourt 1415

Le drame d’Azincourt
By Valérie Toureille
Albin Michel 2015
EAN13 : 9782226318923

When the French lost the battle at Agincourt in 1415 they were unprepared for the defeat, where much of the political and military elite lost their life. For the English, although outnumbered and worn to the bone by marching theough the bleak autumn landscape in Pircady, it was a great victory. As at Crécy and Poitiers the dreaded English archers made the difference.

In the aftermath of Agincourt France experienced a huge and unprecedented crisis. The country was divided between two competing legitimate governing sovereigns: the French Dauphin and the King of England. It took thirty-five years for France to regain its unity. In this long period of setbacks and disappointments, the events surrounding Joan of Arc are usually claimed to have played an important role. However, she would hardly have had an effect if a movement of resistance had not been formed in the aftermath of Agincourt.

Somehow, Agincourt, came to signal both the end of the chivalry and the growing national sentiments which fed the continuous war between France and England. In this new book Valérie Tourelle tells this story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Valérie Toureille is lecturer at the Université de Cergy-Pontoise. She is also editor of the catalogue published in connection with the exhibition at   Musée de l’Armée in Paris: Agincourt and Marignano 1415 – 1515