Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. In such a "press" of thousands of men, Rogers suggested that many could have suffocated in their armour, as was described by several sources, and which was also known to have happened in other battles. 030223 - Musings From Leroy (Storyline based on the play by William Shakespeare "The Cronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Batt. When the French rejected Henrys substantial territorial demands, he arrived in Normandy in August 1415 with a force of about 12,000 men and laid siege to the city of Harfleur. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. "[129], The play introduced the famous St Crispin's Day Speech, considered one of Shakespeare's most heroic speeches, which Henry delivers movingly to his soldiers just before the battle, urging his "band of brothers" to stand together in the forthcoming fight. [37], Henry made a speech emphasising the justness of his cause, and reminding his army of previous great defeats the kings of England had inflicted on the French. Fixed formatting. The army was divided into three groups, with the right wing led by Edward, Duke of York, the centre led by the king himself, and the left wing under the old and experienced Baron Thomas Camoys. 78-116). The one-finger salute, or at any rate sexual gestures involving the middle finger, are thousands of years old. When the first French line reached the English front, the cavalry were unable to overwhelm the archers, who had driven sharpened stakes into the ground at an angle before themselves. [52] The dukes of Alenon and Bar led the main battle. When Henry V acceded to the English throne in 1413, there had been a long hiatus in the fighting. They might also have deployed some archers in the centre of the line. [105] Other benefits to the English were longer term. When 5,000 British Archers Defeated Over 30,000 French Knights One popular "origin story" for the middle finger has to do with the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The "middle finger" gesture does not derive from the mutilation of English archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Saint Crispin's Day - Wikipedia The city capitulated within six weeks, but the siege was costly. [27], During the siege, the French had raised an army which assembled around Rouen. [44] There was a special, elite cavalry force whose purpose was to break the formation of the English archers and thus clear the way for the infantry to advance. The approximate location of the battle has never been disputed, and the site remains relatively unaltered after 600 years. A widely shared image on social media purportedly explains the historic origins of the middle finger, considered an offensive gesture in Western culture. |. An account purporting to offer the historical origins of the obscene middle-finger extended hand gesture (varously known as "flipping the bird," "flipping someone off," or the "one-finger salute") is silly, and so obviously a joke that shouldn't need any debunking. Soon after the victory at Agincourt, a number of popular folk songs were created about the battle, the most famous being the "Agincourt Carol", produced in the first half of the 15th century. One of the most renowned. French chroniclers agree that when the mounted charge did come, it did not contain as many men as it should have; Gilles le Bouvier states that some had wandered off to warm themselves and others were walking or feeding their horses. In December 1414, the English parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. In Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome, Anthony Corbeill, Professor of Classics at the University of Kansas wrote: The most familiar example of the coexistence of a human and transhuman elementis the extended middle finger. [51] Albret, Boucicaut and almost all the leading noblemen were assigned stations in the vanguard. By most contemporary accounts, the French army was also significantly larger than the English, though the exact degree of their numerical superiority is disputed. .). Agincourt 1415: The Triumph of the Longbow (Video 1993) - IMDb This famous weapon was made of the . The traditional view of the years 131821 is one of domination by It supposedly describes the origin of the middle-finger hand gesture and, by implication, the insult "fuck you". 78-116). The 'middle finger salute' is derived from the defiant gestures of English archers whose fingers had been severed by the French at the Battle of Agincourt. The French monk of St. Denis describes the French troops as "marching through the middle of the mud where they sank up to their knees. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. Whether this was true is open to question and continues to be debated to this day; however, it seems likely that death was the normal fate of any soldier who could not be ransomed. With 4,800 men-at-arms in the vanguard, 3,000 in the main battle, and 1,200 in the infantry wings. [86], The only French success was an attack on the lightly protected English baggage train, with Ysembart d'Azincourt (leading a small number of men-at-arms and varlets plus about 600 peasants) seizing some of Henry's personal treasures, including a crown. After several decades of relative peace, the English had resumed the war in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French. A Short History of "Flipping the Bird" - OddFeed The third line of the French army, recoiling at the pile of corpses before them and unable to make an effective charge, was then massacred swiftly. Jones, P. N. (1992). The Roman gesturemadeby extending the third finger from a closed fist, thus made the same threat, by forming a similarly phallic shape. The Battle of Agincourt (/dnkr(t)/ AJ-in-kor(t);[a] French: Azincourt [azku]) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. Africa: Funny but Fanciful - Little Evidence for Origin of the F Word October 25, 1415. This moment of the battle is portrayed both as a break with the traditions of chivalry and as a key example of the paradox of kingship. with chivalry. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Winston Churchhill can be seen using the V as a rallying call. Band of Brothers: Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt The English Gesta Henrici described three great heaps of the slain around the three main English standards. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent. Materials characterization, 29(2), 111117. 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. [76] Modern historians are divided on how effective the longbows would have been against plate armour of the time. Turning to our vast classical library, we quickly turn up three references. Its origins can be traced back to 1066 . [32] In 2019, the historian Michael Livingston also made the case for a site west of Azincourt, based on a review of sources and early maps. Nicolle, D. (2004). French knights, charging uphill, were unseated from their horses, either because their mounts were injured on the stakes or because they dismounted to uproot the obstacles, and were overpowered. Last, but certainly not least, wouldn't these insolent archers have been bragging about plucking a bow's string, and not the wood of the bow itself? query that we are duty bound to provide a bit of historical and linguistic information demonstrating why this anecdote couldn't possibly be accurate: The 'Car Talk' show (on NPR) with Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers have a feature called the 'Puzzler', and their most recent 'Puzzler' was about the Battle of Agincourt. The English men-at-arms in plate and mail were placed shoulder to shoulder four deep. The Battle of Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories and was one of the most important English triumphs in the Hundred Years' War, along with the Battle of Crcy (1346) and Battle of Poitiers (1356). Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. David Mikkelson Published Sep 29, 1999. Didn't it originate at Agincourt? The cavalry force, which could have devastated the English line if it had attacked while they moved their stakes, charged only after the initial volley of arrows from the English. Upon his death, a French assembly formed to appoint a male successor. The struggle began in 1337 when King Edward III of England claimed the title King of France over Philip VI and invaded Flanders. However, a need to reassert his authority at home (as well as his own ambition and a sense of justice) led Henry V to renew English claims in France. One Of The Oldest Insults: The Origin Of The Middle Finger - Storypick Historians disagree less about the French numbers. Wikipedia. It may be difficult to pinpoint exactly when the middle finger gesture originated, but some historians trace its roots to ancient Rome. 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. Common estimates place the English army at about 6,000, while the French army probably consisted of 20,000 to 30,000 men. Giving the Finger - Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415), decisive battle in the Hundred Years War (13371453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. What Is the History of the Middle Finger? | Snopes.com 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. PLUCK YEW!". Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. [82], The surviving French men-at-arms reached the front of the English line and pushed it back, with the longbowmen on the flanks continuing to shoot at point-blank range. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [23] Thomas Morstede, Henry V's royal surgeon,[24] had previously been contracted by the king to supply a team of surgeons and makers of surgical instruments to take part in the Agincourt campaign. Made just prior to the invasion of Normandy, Olivier's rendition gives the battle what Sarah Hatchuel has termed an "exhilarating and heroic" tone, with an artificial, cinematic look to the battle scenes. The Hundred Years' War. The Gesta Henrici places this after the English had overcome the onslaught of the French men-at-arms and the weary English troops were eyeing the French rearguard ("in incomparable number and still fresh"). Henry would marry Catherine, Charles VI's young daughter, and receive a dowry of 2million crowns. [85], The French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in the thousands. Unable to cross the Somme River because of French defenses, he was forced to take a detour inland and cross farther upstream. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore [soldiers would] be incapable of fighting in the future. After the initial wave, the French would have had to fight over and on the bodies of those who had fallen before them. Battle of Agincourt - English History The Battle of Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories and was one of the most important English triumphs in the Hundred Years' War, along with the Battle of Crcy (1346) and Battle of Poitiers (1356). I suppose that the two-fingered salute could still come from medieval archery, even if it didnt come specifically from the Battle of Agincourt, although the example that Wikipedia links to (the fourteenth-century Luttrell Psalter) is ambiguous. [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. French history myths: The 'two fingers' insult comes from the Battle of Probably each man-at-arms would be accompanied by a gros valet (or varlet), an armed servant, adding up to another 10,000 potential fighting men,[7] though some historians omit them from the number of combatants. But frankly, I suspect that the French would have done a lot worse to any captured English archers than chopping off their fingers. The English were not in an ideal condition to fight a battle. 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. Shakespeare's portrayal of the casualty loss is ahistorical in that the French are stated to have lost 10,000 and the English 'less than' thirty men, prompting Henry's remark, "O God, thy arm was here". This claim is false. Although it could be intended as humorous, the image on social media is historically inaccurate. Then they had to walk a few hundred yards (metres) through thick mud and a press of comrades while wearing armour weighing 5060 pounds (2327kg), gathering sticky clay all the way. [73] The mounted charge and subsequent retreat churned up the already muddy terrain between the French and the English. Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 ( Saint Crispin's Day ), near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France. Thinking it was an attack from the rear, Henry had the French nobles he was holding prisoner killed. England had been fraught with political discord since Henry IV of the house of Lancaster (father of Henry V) had usurped the throne from Richard II in 1399. In another of his books Morris describes a variety of sexual insults involving the middle finger, such as the middle-finger down prod, the middle-finger erect, etc., all of which are different from the classic middle-finger jerk. This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and so the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking yew". Fighting commenced at 11:00 am, as the English brought their longbows within killing range and the first line of French knights advanced, led by cavalry. 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. Agincourt, Henry V's famous victory over the French on 25 October 1415, is a fascinating battle not just because of what happened but also because of how its myth has developed ever since. [88], Regardless of when the baggage assault happened, at some point after the initial English victory, Henry became alarmed that the French were regrouping for another attack. Henry threatened to hang whoever did not obey his orders. [20] He initially called a Great Council in the spring of 1414 to discuss going to war with France, but the lords insisted that he should negotiate further and moderate his claims. After the victory, Henry continued his march to Calais and arrived back in England in November to an outpouring of nationalistic sentiment. Battle of Agincourt | Facts, Summary, & Significance | Britannica [106] This lack of unity in France allowed Henry eighteen months to prepare militarily and politically for a renewed campaign. While numerous English sources give the English casualties in double figures,[8] record evidence identifies at least 112 Englishmen killed in the fighting,[103] while Monstrelet reported 600 English dead. It seems it was purely a decision of Henry, since the English knights found it contrary to chivalry, and contrary to their interests, to kill valuable hostages for whom it was commonplace to ask ransom. New York: Penguin Books, 1978 ISBN 0-140-04897-9 (pp. 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 archers were commanded by Sir Thomas Erpingham, another elderly veteran. The point is, the middle-finger/phallus equation goes back way before the Titanic, the Battle of Agincourt, or probably even that time Sextillus cut off Pylades with his chariot. [19], Henry V invaded France following the failure of negotiations with the French. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. [68], Henry's men were already very weary from hunger, illness and retreat. 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. [50] Both lines were arrayed in tight, dense formations of about 16 ranks each, and were positioned a bowshot length from each other. There was no monetary reward to be obtained by capturing them, nor was there any glory to be won by defeating them in battle. You would think that anything English predating 1607, such as the language, Protestantism, or the Common Law, would have been a part of Americas patrimony. [62] Le Fvre and Wavrin similarly say that it was signs of the French rearguard regrouping and "marching forward in battle order" which made the English think they were still in danger. It was often reported to comprise 1,500 ships, but was probably far smaller. Medieval warriors didn't take prisoners because by doing so they were observing a moral code that dictated opponents who had laid down their arms and ceased fighting must be treated humanely, but because they knew high-ranking captives were valuable property that could be ransomed for money. "Guardian newspaper:French correction: Henry V's Agincourt fleet was half as big, historian claims, 28 July 2015", "Living Dictionary of the French Language", "Limitations imposed by wearing armour on Medieval soldiers' locomotor performance", "High Court Rules for French at Agincourt", "High Court Justices, Legal Luminaries Debate Shakespeare's 'Henry V', "The Development of Battle Tactics in the Hundred Years War", "Historians Reassess Battle of Agincourt", The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, "Henry V's Greatest Victory is Besieged by Academia", The Little Grey Horse Henry V's Speech at Agincourt and the Battle Exhortation in Ancient Historiography, "The Battle of Agincourt: An Alternative location? [93] Among them were 90120 great lords and bannerets killed, including[95] three dukes (Alenon, Bar and Brabant), nine counts (Blmont, Dreux, Fauquembergue, Grandpr, Marle, Nevers, Roucy, Vaucourt, Vaudmont) and one viscount (Puisaye), also an archbishop. King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415 by Sir John Gilbert, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, Lancashire. These numbers are based on the Gesta Henrici Quinti and the chronicle of Jean Le Fvre, the only two eyewitness accounts on the English camp. [88] In some accounts the attack happened towards the end of the battle, and led the English to think they were being attacked from the rear. The terrain favoured Henrys army and disadvantaged its opponent, as it reduced the numerical advantage of the French army by narrowing the front. A Dictionary of Superstitions.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-19-282916-5 (p. 454). He contrasts the modern, English king and his army with the medieval, chivalric, older model of the French. Barker states that some knights, encumbered by their armour, actually drowned in their helmets.[64]. Eventually the archers abandoned their longbows and began fighting hand-to-hand with swords and axes alongside the men-at-arms. This symbol of rocking out is formed by tucking the middle and index finger and holding them in place with the thumb. Agincourt. Moreover, with this outcome Henry V strengthened his position in his own kingdom; it legitimized his claim to the crown, which had been under threat after his accession. 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. But frankly, I suspect that the French would have done a lot worse to any captured English archers than chopping off their fingers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. [107], Most primary sources which describe the battle have English outnumbered by several times. Singer Robbie Williams insults the viewer. [56] Some 200 mounted men-at-arms would attack the English rear. A truce had been formally declared in 1396 that was meant to last 28 years, sealed by the marriage of the French king Charles VIs daughter to King Richard II of England. [53] A further 600 dismounted men-at-arms stood in each wing, with the left under the Count of Vendme and the right under the Count of Richemont. The delay allowed a large French force, led by the constable Charles dAlbret and the marshal Jean II le Meingre (called Boucicaut), to intercept him near the village of Agincourt on October 24. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2019 with bachelor's degrees in English Language and Literature and Medieval Studies. This would prevent maneuvers that might overwhelm the English ranks. What does DO NOT HUMP mean on the side of railroad cars? What it is supposed to represent I have no idea. When the English won the battle the soldiers waved their middle fingers at the French in defiance, thus flipping the bird was born So they were already overcome with fatigue even before they advanced against the enemy". [36] Henry, worried about the enemy launching surprise raids, and wanting his troops to remain focused, ordered all his men to spend the night before the battle in silence, on pain of having an ear cut off. [Adam attaches the following memo, which has been floating around the Internet for some time.] [77][78][79][80] Rogers suggested that the longbow could penetrate a wrought iron breastplate at short range and penetrate the thinner armour on the limbs even at 220 yards (200m). The English King Henry V and his troops were marching to Calais to embark for England when he was intercepted by forces which outnumbered his. . Take on the burden and expense of caring for them? Some historians trace its origins to ancient Rome. It sounds rather fishy to me. A labiodental fricative was no less "difficult" for Middle English speakers to pronounce than the aspirated bilabial stop/voiceless lateral combination of 'pl' that the fricative supposedly changed into, nor are there any other examples of such a pronunciation shift occurring in English. Its up there with heres something that they dont want you to know.. Before the battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French proposed cutting the middle finger off of captured English soldiers rendering them incapable of shooting longbows. The recently ploughed land hemmed in by dense woodland favoured the English, both because of its narrowness, and because of the thick mud through which the French knights had to walk. The latter, each titled Henry V, star Laurence Olivier in 1944 and Kenneth Branagh in 1989. Fighting ignorance since 1973. [45] A second, smaller mounted force was to attack the rear of the English army, along with its baggage and servants. The basic premise that the origins of the one-finger gesture and its association with the profane word "fuck" were an outgrowth of the 1415 battle between French and English forces at Agincourt is simple enough to debunk. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird". The French, who were overwhelmingly favored to win the battle, threatened to cut a certain body part off of all captured English soldiers so that they could never fight again. [25] The siege took longer than expected. Humble English archers defeated the armoured elite of French chivalry, enshrining both the longbow and the battle in English national legend. [114][115] Curry and Mortimer questioned the reliability of the Gesta, as there have been doubts as to how much it was written as propaganda for Henry V. Both note that the Gesta vastly overestimates the number of French in the battle; its proportions of English archers to men-at-arms at the battle are also different from those of the English army before the siege of Harfleur. Although an audience vote was "too close to call", Henry was unanimously found guilty by the court on the basis of "evolving standards of civil society".[136][137][138]. [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". It continued as a series of battles, sieges, and disputes throughout the 14th century, with both the French and the English variously taking advantage. [109] Juliet Barker, Jonathan Sumption and Clifford J. Rogers criticized Curry's reliance on administrative records, arguing that they are incomplete and that several of the available primary sources already offer a credible assessment of the numbers involved. After a difficult siege, the English forces found themselves assaulted by a massive French force. Although the French initially pushed the English back, they became so closely packed that they were described as having trouble using their weapons properly. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-19-282916-5 (p. 454). [39] Curry, Rogers[118] and Mortimer[42] all agree the French had 4 to 5 thousand missile troops. Battle of Agincourt - HISTORY The English account in the Gesta Henrici says: "For when some of them, killed when battle was first joined, fall at the front, so great was the undisciplined violence and pressure of the mass of men behind them that the living fell on top of the dead, and others falling on top of the living were killed as well."[62]. Mortimer also considers that the Gesta vastly inflates the English casualties 5,000 at Harfleur, and that "despite the trials of the march, Henry had lost very few men to illness or death; and we have independent testimony that no more than 160 had been captured on the way". The fact that Winston Churchill sometimes made his V-for-victory gesture rudely suggests that it is of much more recent vintage. Poitiers 1356: The capture of a king (Vol. . At issue was the question of the legitimate succession to the French crown as well as the ownership of several French territories. Tudor re-invention, leading to the quintessential Shakespearean portrayal of "we happy few", has been the most influential, but every century has made its own accretions. [87] Whether this was part of a deliberate French plan or an act of local brigandage is unclear from the sources. Many people who have seen the film question whether giving the finger was done around the time of the Titanic disaster, or was it a more recent gesture invented by some defiant seventh-grader. Two are from the epigrammatist Martial: Laugh loudly, Sextillus, when someone calls you a queen and put your middle finger out., (The verse continues: But you are no sodomite nor fornicator either, Sextillus, nor is Vetustinas hot mouth your fancy. Martial, and Roman poets in general, could be pretty out there, subject-matter-wise. [70]), The tightness of the terrain also seems to have restricted the planned deployment of the French forces. Sumption, thus, concludes that the French had 14,000 men, basing himself on the monk of St. Denis;[119] Mortimer gives 14 or 15 thousand fighting men.