(1)
Jean Ie Bel was born in Liege (Belgium) in about 1290. In his youth
he became a soldier. In 1327 he served in the English army in Edward
Ill's campaign in Scotland. In later life he joined the Church and
eventually became Canon of Saint Lambert de Liege. His book, The
Chronicles of Jean le Bel, was published in about 1356.
King Philip of France
had an army estimated at 20,000 men on horseback and more than a 100,000
on foot.
The King of England had
no more than 4,000 horsemen, 10,000 archers and 10,000 foot-soldiers...
he drew up his battalions with great care... he appointed as his commanders
the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Stafford, the
Earl of Kent and several other names I do not know... The king went
among his men... begging them to be brave.
The commanders of the pikemen
and the Genoese crossbowmen ordered their men forward in front of
the knights so as to shoot first at the English, and they advanced
close enough to loose their arrows on the enemy. But very soon the
pikemen and the Genoese were routed by the English archers.
The arrows of the English
were directed with such marvellous skill at the horsemen that their
horses refused to advance; some leapt backwards stung to madness,
some reared hideously, some turned their rear quarters towards the
enemy, others merely let themselves fall to the ground, and their
riders could do nothing about it. The English soldiers who were on
foot advanced among them, striking them at their will.
The misfortunes of the
French lasted until midnight... The King of France and his company
never came close to the fighting. At the end it was necessary for
the king to withdraw from where he was... Jean de Hainault... the
king's bodyguard, took his bridle, and conducted him from the field...
Next morning... after the
barons finished hearing mass... the king ordered Lord Reginald Cobham
and the Earl of Stafford, to take a herald with a good knowledge of
coats of arms... and go amongst the dead, making a list of every knight
that could be recognised... They found 1,200 French knights and about
15,000 squires. Only 300 English knights were found dead.
King Edward sent his men
to burn and waste the surrounding countryside... they found this easy,
for there was no one to oppose them.
I have recorded the truth
as exactly as I could, as I heard it from the mouth of my friend Jean
de Hainault... and from ten or a dozen knights who were in the thick
of the fight... and who had their horses killed under them. I have
also heard similar accounts from several knights of England who were
engaged on the other side.
(2)
Thomas Walsingham, monk at St Albans
Abbey, writing in about 1340.
1339: For five weeks
the glorious King Edward III rode through the kingdom of France, and
every day his army laid waste as much of the countryside as it was
able. When they saw the English army approaching, the French fled
in terror. All the lands of Cambrai, Tournai, the Vermandois and Loan,
apart from the walled towns, churches and castles, were completely
devastated.
(3)
The Siege of Tournai (c. 1460)
Read The
Hundred Years' War and
the reports of the Battle of Crecy that were written by Jean Ie Bel
and Geoffrey
Ie Baker and
Thomas
Walsingham.
Also study the pictures on these pages. Write an account on what happened
at the Battle of Crecy.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
