The history of our event

 

Some history; from 1995 we had begun to hold an event at Azincourt at the end of October, this would coincide with St. Crispin’s Day the 25th or the nearest weekend to it. As many of us re-enact the late fourteenth early fifteenth century this is a very important time and place for us as on the 25th October 1415 the "Battle of Azincourt" was fought there between the English and the French. The result was a victory for the English even though they were outnumbered between five and six to one, using a decisive weapon the English longbow.

 

The first year we were only fifteen, six of us from England one of who was a Frenchman living in the U.K. We had access to the battlefield with authentic and plastic camping arrangements, an archery competition and on the Saturday evenings a banquet with dancing and merriment under cover. On Saturday night candles would be lit and flowers of remembrance would be laid or planted at the copse where legend has it the 5000 French dead from the battle are buried. In later years on the Sunday morning a priest from the local English speaking church would hold a small service on our behalf there, where it has become tradition for visitors to go at least once during "The Remembrance" weekend.

 

                        

 

Many groups would come long distances from all over Europe to attend the event to fight on the battlefield, allowing us to field in excess of 200 fighters one year. The event was growing in popularity and all was going well, but the weather was a major problem. On at least two occasions the weather was so foul overnight that we were exposed to hurricane force winds and rain. We were then forced to fight next day in conditions I am sure would have been the same for King Henry V, of horizontal rain and sleet.

 

During October 2000 a major achievement was realized for some of our colleagues led by Ron Fraser M.V.O. and now known as "Henry's Five", the recreation of Henry V march from Harfleur to Azincourt a distance of 238 miles on foot in just nineteen days the time it took the English forces under the command of Henry V. The march was timed to culminate at "The Remembrance" event with the group arriving on the battlefield on the 25th.

 

At the event many people on arrival had spent a lot of time assembling an excellent campsite, but during the Saturday night the winds and rain came again, destroying most of the hard work during banquet and the early evening. After the storm calmed slightly we discovered that many had left in the darkness having nowhere to sleep that was dry and warm. Those still remaining talked next day of an event in the summer, as many loved to come to Azincourt but knowing you would get wet, muddy and cold cooled the ardor of even the hardest Reenactors.

 

During spring 2001 a decision was made to organize a battle, longbow archery competition and trading event during the summer at Azincourt, The Azincourt Alliance was created to organize this and with the assistance of the newly built museum at Azincourt the initial dates of 20th and 21st July 2002 were agreed on. The museum and Town Hall gave us a large amount of support assisting with our public liability insurance and arranging for us with a local land owner, a suitable location to use on the edge of the battlefield corresponding to the French right-hand flank. Two fields divided by a tree line were made available, one for the battle and the other adjacent to it for parking and plastic camping etc. The village became so enthusiastic that the weekend was designated a festival and the provision of hot meal stalls and beer tent was made.

 

The idea was not to bias the battle to any particular time period or particular battle. It was important to ensure that the event be seen as one not glorifying the defeat of the French but to give the visitors an exhibition of combat of the “One Hundred Years War”, it was decided to invite re-enactors to “Battle at Azincourt” to ensure that there would be no misunderstandings and no insult to the people of Azincourt. 

 

 

Document updated 29/08/08