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Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on October 26, 2012 at 11:47am

Oct 25, 1415:
Battle of Agincourt

During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, Henry V, the young king of England, leads his forces to victory at the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.

Two months before, Henry had crossed the English Channel with 11,000 men and laid siege to Harfleur in Normandy. After five weeks the town surrendered, but Henry lost half his men to disease and battle casualties. He decided to march his army northeast to Calais, where he would meet the English fleet and return to England. At Agincourt, however, a vast French army of 20,000 men stood in his path, greatly outnumbering the exhausted English archers, knights, and men-at-arms.

The battlefield lay on 1,000 yards of open ground between two woods, which prevented large-scale maneuvers and thus worked to Henry's advantage. At 11 a.m. on October 25, the battle commenced. The English stood their ground as French knights, weighed down by their heavy armor, began a slow advance across the muddy battlefield. The French were met by a furious bombardment of artillery from the English archers, who wielded innovative longbows with a range of 250 yards. French cavalrymen tried and failed to overwhelm the English positions, but the archers were protected by a line of pointed stakes. As more and more French knights made their way onto the crowded battlefield, their mobility decreased further, and some lacked even the room to raise their arms and strike a blow. At this point, Henry ordered his lightly equipped archers to rush forward with swords and axes, and the unencumbered Englishmen massacred the French.

Almost 6,000 Frenchmen lost their lives during the Battle of Agincourt, while English deaths amounted to just over 400. With odds greater than three to one, Henry had won one of the great victories of military history. After further conquests in France, Henry V was recognized in 1420 as heir to the French throne and the regent of France. He was at the height of his powers but died just two years later of camp fever near Paris.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on October 24, 2012 at 10:16am

Oct 24, 1648:
Thirty Years War ends

The Treaty of Westphalia is signed, ending the Thirty Years War and radically shifting the balance of power in Europe.

The Thirty Years War, a series of wars fought by European nations for various reasons, ignited in 1618 over an attempt by the king of Bohemia (the future Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II) to impose Catholicism throughout his domains. Protestant nobles rebelled, and by the 1630s most of continental Europe was at war.

As a result of the Treaty of Westphalia, the Netherlands gained independence from Spain, Sweden gained control of the Baltic and France was acknowledged as the preeminent Western power. The power of the Holy Roman Emperor was broken and the German states were again able to determine the religion of their lands.

The principle of state sovereignty emerged as a result of the Treaty of Westphalia and serves as the basis for the modern system of nation-states.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on October 14, 2012 at 2:47pm

Oct 14, 1066:
The Battle of Hastings

King Harold II of England is defeated by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, fought on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, England. At the end of the bloody, all-day battle, Harold was killed--shot in the eye with an arrow, according to legend--and his forces were destroyed. He was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.

Just over two weeks before, William, the duke of Normandy, had invaded England, claiming his right to the English throne. In 1051, William is believed to have visited England and met with his cousin Edward the Confessor, the childless English king. According to Norman historians, Edward promised to make William his heir. On his deathbed, however, Edward granted the kingdom to Harold Godwine, head of the leading noble family in England and more powerful than the king himself. In January 1066, King Edward died, and Harold Godwine was proclaimed King Harold II. William immediately disputed his claim.

On September 28, 1066, William landed in England at Pevensey, on Britain's southeast coast, with approximately 7,000 troops and cavalry. Seizing Pevensey, he then marched to Hastings, where he paused to organize his forces. On October 13, Harold arrived near Hastings with his army, and the next day William led his forces out to give battle.

After his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William marched on London and received the city's submission. On Christmas Day, 1066, he was crowned the first Norman king of England, in Westminster Abbey, and the Anglo-Saxon phase of English history came to an end. French became the language of the king's court and gradually blended with the Anglo-Saxon tongue to give birth to modern English. William I proved an effective king of England, and the "Domesday Book," a great census of the lands and people of England, was among his notable achievements. Upon the death of William I in 1087, his son, William Rufus, became William II, the second Norman king of England.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on May 30, 2012 at 9:29am

Comment by wendy on December 9, 2010 at 2:26pm

Fighting with staffs and sticks, swords and knives, I like those, up close and personal.

Comment by Rev. Allen M. Drago ~ Traveler on September 15, 2009 at 8:38pm

Comment by shysmoke on July 24, 2009 at 8:27am

I don't know or should I say I don't remember alot of many fights. But as time goes by,I am sure all will come back.

Comment by Crystalis DeCavalier on July 11, 2009 at 3:16pm

I cannot say that I recall much of battlefield strategies and the like but the actual act of battle, oh yes I certainly recall that! I look forward to seeing what comes up within these gates. Thank you for the invite my love.

Traveler, I hope it is alright that I went ahead and added a discussion. It seemed an appropriate place for the text.

Comment by Rev. Allen M. Drago ~ Traveler on July 11, 2009 at 12:24pm

So from simple stone and stick we have the ones of today. Yes many Great ones have credited the past thoughts and deeds upon there guides and wisdom. But through out time all will be studied and shown either good or bad. Bu the key is at the time when the choice was made it was done with the knowledge at hand upon that hour. Most do not understand that. But many will tell of this or that upon the return of looking upon the days past.

Comment by Sabastian DeCavalier on July 11, 2009 at 12:19pm

Why not all my friend most are connected either the evolution of particular weapons, even the statagies employed. For instance it is suggested that General George Patton thought he was Plato in a past life. He read every account of Plato's observations of warfare of the armies of the time. He would then use very much the same stratagies as Plato would describe, these were just as successful in Pattons time as they were in Platos.

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