The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - June 01, 2025


PREVIEW： Epochs #213 ｜ Henry V： Part VIII


Episode Stats

Length

32 minutes

Words per Minute

188.56635

Word Count

6,145

Sentence Count

256

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

19


Summary

It's the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, and the French are feeling pretty confident about their chances of victory. They've got a good night's rest, they've got good food, and they're well and truly prepared to go all in on the enemy. The English are not so prepared.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Epochs!
00:00:10.220 Epochs!
00:00:24.140 Epochs!
00:00:28.200 Hello and welcome back to Epochs.
00:00:29.740 If you remember last time we left off on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, St Crispin's Day, the 25th of October, 1415.
00:00:38.940 So we'll pick up right there.
00:00:40.720 I did promise I could read from more than one source this time.
00:00:44.240 But however, I will pick up once again with Ian Multimer and then we'll move on to different accounts.
00:00:48.940 The first thing to say is that despite the amount of evidence we've got,
00:00:52.820 I've said a number of times in this series, haven't I, that we're actually blessed with quite a lot of information.
00:00:57.300 But it's still the 15th century, early 15th century, so it's not, you know, completely in the light of history as we might like.
00:01:04.460 I mean, it is completely in the light of history, but, you know, we're not flooded with sources.
00:01:09.040 One of the things to say about the Battle of Agincourt is that even though there are accounts from both sides,
00:01:14.080 it's not sort of a perfect picture we've got.
00:01:16.640 In fact, it's far from a perfect picture.
00:01:18.120 And that's one of the things why I want to read from multiple different sources in this episode and maybe the next episode,
00:01:23.900 is to show that different historians have got different ideas about exactly what happened.
00:01:29.700 I mean, if we just talk about the archaeology very briefly,
00:01:32.720 the battlefield where people always thought, always said the Battle of Agincourt took place,
00:01:38.420 in recent years, archaeologists have shown that it's almost certainly not the battlefield.
00:01:43.140 The battlefield must be in that area, it must be nearby, but the actual field that historians thought was Agincourt,
00:01:51.140 there's like not really any bodies there, there's hardly any arrowheads, it's sort of clearly not a battlefield.
00:01:57.000 So we've got it in slightly the wrong place.
00:01:59.040 And yeah, the accounts differ on exactly how the battle itself went down, the exact details,
00:02:04.580 the exact chronology of what happened in what order.
00:02:07.140 So although we've got a reasonable idea of what happened that day, the Feast of St. Crispin's,
00:02:15.020 there is still some grey area.
00:02:18.220 So let's get into it.
00:02:19.320 Again, the day before, on the night before the battle, I mean, if you know your Shakespeare,
00:02:26.040 there's a great scene in Shakespeare where the night before the French are all sort of drinking and whooping it up
00:02:32.720 and having a good time because they're pretty convinced they're going to win on the morrow.
00:02:37.740 They're finally going to smash the dreaded English up because they've got them outnumbered,
00:02:41.820 they've got them cornered, the English are suffering from dysentery,
00:02:44.460 they've got, they haven't got many knights, mounted knights,
00:02:48.060 they haven't even got that many, relatively that many men-at-arms.
00:02:51.240 It's just a bunch of archers that are outnumbered with low morale and dysentery.
00:02:55.380 So the French feel like tomorrow is their big day and it's sort of a slam dunk, it's a fait accompli.
00:03:01.700 And the English, for their part, are sort of terribly worried and saying,
00:03:05.240 literally saying their prayers, expecting to get slaughtered when the sun comes up in the morning.
00:03:10.320 And Shakespeare has a great scene where good King Harry, good King Hal,
00:03:16.640 warlike Harry goes round the camp and sometimes not making it clear it's him,
00:03:23.220 but other times sort of instilling people with the spirit to fight on, you know,
00:03:27.280 never give up, all that sort of thing.
00:03:28.800 But I won't go on too much about Shakespeare because I'm more interested in the actual history.
00:03:32.800 So let's pick up from Thursday with Ian Mortimer, let's pick up on Thursday the 24th,
00:03:37.640 i.e. the eve of the battle.
00:03:39.880 Ian Mortimer tells us this,
00:03:41.760 quote,
00:03:41.940 The English crossed the river Conch this morning and proceeded directly northwards towards Blangie,
00:03:48.040 where they would cross the river Ternoise.
00:03:50.180 The Duke of York and the whole of the vanguard was ahead.
00:03:53.400 Clearing away for the English army.
00:03:55.320 The French were in the same area.
00:03:57.120 Advanced English troops regularly came under attack from squadrons of French men-at-arms.
00:04:03.020 Seven Lancashire archers were captured in one engagement.
00:04:06.100 It was becoming clear that both sides were racing for the Ternoise.
00:04:10.000 And if the French stopped them crossing,
00:04:11.920 there would be a battle with no safe retreat for the English.
00:04:15.380 There was no time to go looking for food.
00:04:17.260 Although most of the troops had not eaten properly for several days
00:04:20.460 and were growing weaker all the time,
00:04:22.900 their hopes of survival rested on speed
00:04:24.940 and avoiding a pitched battle with the better fed,
00:04:27.880 better equipped and more numerous French men-at-arms.
00:04:31.020 Again in Shakespeare,
00:04:32.360 we'll have the English top brass complaining that the French are all fresh.
00:04:37.060 Not only are we outnumbered,
00:04:38.220 but they're well fed and ready to rock and roll
00:04:40.560 and we're on our last legs.
00:04:41.980 Mortimer continues here.
00:04:42.760 Henry himself was nervous, distracted.
00:04:45.520 Along the route to Blangie,
00:04:46.940 he was told that his herbigers had identified a place in a particular village
00:04:51.060 where he could eat and briefly rest.
00:04:53.300 But he continued, ignorant of where the town was.
00:04:56.540 When informed that he had ridden a mile and a half past it,
00:04:59.720 he refused to go back,
00:05:01.060 explaining he was in his coat armour
00:05:03.080 and it would not do for him to turn up at a village when dressed for war.
00:05:07.400 He could have added that he did not have time.
00:05:09.580 So he rode on, taking the main battle of the army with him
00:05:12.820 and ordered the Duke of York to lead the vanguard further ahead.
00:05:16.600 When the Duke of York came to the hill overlooking Blangie,
00:05:19.440 he saw French troops desperately trying to destroy the bridge.
00:05:22.860 Immediately he attacked and fought the men-at-arms there,
00:05:25.840 killing some and taking others prisoner.
00:05:27.860 Having secured the bridge,
00:05:29.120 he sent scouts up the hill on the far side.
00:05:31.580 One returned with a worried face and anxious, gasping breath
00:05:35.020 and announced to the Duke that a great countless multitude was approaching.
00:05:38.760 Another account states that the scouts who first spotted the French,
00:05:42.780 quote,
00:05:43.200 Being astonished at the size of the French army,
00:05:45.620 returned to the Duke with a trembling heart,
00:05:48.100 as fast as his horse would carry him.
00:05:50.220 Almost out of breath, he said,
00:05:51.680 Be prepared quickly for battle,
00:05:53.320 for you are about to fight against such a huge host
00:05:55.780 that it cannot be numbered, end quote.
00:05:57.960 Mortimer continues.
00:05:59.180 Soon other scouts returned and confirmed this sighting.
00:06:02.180 The Duke reported the locations to the king.
00:06:04.180 So it's becoming more and more clear
00:06:06.700 that Henry and his men are in fact cornered,
00:06:09.820 despite the fact that they were able to get across the Somme,
00:06:12.540 i.e. on the right side of the Somme to Calais,
00:06:15.800 their ultimate destination and chance of hope of getting home.
00:06:19.840 They're still basically cornered between two French armies.
00:06:23.820 It's seeming more and more clear.
00:06:26.760 Henry's running out,
00:06:28.240 or the English army is running out of escape routes.
00:06:30.660 They're sort of getting more and more cut off and surrounded,
00:06:34.300 painted into a corner.
00:06:35.460 There was 12 miles to Blangy-sur-Tournois,
00:06:37.780 so the valley must have come in Henry's sight about noon
00:06:40.700 or a little later.
00:06:41.860 The author of the Gesta, i.e. contemporary history,
00:06:45.020 notes that the main battle caught their first sight of the enemy here.
00:06:48.700 They were emerging further up the valley to the right.
00:06:51.260 The English crossed the tournois
00:06:52.640 and climbed rapidly up the hill on the far side.
00:06:56.100 And when they reached the brow of the hill,
00:06:57.880 they were suddenly confronted by the French army.
00:07:00.020 In describing the moment,
00:07:01.760 the author of the Gesta uses the words
00:07:03.520 grim-looking to describe the French.
00:07:06.300 It was not their expressions to which he was referring.
00:07:08.960 He could not see their faces.
00:07:10.420 And this is a quote from the Gesta, which says,
00:07:13.080 Their numbers were so great as to not even be comparable with owls,
00:07:16.720 filling a very broad field like a swarm of countless locusts.
00:07:20.300 And then it's Mortimer continues.
00:07:21.940 It was a sentiment echoed by every writer on the English side
00:07:24.800 and very probably every man in Henry's army.
00:07:27.640 So it doesn't look good.
00:07:28.600 That's one of the things that keeps coming up,
00:07:30.040 always comes up whenever anyone ever really talks about the battle.
00:07:32.980 How outnumbered were the English?
00:07:35.600 So there's no doubt, there's literally no doubt in anyone's mind
00:07:39.120 that the English were outnumbered.
00:07:41.180 It's just a case of whether it was,
00:07:43.020 whether they were outnumbered two to one,
00:07:44.620 three to one, six to one,
00:07:46.380 twenty to one.
00:07:47.700 And where I quote,
00:07:48.920 where I will quote from different historians,
00:07:51.240 they all seem to have a slightly different take on it.
00:07:53.660 From everything I know and from everything I've read over the years,
00:07:58.120 it seems to me it was at least three or four to one,
00:08:02.700 maybe as much as five or six to one.
00:08:05.580 I feel like probably anything more than that would be an exaggeration.
00:08:08.960 Some of the more technical historians get into the fact
00:08:13.180 that there simply wasn't enough room in the countryside
00:08:16.720 for it to be much more than that.
00:08:19.100 You know, it just seems unlikely that the English were outnumbered 20 to one
00:08:22.460 or, you know, 60 to one seemed crazy.
00:08:25.220 I mean, sort of physically not possible, not likely.
00:08:29.180 But, you know, two, three, four to one, certainly.
00:08:33.380 I mean, maybe more.
00:08:34.380 I wouldn't be surprised if it was like six to one.
00:08:37.720 We don't know exactly because the French numbers were never clear.
00:08:42.560 We know almost exactly how many English soldiers there were.
00:08:46.660 And we'll get into all this later when we get onto the battle itself
00:08:48.880 because it was all documented.
00:08:50.880 But on the French side,
00:08:52.260 because there were so many men pouring in,
00:08:54.060 even on the day of the battle,
00:08:55.720 we just don't know.
00:08:56.900 And their chroniclers never kept like a role
00:09:00.580 of exactly who was there that day.
00:09:03.120 So we just don't know.
00:09:04.640 But anyway, I'm sure I'll talk about that more as we go on.
00:09:07.900 Ian Mortimer continues.
00:09:09.040 This brings us to a most important question.
00:09:11.500 As the army ascended the hill from Blonghi to Maisoncel
00:09:14.740 and looked for the first time across the field of Agincourt,
00:09:17.940 what did they really see?
00:09:19.500 How many men were there this afternoon?
00:09:21.980 Were the English truly outnumbered 30 to one,
00:09:24.460 as the author of the guest relates?
00:09:25.980 Or six to one, as Jean de Warren claimed?
00:09:29.300 Or three to one,
00:09:30.340 as reported by the French chronicler Lefeuves?
00:09:33.100 Also to say here, after the battle,
00:09:35.220 it's, you know, sort of in the French interests
00:09:37.380 to make it out that they weren't,
00:09:39.000 that they didn't have such a fantastic advantage.
00:09:41.440 You know, it's more embarrassing to lose a battle
00:09:43.840 if you're outnumbering your enemy 30 to one.
00:09:47.160 You know, if it was only three to one,
00:09:48.880 it's a bit less embarrassing.
00:09:50.260 And of course, on the English side,
00:09:51.860 it's much more glorious to have won a battle
00:09:53.760 where you were outnumbered six to one
00:09:56.080 as opposed to three to one.
00:09:58.380 So who knows?
00:09:59.600 Bit of propaganda on both sides.
00:10:00.760 We do know the English numbers.
00:10:02.180 Anyway, Mortimer continues saying,
00:10:04.660 or the three to one,
00:10:06.240 as reported by the French chronicler Lefeuves,
00:10:08.380 who was actually in the English army at the time?
00:10:11.280 Or three or four to one,
00:10:13.120 as the French monk of Saint-Denis stated?
00:10:15.480 Or did the French outnumber the English just three to two,
00:10:18.340 as the chronicle written by a Parisian cleric said?
00:10:21.040 As shown in appendix four,
00:10:22.760 and now Ian Mortimer lays his cards on the table
00:10:25.060 and tells you what he thinks the answer is.
00:10:27.720 And once again, other historians,
00:10:29.660 eminent historians, serious historians,
00:10:31.260 will disagree with what he says here.
00:10:33.240 So this is Ian Mortimer's opinion,
00:10:35.920 although he states it firmly.
00:10:37.440 He says,
00:10:37.960 The actual ratio of Frenchmen to Englishmen at the battle
00:10:40.580 cannot have been more than two to one.
00:10:43.140 Indeed, it was probably slightly less than that.
00:10:45.460 The English army of between 8,000 and 9,000 fighting men
00:10:48.160 found themselves facing between 12,000 and 15,000 Frenchmen.
00:10:51.880 There simply is no evidence to support a larger French army.
00:10:55.060 Well, more men did stream in all during the next day,
00:10:58.520 so there's that at least, Ian.
00:11:00.440 Anyway, those who have opted to maintain
00:11:02.520 the vast disparity mentioned in Chronicles,
00:11:05.280 like the Gester,
00:11:05.940 have done so largely because of national pride and tradition,
00:11:09.700 not because of a body of supporting evidence.
00:11:11.800 On the other hand,
00:11:12.880 those who have sought to correct such views
00:11:14.760 have themselves failed to answer a crucial question
00:11:17.620 arising from their revisionism.
00:11:20.200 Why were the English astonished
00:11:21.600 as they climbed the hill above Blangie
00:11:23.400 and saw the French army?
00:11:25.400 Or, to put it another way,
00:11:26.680 why do so many Chronicles on both sides
00:11:29.040 agree that the French hugely outnumbered the English?
00:11:31.800 Yeah, good question.
00:11:32.940 The most likely answer, says Mortimer,
00:11:35.180 which has not been put forward before,
00:11:37.260 lies in the different makeup of the two armies
00:11:39.560 and the numbers of their respective non-combatants.
00:11:42.560 English companies had 30 archers to every 10 men-at-arms,
00:11:46.760 and thus only 10 pages,
00:11:48.780 an extra 25% of non-combatants.
00:11:51.080 In the French army,
00:11:52.640 for every 30 archers,
00:11:54.220 there were 60 men-at-arms,
00:11:55.640 and thus 60 pages,
00:11:57.360 an extra 66% of non-combatants.
00:12:00.660 Whereas the English had about 1,500 pages,
00:12:03.920 the French had between 8,000 and 10,000.
00:12:06.140 In addition,
00:12:07.040 all the men-at-arms on both sides
00:12:08.680 would have had spare horses,
00:12:10.780 and the easiest and safest way to move those
00:12:12.920 was to allow the pages to ride them.
00:12:15.400 From a distance of three or four miles,
00:12:17.320 it would have been very difficult
00:12:18.500 to distinguish between the men-at-arms and the pages.
00:12:21.980 So when the French looked at the English army,
00:12:24.460 they saw no more than 11,000 men in total,
00:12:27.100 8,000 to 9,000 fighting men,
00:12:28.820 plus the pages and support staff.
00:12:30.640 But when the English looked at the French army,
00:12:32.640 they saw at least 18,000 mounted men,
00:12:35.280 not including the 4,000 or 5,000 archers and crossbowmen,
00:12:38.040 and the extra infantry raised from the locality.
00:12:41.000 If there were 10,000 men-at-arms,
00:12:43.320 as the Burgundian chroniclers and Jules suggest,
00:12:46.380 then the English probably really did see an army
00:12:48.500 about three times the size of their own fighting force,
00:12:51.320 which I think is a fair point for him to make.
00:12:53.580 I still don't think it necessarily completely answers
00:12:56.000 the question that Ian Mortimer himself posed there.
00:12:59.540 Why do so many of the chroniclers state it so forcefully
00:13:03.060 that the English were so outnumbered?
00:13:05.620 I mean, it's a good explanation.
00:13:06.960 It's a fair explanation to me,
00:13:08.460 but does that cover it?
00:13:10.400 Does that really answer it?
00:13:11.960 I mean, that explanation relies on the fact
00:13:14.020 that the pages were all riding horses,
00:13:16.500 and that the English couldn't tell the difference
00:13:18.380 between a page and a knight.
00:13:20.480 Why would the pages be riding the horses around?
00:13:23.800 And even at a distance,
00:13:25.240 the trained eye would know the difference
00:13:26.600 between an actual knight and a page,
00:13:29.260 I would have thought.
00:13:30.140 Anyway, anyway, it's not a bad explanation.
00:13:32.620 Still, he continues saying,
00:13:33.780 From the point of view of the French,
00:13:35.500 another factor has to be considered.
00:13:37.560 The prejudice against low-status archers.
00:13:40.300 French archers had won no major battles
00:13:42.520 and had contributed very little
00:13:44.600 to French military prestige over the centuries.
00:13:47.480 Crossbowmen employed in French wars
00:13:49.360 were often mercenaries,
00:13:51.040 and the French saw their archers
00:13:52.300 as relatively insignificant.
00:13:54.360 Also, crossbows were slow and weak in battle.
00:13:56.500 It is unlikely that many Frenchmen knew
00:13:58.860 how destructive a coordinated mass
00:14:01.200 of English longbows could be.
00:14:03.220 That's strange,
00:14:03.900 because we've already had the Battle of Tours and Crecy,
00:14:06.920 where exactly that happened.
00:14:09.060 I always think that's odd
00:14:09.980 when historians say,
00:14:11.340 at Agincourt,
00:14:12.060 the French didn't know
00:14:13.800 how dangerous the English longbow was.
00:14:16.420 That just doesn't,
00:14:17.140 I don't buy that.
00:14:18.140 Because they did know.
00:14:19.080 They must have known.
00:14:19.980 Again, there's been the Battle of Crecy
00:14:21.960 and Tours,
00:14:23.340 or Poitiers,
00:14:24.140 the Battle of Poitiers,
00:14:24.820 the Black Prince.
00:14:25.360 So, they did know.
00:14:26.920 So, don't tell me that.
00:14:28.080 The most that any of them
00:14:29.020 had faced in living memory,
00:14:30.340 oh, actually, that's fair,
00:14:31.400 might not be in living memory.
00:14:32.900 Still, it had happened,
00:14:34.160 and, you know,
00:14:34.960 information does get passed down
00:14:36.320 through more than one generation.
00:14:38.080 The most that any of them
00:14:39.100 had faced in living memory
00:14:40.180 was the thousand or so archers
00:14:41.920 at St. Cloud in 1411.
00:14:44.560 For the English, on the other hand,
00:14:46.340 the archers were crucial.
00:14:47.880 So, while 8,000 English soldiers
00:14:49.920 came to terms
00:14:50.760 with the prospect of fighting
00:14:52.300 what appeared to be an army
00:14:53.440 of 24,000 or more
00:14:55.180 Frenchmen,
00:14:56.200 3 to 1,
00:14:57.120 the French saw
00:14:57.860 that their own men-at-arms
00:14:59.060 outnumbered the English men-at-arms
00:15:00.680 6 to 1.
00:15:01.820 The contemporary chronicler,
00:15:03.340 Edmund de Dint,
00:15:04.680 adopted this form of reckoning.
00:15:06.480 There were 10 French nobles
00:15:07.660 against one English,
00:15:08.880 he stated,
00:15:09.760 slightly exaggerating.
00:15:10.740 The social prejudices
00:15:12.020 of the French military elite,
00:15:13.740 in addition to variations
00:15:14.840 in the two kingdoms'
00:15:16.280 military traditions,
00:15:17.620 meant that both sides
00:15:18.680 thought that the French army
00:15:19.840 outnumbered the English heavily,
00:15:21.720 whether 3 to 1 or 6 to 1.
00:15:23.400 The feeling the English had
00:15:24.960 of being outnumbered
00:15:26.080 3 to 1
00:15:26.660 was exaggerated by the fact
00:15:28.240 that they could not see
00:15:29.120 the whole of the French force.
00:15:30.680 They knew the size
00:15:31.380 of their own army,
00:15:32.220 of course,
00:15:33.020 having marched in three battles
00:15:34.340 and camped together
00:15:35.460 for the last three weeks,
00:15:36.920 but for them,
00:15:37.860 the whole of the surrounding area
00:15:39.180 might have been populated
00:15:40.100 with French troops.
00:15:41.660 The villages could not be presumed
00:15:43.460 to be unoccupied.
00:15:44.940 A large number of scouts
00:15:45.940 had attacked French troops
00:15:47.060 at villages and river crossings.
00:15:48.780 The very nature
00:15:49.560 of the medieval landscape
00:15:50.740 meant that coppices,
00:15:52.240 barns and houses
00:15:53.520 obscured the forces
00:15:54.780 of the defending army.
00:15:56.320 On top of this,
00:15:57.180 both sides would have been aware
00:15:58.960 that not all the French troops
00:16:00.280 had yet arrived.
00:16:01.520 It seems the Count of Nevers
00:16:03.000 was not actually
00:16:04.060 with the French army
00:16:04.880 at this stage.
00:16:05.860 It is possible
00:16:06.380 that his men-at-arms
00:16:07.460 had delayed at Corby
00:16:09.160 and had been the cavalry
00:16:10.380 whom the English had seen
00:16:11.660 at Peron on the 19th.
00:16:13.620 Certainly his brother,
00:16:14.740 the Duke of Brabant,
00:16:15.840 was still hurrying
00:16:16.700 to the army,
00:16:18.040 staying at Lens this evening,
00:16:20.060 30 miles away.
00:16:21.180 The Duke of Brittany
00:16:21.900 was still at Amiens,
00:16:23.180 although he had sent ahead
00:16:24.220 his brother,
00:16:25.200 the Count of Richemont,
00:16:26.820 with some of his men.
00:16:27.900 The Duke of Anjou's
00:16:28.960 600 men-at-arms
00:16:30.260 also had not yet arrived,
00:16:32.140 being led by
00:16:32.800 the Seigneur de Longhi.
00:16:34.240 The commander
00:16:34.740 of the Parisian garrison,
00:16:36.600 Ténégal de Castel,
00:16:38.160 who was also in the battle plan,
00:16:39.920 was also absent.
00:16:41.200 Even the newly appointed
00:16:42.260 overall commander
00:16:43.080 of the French forces,
00:16:44.340 the Duke of Orléans,
00:16:45.420 was not yet with the army.
00:16:46.700 For the already outnumbered English,
00:16:48.720 the prospect of becoming
00:16:49.680 more heavily outnumbered
00:16:50.760 on the following day
00:16:51.540 can only have demoralised
00:16:53.100 them further.
00:16:54.000 Yeah, no, absolutely.
00:16:55.160 All during the night
00:16:56.320 and the following morning,
00:16:58.540 just more and more
00:16:59.580 French forces
00:17:00.620 kept flooding in.
00:17:02.060 So it's in Henry's interest
00:17:03.460 when he realises
00:17:04.260 he has to fight
00:17:05.660 a pitched battle.
00:17:06.900 He wants it
00:17:07.540 as soon as possible.
00:17:08.840 It's almost as though
00:17:09.540 every minute that goes by
00:17:11.000 the following day,
00:17:11.800 the day of the battle,
00:17:12.940 his position becomes
00:17:14.080 ever more dangerous.
00:17:14.900 So he doesn't want
00:17:16.100 to just play for time.
00:17:17.420 If we're going to do this,
00:17:19.080 the sooner the better
00:17:19.860 from the English point of view.
00:17:21.760 I mean,
00:17:22.320 the Duke of Brabant
00:17:23.440 turns up really late.
00:17:25.220 You know,
00:17:25.340 it's late in the day,
00:17:26.420 the next day,
00:17:27.100 before he turns up.
00:17:28.260 So, yeah,
00:17:29.060 the French are
00:17:29.820 swelling their numbers
00:17:31.600 kind of constantly.
00:17:33.120 Mortimer continues,
00:17:33.780 Henry's reaction to the news
00:17:35.400 that a huge army
00:17:36.500 lay ahead of him
00:17:37.320 was to set spurs
00:17:38.660 to his horse
00:17:39.320 and ride ahead
00:17:40.260 to join the Duke of York.
00:17:41.900 Having seen the French army
00:17:43.000 for himself,
00:17:44.000 he returned to the main battle
00:17:45.300 and, quote,
00:17:46.100 very calmly
00:17:46.780 and quite heedlessly
00:17:47.800 of danger,
00:17:48.800 he gave encouragement
00:17:49.600 to his army
00:17:50.380 and drew them up
00:17:51.400 in battle and wings
00:17:52.880 as if they were
00:17:53.900 to fight immediately.
00:17:55.140 The troops began
00:17:55.760 to make their confessions.
00:17:57.280 They knelt and prayed,
00:17:58.480 you know,
00:17:58.700 because the battle
00:17:59.240 might happen on this day.
00:18:00.400 We know it isn't
00:18:00.960 until the following day,
00:18:01.660 but, you know,
00:18:02.720 if the French
00:18:03.280 had forced the issue,
00:18:04.660 there could have been
00:18:05.020 a battle on the 24th.
00:18:06.720 Could have been
00:18:07.100 forced to battle
00:18:08.460 almost any moment
00:18:09.500 if the French
00:18:10.400 had taken the initiative,
00:18:11.600 but, you know,
00:18:12.040 we know they don't.
00:18:13.060 Anyway,
00:18:13.480 according to some reports,
00:18:15.000 it was at this juncture
00:18:16.020 that Sir Walter Hungerford
00:18:17.420 said to Henry
00:18:18.160 that he wished
00:18:19.180 that they had
00:18:19.800 another 10,000
00:18:20.720 of the finest archers
00:18:21.800 in England.
00:18:22.940 According to the Gester,
00:18:24.240 Henry replied,
00:18:25.240 that is a foolish way
00:18:26.160 to talk
00:18:26.600 because,
00:18:27.540 by God in heaven,
00:18:28.660 upon whose grace
00:18:29.440 I have relied
00:18:30.180 and in whom
00:18:31.140 is my first hope
00:18:32.300 of victory,
00:18:33.300 even if I could,
00:18:34.400 I would not have
00:18:35.040 one man more
00:18:35.700 than I do,
00:18:36.520 for these men with me
00:18:37.520 are God's people,
00:18:38.600 whom he deigns
00:18:39.320 to let me have
00:18:40.060 at this time.
00:18:41.060 Do you not believe
00:18:41.860 that the Almighty
00:18:42.580 with these humble few
00:18:44.260 is able to overcome
00:18:45.540 the opposing arrogance
00:18:46.620 of the French
00:18:47.380 who boast of their
00:18:48.320 great number
00:18:48.880 and their own strength?
00:18:50.320 Another source
00:18:50.940 has Henry,
00:18:51.780 Mortimer speaking here,
00:18:52.980 another source
00:18:53.480 has Henry
00:18:54.080 replying less lyrically
00:18:55.660 to a request
00:18:56.880 by Hungerford
00:18:57.820 for just 1,000
00:18:59.060 more archers.
00:19:00.160 And according to this source,
00:19:01.220 he's supposed to have said,
00:19:02.320 Thus, foolish one,
00:19:03.680 do you tempt God
00:19:04.520 with evil?
00:19:05.520 My hope does not
00:19:06.360 wish for one man more.
00:19:07.700 Victory is not seen
00:19:08.740 to be given
00:19:09.240 on the basis of numbers.
00:19:10.920 God is all-powerful.
00:19:12.380 My cause is put
00:19:13.400 into his hands.
00:19:14.440 Here he pressed us
00:19:15.240 down with disease.
00:19:16.500 Being merciful,
00:19:17.500 he will not let us
00:19:18.220 be killed
00:19:18.640 by these enemies.
00:19:19.860 Let pious prayers
00:19:20.780 be offered to him.
00:19:21.860 Now there,
00:19:22.420 of course,
00:19:22.760 we can see
00:19:23.540 the seeds
00:19:24.260 of the famous
00:19:24.980 St. Crispin's Day
00:19:25.980 speech in Shakespeare's
00:19:27.800 play,
00:19:28.540 Henry V.
00:19:29.520 Shakespeare,
00:19:30.340 you would have thought,
00:19:31.300 has almost certainly
00:19:31.900 read those accounts
00:19:32.940 and, you know,
00:19:34.600 makes up his own speech
00:19:35.900 vaguely based on that.
00:19:38.420 And I'll talk about
00:19:39.260 that in a moment.
00:19:39.900 Just to finish up here,
00:19:41.580 Ian Mortimer says,
00:19:42.440 Did such a conversation
00:19:43.420 take place?
00:19:44.280 Other chroniclers
00:19:44.980 do mention it,
00:19:46.080 but in very similar words.
00:19:47.700 All the accounts
00:19:48.300 might have been based
00:19:49.120 on a story circulating
00:19:50.280 in the wake of the guester.
00:19:52.120 The authors were writing
00:19:53.340 with the benefit
00:19:53.900 of hindsight
00:19:54.480 and keen to expand
00:19:55.840 on the religious virtues
00:19:56.860 of the king.
00:19:57.880 But even if the story
00:19:58.820 is true and verbatim,
00:20:00.600 it was not wholly original.
00:20:02.260 It has several precedents
00:20:03.420 in biblical speeches
00:20:04.600 attributed to Judas Maccabeus,
00:20:07.620 the Old Testament king
00:20:09.040 of whom Edward III
00:20:10.240 had been compared
00:20:11.100 and with whom Henry's father
00:20:12.600 had associated himself.
00:20:14.240 For example,
00:20:15.540 in Maccabees 3,
00:20:16.920 verses 16 to 19,
00:20:18.500 one reads,
00:20:19.080 When he reached the city
00:20:20.500 of Beth-horon,
00:20:21.700 Judas went out to meet him
00:20:22.960 with a few men.
00:20:23.700 But when they saw
00:20:24.580 the army coming against them,
00:20:26.340 they said to Judas,
00:20:27.460 How can we,
00:20:28.140 few as we are,
00:20:29.060 fight against
00:20:29.560 such a mighty host as this?
00:20:31.380 Besides,
00:20:32.060 we are weak today
00:20:32.860 from fasting.
00:20:34.020 But Judas said,
00:20:35.020 It is easy for many
00:20:36.000 to be overcome by a few.
00:20:37.680 In the sight of heaven,
00:20:38.800 there is no difference
00:20:39.540 between deliverance
00:20:40.340 by many or a few.
00:20:41.740 For victory in war
00:20:42.520 does not depend
00:20:43.100 upon the size of the army,
00:20:44.540 but on the strength
00:20:45.380 that comes from heaven.
00:20:46.620 Now,
00:20:46.860 Ian Mortimer again.
00:20:48.080 Other speeches
00:20:48.620 are to be found
00:20:49.300 in the various chronicles
00:20:50.380 for the evening.
00:20:51.700 But these two
00:20:52.360 are of uncertain veracity
00:20:53.940 and written
00:20:54.800 with the benefit
00:20:55.400 of hindsight.
00:20:56.500 Henry supposedly
00:20:57.320 made a speech
00:20:58.140 in which he declared
00:20:59.220 that he would rather die
00:21:00.500 than be taken by the enemy.
00:21:02.300 He might have done,
00:21:03.300 he might not.
00:21:04.380 Similarly,
00:21:05.220 some French chronicles
00:21:06.220 state that Henry
00:21:07.180 sent heralds
00:21:08.040 to the French
00:21:08.780 asking that the battle
00:21:09.680 be put off
00:21:10.280 until the following day.
00:21:11.520 As not all the French
00:21:12.300 had arrived,
00:21:13.240 such a plan suited them well.
00:21:15.200 If Henry did seek
00:21:16.140 a short truce,
00:21:17.140 he did not trust the answer.
00:21:18.320 He kept his troops
00:21:19.560 drawn up in battle formation
00:21:20.880 until sunset.
00:21:22.120 And for much of the time,
00:21:23.400 he made them kneel and pray.
00:21:25.060 Only when it was clear
00:21:25.940 that there would be
00:21:26.460 no pitched battle
00:21:27.320 did he tell them
00:21:28.320 to take shelter
00:21:29.000 for the night
00:21:29.600 in the houses,
00:21:30.760 gardens and orchards
00:21:31.960 of Maisoncel.
00:21:33.200 It was then
00:21:33.860 that it began to rain.
00:21:35.460 End quote.
00:21:35.960 So before I go on,
00:21:37.620 I just want to mention
00:21:39.500 the famous
00:21:40.560 St. Crispin's Day speech
00:21:41.980 in Shakespeare.
00:21:42.980 It probably is
00:21:44.000 one of the most famous passages
00:21:45.600 in all of Shakespeare
00:21:47.500 and although it is
00:21:48.980 fictional,
00:21:50.260 you know,
00:21:50.540 it's a play,
00:21:51.200 they're Shakespeare's words,
00:21:52.260 not Henry's.
00:21:54.220 Nevertheless,
00:21:55.120 I feel like it's so famous
00:21:56.820 it's worth reading out.
00:21:58.520 Okay, so here's the text.
00:21:59.760 It's Act 4,
00:22:01.360 Scene 3
00:22:02.000 in the English Camp
00:22:03.340 and my reading
00:22:04.860 will be somewhere
00:22:05.400 between Branagh
00:22:06.800 and Olivier,
00:22:08.000 somewhere between the two.
00:22:09.880 So,
00:22:10.740 enter Gloucester,
00:22:12.000 Bedford,
00:22:12.520 Exeter,
00:22:12.960 Salisbury
00:22:13.340 and Westmoreland
00:22:14.100 and Gloucester says,
00:22:15.500 where is the king?
00:22:16.300 And Bedford says,
00:22:17.700 the king himself
00:22:18.460 is rode to view
00:22:19.140 their battle,
00:22:20.160 Westmoreland.
00:22:20.920 Of fighting men,
00:22:22.040 they have three score thousand,
00:22:23.960 Exeter.
00:22:24.680 There's five to one.
00:22:26.060 Besides,
00:22:26.900 they are all fresh,
00:22:28.040 Salisbury.
00:22:28.840 God's arms strike with us.
00:22:30.840 Tis a fearful odds.
00:22:32.140 Gods be with you,
00:22:32.880 princes all.
00:22:34.000 All to my charge.
00:22:35.500 If we no more meet
00:22:36.420 till we meet in heaven,
00:22:37.740 then joyfully,
00:22:38.640 my noble Lord Bedford,
00:22:40.140 my dear Lord Gloucester
00:22:41.220 and my good Lord Exeter
00:22:42.740 and my kind kinsmen,
00:22:44.620 warriors all,
00:22:45.580 adieu,
00:22:46.260 Bedford.
00:22:46.920 Farewell,
00:22:47.360 good Salisbury
00:22:47.860 and good luck go with thee,
00:22:49.820 Exeter.
00:22:50.500 Farewell,
00:22:50.960 kind Lord,
00:22:52.020 fight valiantly today
00:22:53.160 and yet I do thee wrong
00:22:54.560 to mind thee of it
00:22:55.520 for thou art famed
00:22:56.720 of the firm truth of valour,
00:22:58.740 Salisbury exits,
00:22:59.940 Bedford says,
00:23:00.800 he is as full of valour
00:23:01.920 as of kindness,
00:23:03.320 princely in both
00:23:04.100 and Westmoreland says,
00:23:05.400 oh that we now had here
00:23:06.920 but one ten thousand
00:23:08.380 of those men of England
00:23:09.500 that do no work today
00:23:11.060 and then King Harry enters
00:23:12.720 and this is the famous speech.
00:23:15.020 He says,
00:23:15.900 what's he that wishes so?
00:23:17.700 My cousin Westmoreland?
00:23:19.160 No, my fair cousin,
00:23:20.660 if we are marked to die,
00:23:22.140 we are enough to do
00:23:22.940 our country loss
00:23:23.740 and if to live,
00:23:25.140 the fewer men
00:23:25.760 the greater share of honour.
00:23:27.440 God's will,
00:23:28.340 I pray thee,
00:23:28.940 wish not one man more.
00:23:30.540 By Jove,
00:23:31.100 I am not covetous for gold,
00:23:32.860 nor care I
00:23:33.480 who doth feed upon my cost.
00:23:35.520 It yearns me not
00:23:36.420 if men my garments wear,
00:23:38.320 such outward things
00:23:39.320 dwell not in my desires.
00:23:41.020 But if it be a sin
00:23:41.880 to covet honour,
00:23:43.140 I am the most offending soul alive.
00:23:45.820 No, faith my cousin,
00:23:47.480 wish not a man from England.
00:23:49.520 God's peace,
00:23:50.380 I would not lose
00:23:51.120 so great an honour
00:23:51.920 as one man more
00:23:52.940 methinks would share from me.
00:23:54.520 For the best hope I have,
00:23:55.920 oh do not wish one man more.
00:23:57.640 Rather,
00:23:58.300 proclaim it Westmoreland
00:23:59.340 through my host
00:24:00.160 that he who hath no stomach
00:24:01.680 to this fight,
00:24:02.760 let him depart.
00:24:03.920 His passport shall be made
00:24:05.340 and crowns for convoy
00:24:06.600 put into his purse.
00:24:08.020 We would not die
00:24:08.720 in that man's company
00:24:09.580 that fears his fellowship
00:24:10.700 to die with us.
00:24:11.860 This day is called
00:24:13.160 the Feast of Crispian.
00:24:14.740 He that outlived this day
00:24:16.100 and comes safe home
00:24:17.440 will stand a tiptoe
00:24:18.840 when this day is named
00:24:19.840 and rouse him
00:24:21.060 at the name of Crispian.
00:24:22.520 He that shall live this day
00:24:23.800 and see old age
00:24:25.020 will yearly on the vigil
00:24:26.480 feast his friends
00:24:27.320 and say,
00:24:28.340 tomorrow is St. Crispian.
00:24:30.240 Then will he strip his sleeve
00:24:31.780 and show his scars
00:24:33.200 and say these wounds
00:24:35.000 I had on Crispian's day.
00:24:36.980 Old men forget
00:24:37.920 yet all shall be forgot
00:24:39.620 but he'll remember
00:24:40.880 with advantages
00:24:41.680 what feats he did that day.
00:24:44.000 Then shall our names
00:24:45.020 familiar in their mouths
00:24:46.460 as household words
00:24:47.580 Harry the King
00:24:48.780 Bedford and Exeter
00:24:50.000 Warwick and Talbot
00:24:51.120 Salisbury and Gloucester
00:24:52.100 be in their flowing cups
00:24:53.500 freshly remembered.
00:24:54.840 This story
00:24:55.860 shall the good man
00:24:56.900 teach his son
00:24:57.760 and Crispian, Crispian
00:24:59.420 shall ne'er go by
00:25:00.720 from this day
00:25:01.840 until the ending
00:25:02.800 of the world
00:25:03.460 but we in it
00:25:04.760 shall be remembered
00:25:05.720 we few
00:25:06.840 we happy few
00:25:09.140 we band of brothers
00:25:10.900 for he today
00:25:11.940 that sheds his blood
00:25:12.780 with me
00:25:13.100 shall be my brother
00:25:14.000 and be he never so vile
00:25:15.520 this day
00:25:16.260 shall gentle his condition
00:25:17.400 and gentlemen of England
00:25:18.860 now abed
00:25:19.580 shall think themselves
00:25:20.640 accursed
00:25:21.060 that they were not here
00:25:22.100 and hold their manhood
00:25:23.580 is cheap
00:25:23.940 while any speaks
00:25:25.200 that fought with us
00:25:26.460 upon St Crispin's Day
00:25:28.580 end quote
00:25:29.600 okay so that fabled night
00:25:31.180 of the 24th to the 25th of October
00:25:33.360 Ian Mortimer writes
00:25:35.640 the night of the 24th to 25th of October
00:25:37.780 1415
00:25:38.560 cannot have been easy
00:25:39.700 for anyone
00:25:40.320 anywhere near Agincourt
00:25:41.480 whether they were French
00:25:42.340 or English
00:25:43.000 for the Englishmen
00:25:44.140 camped in the tents
00:25:45.500 in the orchards
00:25:46.440 and gardens
00:25:47.120 of Maisoncel
00:25:48.140 and for their lords
00:25:49.160 and masters
00:25:49.700 in the houses
00:25:50.460 and barns
00:25:51.200 there was the sheer
00:25:52.120 nervous anticipation
00:25:53.020 of the following day
00:25:54.200 few could have slept well
00:25:55.900 some were still suffering
00:25:57.220 from dysentery
00:25:58.000 as they lay and sat there
00:25:59.520 listening to the pounding
00:26:00.460 of the rain
00:26:01.020 if they were not actually
00:26:02.260 feeling it
00:26:02.960 soaked through their clothes
00:26:04.300 most would have believed
00:26:05.660 that on the following day
00:26:06.620 they would die
00:26:07.240 men who survived the battle
00:26:09.080 but who were captured
00:26:10.260 and could not afford
00:26:11.100 to pay a ransom
00:26:11.860 would be killed
00:26:12.560 normally with a knife
00:26:13.980 through the windpipe
00:26:14.860 or an axe blow
00:26:15.840 through the skull
00:26:16.520 it was being said
00:26:17.760 that the French
00:26:18.380 were casting lots
00:26:19.220 for which English lords
00:26:20.560 they were going to take prisoner
00:26:21.640 such was their confidence
00:26:22.900 the rain was the least
00:26:24.480 of their worries
00:26:25.160 their lack of food
00:26:26.320 their tiredness and fear
00:26:27.760 tomorrow everything
00:26:28.800 would be over
00:26:29.520 the whole hellish episode
00:26:31.180 for the Frenchmen
00:26:32.140 things could not have been
00:26:33.000 much easier
00:26:33.600 the rain was a bother
00:26:35.120 they had to go
00:26:35.960 into the villages
00:26:36.520 and take what straw
00:26:37.620 and hay they could find
00:26:38.620 to try and soak up
00:26:39.480 the mud
00:26:39.840 where they were camping
00:26:40.900 many men had been
00:26:42.180 billeted in villages
00:26:43.220 until now
00:26:43.900 and so lacked any tents
00:26:45.260 or other shelter
00:26:46.020 and so grew depressed
00:26:47.320 as they sat waiting
00:26:48.240 in the heavy rain
00:26:49.020 this rain will be
00:26:50.360 all important
00:26:50.860 for the battle itself
00:26:51.820 the following day
00:26:52.460 they were also tired
00:26:53.560 having tracked
00:26:54.360 the English army
00:26:55.080 for two weeks
00:26:55.800 and having had
00:26:56.720 several hard days riding
00:26:57.980 in order to cut off
00:26:59.220 the English advance
00:27:00.040 they too were hungry
00:27:01.280 and miserable
00:27:01.800 they had been forced
00:27:02.940 to live off the land
00:27:03.800 and had had to requisition
00:27:05.420 or steal food
00:27:06.160 from their own people
00:27:06.940 groups of them
00:27:07.800 had regularly confronted
00:27:08.860 the English
00:27:09.460 and had been wounded
00:27:10.640 large portions
00:27:11.660 of their army
00:27:12.280 were absent
00:27:12.820 the Duke of Orléans
00:27:13.980 seems to have caught up
00:27:15.020 with the rest of the army
00:27:15.900 during the night
00:27:16.640 or first thing in the morning
00:27:18.100 so presumably
00:27:19.200 he was riding
00:27:19.960 through the dire weather
00:27:21.000 but that meant
00:27:22.000 their overall commander
00:27:22.940 was tired
00:27:23.520 and unfamiliar
00:27:24.080 with the territory
00:27:24.940 as well as the troops
00:27:26.200 and where were
00:27:27.080 the other ducal companies
00:27:28.160 where was the Duke of Brittany
00:27:29.780 where were the Duke
00:27:31.000 of Anjou's men
00:27:31.880 where was the Duke
00:27:32.880 of Brabant
00:27:33.400 where was the Duke
00:27:34.520 of Lorraine
00:27:35.040 where was John the Fearless
00:27:36.680 and his son
00:27:37.260 the Count of Chalois
00:27:38.500 Henry was lodged
00:27:39.560 in a small house
00:27:40.360 in Maisoncel
00:27:41.480 his night was no doubt
00:27:42.840 spent in prayer
00:27:43.640 in part at least
00:27:44.820 everything he had worked for
00:27:46.540 was to be put to the test
00:27:47.600 on the morrow
00:27:48.180 every decision he had made
00:27:49.980 was likewise to be tested
00:27:51.420 but most of all
00:27:52.520 his faith was on trial
00:27:53.820 if God was not on his side
00:27:55.440 after all
00:27:56.020 then tomorrow
00:27:56.860 he would be a prisoner
00:27:57.820 of the King of France
00:27:58.800 and in his absence
00:28:00.420 his enjoyment
00:28:01.280 of the throne of England
00:28:02.400 would depend entirely
00:28:03.580 on the loyalty
00:28:04.220 of his brothers
00:28:04.920 how loyal would they be
00:28:06.400 after he had forsaken
00:28:07.780 the advice of his brother
00:28:08.860 and heir Thomas
00:28:09.680 in undertaking this march
00:28:11.340 across France
00:28:12.040 the very reason
00:28:12.980 he was here in France
00:28:14.020 was to prove his right
00:28:15.220 to the throne of England
00:28:16.200 by demonstrating
00:28:17.360 it was God's will
00:28:18.840 that he should be
00:28:19.500 King of France
00:28:20.120 if he lost this battle
00:28:21.520 and many hundreds of men
00:28:22.920 he stood to lose
00:28:23.940 not just his claim
00:28:24.780 on the French throne
00:28:25.640 but the security
00:28:26.640 of his English title too
00:28:27.960 he had staked everything
00:28:29.280 on victory
00:28:29.820 it was all or nothing
00:28:31.080 in this light
00:28:31.940 one has to give Henry
00:28:32.800 credit for holding his nerve
00:28:34.360 and providing
00:28:35.220 such controlled leadership
00:28:36.580 especially in the wake
00:28:37.820 of his own ill health
00:28:38.900 few other men
00:28:39.680 could have done it
00:28:40.340 in such appalling circumstances
00:28:41.700 but he did not let up
00:28:43.100 for a moment
00:28:43.600 in line with his strict
00:28:45.060 discipline on the march
00:28:46.060 he ordered that the whole camp
00:28:47.440 was to remain silent
00:28:48.500 throughout the night
00:28:49.220 men at arms
00:28:50.380 making a noise
00:28:51.440 were to have their horses
00:28:52.380 and armour confiscated
00:28:53.580 archers and servants
00:28:55.020 who were not silent
00:28:56.240 were to have an ear cut off
00:28:57.560 this rule of silence
00:28:58.720 served two purposes
00:28:59.920 it encouraged prayerfulness
00:29:01.960 and it permitted careful attention
00:29:03.880 to the sounds of the night
00:29:05.000 had the English
00:29:05.760 been making a clamour
00:29:06.760 and with the rain falling
00:29:07.900 so heavily
00:29:08.420 it would have been very easy
00:29:09.900 for a French sortie
00:29:10.780 to make a sudden night attack
00:29:12.540 and cause confusion
00:29:13.540 and panic
00:29:13.980 throughout the English army
00:29:15.000 the two camps
00:29:15.960 were no more than
00:29:16.620 1,200 yards apart
00:29:18.120 one source says
00:29:19.360 that their front lines
00:29:20.160 were as close as
00:29:21.080 250 paces
00:29:22.300 because of the danger
00:29:23.680 Henry also ordered
00:29:24.880 his men to build bonfires
00:29:26.300 by which to keep watch
00:29:27.580 through the night
00:29:28.160 the moon was now
00:29:29.100 in its last quarter
00:29:29.920 with the rain clouds above
00:29:31.440 there was virtually
00:29:32.420 no moonlight
00:29:33.080 nevertheless
00:29:33.760 it appears that
00:29:35.020 the Count of Richemore
00:29:36.080 advanced to the English lines
00:29:37.800 with 2,000 men
00:29:38.800 and came close enough
00:29:39.840 to be noticed
00:29:40.520 and attacked by archers
00:29:41.880 before he withdrew
00:29:42.960 Henry also sent out men
00:29:44.400 to reconnoiter the land
00:29:45.580 despite the darkness
00:29:46.620 and the rain
00:29:47.160 it was worth getting
00:29:48.220 to know as much as possible
00:29:49.300 about the site
00:29:50.020 of the forthcoming battle
00:29:51.160 end of quote
00:29:51.980 so in Shakespeare's play
00:29:53.480 they have a show
00:29:54.840 that the French
00:29:55.860 are playing dice
00:29:56.820 and getting drunk
00:29:57.580 but the way
00:29:58.400 Ian Mortimer tells it
00:29:59.360 is that a lot of
00:30:00.000 the at least normal men
00:30:01.040 in the French
00:30:01.820 on the French side
00:30:02.740 would have had
00:30:03.860 almost as much
00:30:05.160 of a miserable time
00:30:06.120 of it as the English
00:30:07.020 although at least
00:30:07.900 not thinking
00:30:08.480 they're certainly
00:30:09.300 going to face death
00:30:10.080 in the morning
00:30:10.500 Shakespeare also has
00:30:11.700 a touch of Harry
00:30:13.220 in the night
00:30:13.660 where he goes round
00:30:14.400 to his men
00:30:15.460 occasionally sort of
00:30:17.180 arguing with them
00:30:17.820 about the king's rights
00:30:19.120 there's some touching bits
00:30:20.380 where the men
00:30:20.940 one of the men
00:30:22.300 talks about how
00:30:23.480 there'll be many
00:30:24.440 a grieving woman
00:30:25.920 and child in England
00:30:27.000 come tomorrow
00:30:28.080 and their men folk
00:30:29.500 are cut down
00:30:30.180 but others say
00:30:30.880 how much they love
00:30:31.620 the king
00:30:32.060 and they wouldn't
00:30:32.720 be anywhere else
00:30:33.500 but there's a
00:30:34.440 there's a great bit
00:30:35.140 in also in the play
00:30:36.560 the chorus opening
00:30:37.620 that act
00:30:38.760 where we're told
00:30:39.560 now entertain
00:30:40.740 conjecture of a time
00:30:41.980 when creeping murmur
00:30:43.420 and pouring dark
00:30:44.380 fills the wired vessel
00:30:45.460 of the universe
00:30:46.240 from camp to camp
00:30:47.460 through the foul
00:30:48.300 womb of night
00:30:49.020 the hum of their army
00:30:50.360 stilly sounds
00:30:51.360 that the fixed sentinels
00:30:52.680 almost receive
00:30:53.620 the secret whispers
00:30:54.460 of each other's watch
00:30:55.780 fire answers fire
00:30:57.100 and through their
00:30:57.900 paley flames
00:30:58.640 each battle sees
00:30:59.500 the other's umbered face
00:31:00.820 steed threatens steed
00:31:02.340 in high and boastful
00:31:03.480 nays
00:31:03.880 piercing the knight's
00:31:05.040 dull ear
00:31:05.600 and from the tents
00:31:06.980 accomplishing the knights
00:31:08.460 with busy hammers
00:31:09.660 closing rivets up
00:31:10.700 give dreadful note
00:31:11.900 of preparation
00:31:12.560 the country cocks
00:31:13.760 do crow
00:31:14.240 the clocks do toll
00:31:15.660 and the third hour
00:31:17.020 of drowsy morning name
00:31:18.260 proud of their numbers
00:31:19.420 and securing soul
00:31:20.520 the confident
00:31:21.460 and over lusty french
00:31:22.760 do the low rated english
00:31:24.360 play at dice
00:31:25.080 and chide the crippled
00:31:26.360 tardy gated knight
00:31:27.440 who like a foul
00:31:28.600 and ugly witch
00:31:29.460 doth limp
00:31:30.260 so tediously away
00:31:31.400 the poor condemned english
00:31:33.080 like sacrifices
00:31:34.480 by their watchful fires
00:31:36.480 sit patiently
00:31:37.760 and inly ruminate
00:31:39.220 the morning's danger
00:31:40.120 and their gesture
00:31:41.120 sad
00:31:41.680 investing lank lean cheeks
00:31:43.600 and war worn coats
00:31:44.860 presenteth them
00:31:45.900 unto the gazing moon
00:31:47.000 so many horrid ghosts
00:31:48.640 oh now
00:31:49.340 who will behold
00:31:50.120 the royal captain
00:31:50.960 of this ruined band
00:31:52.440 walking from watch to watch
00:31:54.100 from tent to tent
00:31:55.220 let him cry
00:31:56.460 praise and glory
00:31:57.700 on his head
00:31:58.420 for forth he goes
00:31:59.620 and visits all his hosts
00:32:01.160 we hope you enjoyed
00:32:02.460 that video
00:32:02.940 and if you did
00:32:03.660 please head over
00:32:04.320 to lotusseeters.com
00:32:05.660 for the full
00:32:06.420 unabridged video
00:32:07.280 so much D
00:32:20.500 as long as he sleet
00:32:21.620 and cries
00:32:23.500 for the παg 하나
00:32:24.380 to be angry
00:32:24.500 and 점
00:32:24.840 that he invited
00:32:25.480 and such
00:32:26.660 who took care
00:32:27.220 and together
00:32:28.060 who told us
00:32:28.540 in a way
00:32:28.960 and that he
00:32:30.440 told us
00:32:30.780 to percent
00:32:31.560 believe and
00:32:32.220 to have
00:32:32.900 what a
00:32:33.540 whoucha
00:32:33.960 can
00:32:34.540 and
00:32:34.640 save