Battle of Crécy

In 1346 Edward III landed in Normandy, marched toward Paris and then north, and was caught by a larger French army near the Somme. He chose a defensive position on a slope, with dismounted men-at-arms in the middle and longbowmen on the flanks of each division. The French advanced late in the day and sent forward Genoese crossbowmen, who were out-shot by the longbows in a rainstorm. Wave after wave of French knights then charged uphill into arrow fire and failed to break the line. The victory showed what disciplined archers and a good defensive position could do against mounted knights.

Historians debate the numbers, and some argue that the French were not as far ahead as the chroniclers claimed. The role of early cannon is also disputed, since a few accounts mention them and others do not. The tale that the Black Prince took the Bohemian king's feathers and motto is a later tradition. What is secure is how the English fought: a prepared position, dismounted knights and massed archery, a method repeated at Poitiers and Agincourt. The exact line of the battle between Crécy and Wadicourt is reconstructed from the terrain rather than from the sources.