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The Black Prince at Crecy - Page 3

© Phyllis Agronsky

Among the thousands (estimates ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 French dead) killed on the field, 1,542 persons of high honor were dead. They included: King John of Bohemia, the Count of Flanders, (Philip's brother), the Duke of Alencon, Philip's nephew Guy of Blois, (elder brother of Charles of Blois of Brittany), Ralph, Duke of Lorraine (another royal nephew), and John Earl of Harcourt, brother of Godfrey of Boulogne. English losses were negligible.

In the Battle of Crécy the English proved, for the first time in continental warfare, that the longbow was superior to the crossbow in both range and rapidity of fire. The victory also dealt a severe blow to the old feudal concept of warfare by proving that a combination of archers and dismounted men-at-arms could withstand the charge of armored knights on horseback. It is perhaps ironic that the Black Prince, one of the greatest chivalric heroes in English history, won his spurs in the battle that spelled the beginning of the end of chivalry.

The Battle of Poitiers - 1356

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