Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.
Historical quotes
[edit]- Retourne to hym, and to them that sent you hyther, and say to them that they sende no more to me for any adventure that falleth, as long as my sonne is alyve; and also say to them that they suffre hym this day to wynne his spurres; for if God be pleased, I woll this journey be his and the honoure therof, and to them that be aboute hym.
- Edward III, as quoted by Jean Froissart, Chroniques (tr. Lord Berners), Ch. CXXX; origin of "Let the boy win his spurs"
Fictional quotes
[edit]- Gold on her head, and gold on her feet,
And gold where the hems of her kirtle meet,
And a golden girdle round my sweet;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.Margaret's maids are fair to see,
Freshly dress'd and pleasantly;
Margaret's hair falls down to her knee;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.If I were rich I would kiss her feet,
I would kiss the place where the gold hems meet,
And the golden girdle round my sweet—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.Ah me! I have never touch'd her hand;
When the arriere-ban goes through the land,
Six basnets under my pennon stand;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.And many an one grins under his hood:
"Sir Lambert de Bois, with all his men good,
Has neither food nor firewood;"—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.If I were rich I would kiss her feet,
And the golden girdle of my sweet,
And thereabouts where the gold hems meet;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.Yet even now it is good to think,
While my few poor varlets grumble and drink
In my desolate hall, where the fires sink,—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.Of Margaret sitting glorious there,
In glory of gold and glory of hair,
And glory of glorious face most fair;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.Likewise to-night I make good cheer,
Because this battle draweth near:
For what have I to lose or fear?—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.For, look you, my horse is good to prance
A right fair measure in this war-dance,
Before the eyes of Philip of France;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.And sometime it may hap, perdie,
While my new towers stand up three and three,
And my hall gets painted fair to see—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.That folks may say: "Times change, by the rood,
For Lambert, banneret of the wood,
Has heaps of food and firewood;—
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite;—"And wonderful eyes, too, under the hood
Of a damsel of right noble blood:"
St. Ives, for Lambert of the wood!—
Ah! quelle est belle La Marguerite.- William Morris, "The Eve of Crecy", in The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems (1858)
Bibliography
[edit]- The Chronicle of Froissart, tr. Lord Berners, ed. W. P. Ker, Vol. 1 (London: David Nutt, 1901)
- Andrew Ayton, The Battle of Crécy, 1346 (2005)
- Richard W. Barber, Edward III and the Triumph of England (2013)
- Rupert Matthews, The Battle of Crecy: A Campaign in Context (2007)
- Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century (1978)
