The Armies of Crecy and Poitiers

Osprey Men at Arms #111

by Christopher Rothero

A combination of dynastic disputes, feudal quibbles, trade disagreements and historical antagonism resulted in the opening of the Hundred Years War in 1337. The first major English land victory in this conflict was the Battle of Crécy (1346). This pitted the French army, then considered the best in Europe, against the English under King Edward III. The battle established the longbow as one of the most feared weapons of the medieval period, a reputation reinforced at the bloody Battle of Poitiers                (1356) where much of the French nobility was slaughtered and their king captured by the English host.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, Medieval, European History

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 1981

Reviews

[Declan Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 'Men at Arms' series from Osprey is almost universally good, but I tend to prefer the ones based on older conflicts and battles. This is - as amply demonstrated in this book - because there is a lack of information about the arms, armour, and equipment of the soldiers and so more discussion is spent on the battles (brief overview) and the reasons for victory.

Crecy & Potiers in the Hundred Years War were great victories for the English (& Welsh) primarily down to the longbowmen, and the quality of command. Compared with that of the French, which was strictly chivalric and placed inexperienced men above experienced ones.

A good book for the era and worth picking up if you have an interest in it, or want to paint up a unit or two representing the battles.

[Ryan Ricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are always great but not above some small criticism.

Author falls into the tropes of bows firing arrows and of the "medieval broadsword."

Also, many of the black and white pictures are not very clear.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only two battles of the Hundred Year War. Very informative though.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Together with the author’s companion volume in this series on Agincourt, this is an excellent overview of the three key Anglo-French confrontations that bookend the Hundred Years War. Osprey is known especially for the detailed illustrations it provides of military uniforms and weapons, and you’ll find all that here -- though the notion of “uniforms” doesn’t really apply in 14th century Europe. Instead, we have drawings of a number of generic archers, infantrymen with pole-arms, and assorted mercenary auxiliaries, like Genoese crossbowmen, who made do with a variety of clothing, armor, and edged weapons. But the focus is especially on the knights, the mounted nobility of both countries, based largely on tomb effigies and memorial brasses for the English and on manuscript illustrations for the French. However, I was more impressed with Rothero’s short essay on the political background to the multi-generational conflict, and on the sharp distinctions between the English and French ways of doing things and of dealing with unavoidable limitations in the field. Edward III, for instance, could transport only a limited number of troops across the Channel, so he picked the best from those available. He also took along only a relatively few aristocrats as commanders, putting his faith in English and Welsh longbowmen. It’s clear that Edward, the Black Prince, who commanded a division at Crécy and the whole army at Poitiers, would have been a monarch to reckon with, had he only lived. The “Men-at-Arms” series can be a little uneven, but this volume is first-rate.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the Agincourt book, a large chuck of the book (about a third) is a history and analysis of both battles; since Osprey has separate Campaign books on each battle, this seems like wasted space. Also, the commentary on the plates uses terminology that I've never come across before (such as "Azure on a lend Argent rotised Or between six lionels rampant of the last, three mullets Gules").