Henry V’s most famous triumph was his victory at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415. This is the last of the big three battles of the Hundred Years’ War – Crécy and Poitiers are the other two – in which vastly outnumbered English armies thrash the French, and the most famous thanks to Shakespeare’s play Henry V, of which it forms the climax. I used to find these victories very enjoyable and now I don’t so much. Does that make me a better person or just a curmudgeon? I’m not sure the fact that I can no longer summon any jingoistic glee from a medieval battle is much help to the
...more