Was Henry Vs Victory a Miracle? Essay -- Henry IV Henry V Essays

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he straightaway that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother be he neer so vile, This day shall gentle his condition. And gentlemen in England now abed Shall think themselves anathemise they were non here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispins day."   These words, mouth by Henry V in Shakespeares play of the same name, reflected the reserve the English took in the memory of a glorious victory and, by connecting the Battle of Agincourt with a holy day, helped reinforce the popular belief that parsimony played a role in Englands fortunes during that historic battle. The ensuing spread over and chaotic clash seemed proof enough of divine intervention, because Henrys troops move up to defeat a French army almost quaternion times as large. This rousing truimph during the Hundred age War ranks on board the rout of the Spanish Armada and the Battle of Brit ain as one of Englands "Finest Hours," but it was not quite the miraculous event that Shakespeare and his contemporaries related. Henrys army posed a much more formidable threat to the French than simple numbers game suggest. Given the circumstances, a British victory was nearly inevitable. The Hundred Years War, fought intermittently from 1337 to 1453, erupted over the Plantagenet kings kind of weak claim to the French throne, which they establish on Edward IIs marriage to Isabella, daughter of Frances King Philip IV. Although that claim had grown or else stale by the time Henry V rose to power, he pressed it through force of arms. In a series of graphic military campaigns, he conquered much of France, and married Cath... ...he Battle of Agincourt was King Henrys finale to execute his French prisoners during the fighting. At the time, such blatantly brutal perform was unheard of. Henry has borne the harsh judgment of history for his actions. In the pepperiness o f battle, Henry noticed that one segment of his army had been caught off-guard and was in sobering danger. The only soldiers available to reinforce his line were those guarding prisoners. To reassign them meant risking the prisoners escape, or worse, having them circuit on their captors. Henry chose the more ruthless but less dotty course and ordered the prisoners to be executed. It was a decision borne of necessity during battle, rather than personal malice, but one which nevertheless inflamed the French to great resistance and set the stage for further rounds of slaughter in the ostensibly endless Anglo-French wars.