An Original 15th Century Knight's Rowel Spur, Recovered From the Battle of Agincourt Site in the 1820's During a Grand Tour By The Hamilton Family of Scotland

Rowel spurs were introduced in the early 13th century (Ellis in Saunders and Saunders (eds) 1991, 58; Ellis in Clark (ed) 1995, 128). Rowel spurs and prick spurs co-existed for a century or so, but from the early 14th century rowel spurs were the only form used.

A rowel is a rotating wheel or disc with teeth, in place of the goad; a rowel with many small teeth is milder than one with a few larger teeth. Rowels are held in place with bars, usually of iron, which pass through the two pierced projections of a rowel box.

Spur sides had already begun to curve under the ankle by the time that rowels were introduced. By the middle of the 13th century, most spur sides were deeply curved, and this situation lasted for about a century.

The Battle of Agincourt is well documented by at least seven contemporary accounts, three from eyewitnesses. The general location of the battle is not disputed and the site remains relatively unaltered after 600 years. A paucity of archaeological evidence, though, has led to a debate as to the exact location of the battlefield.

Immediately after the battle, Henry summoned the heralds of the two armies who had watched the battle together with principal French herald Montjoie, and they settled on the name of the battle as Azincourt, after the nearest fortified place. Two of the most frequently cited accounts come from Burgundian sources, one from Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy, who was present at the battle, and the other from Enguerrand de Monstrelet. The English eyewitness account comes from the anonymous author of the Gesta Henrici Quinti, believed to have been written by a chaplain in the King's household who would have been in the baggage train at the battle. A recent reappraisal of Henry's strategy of the Agincourt campaign incorporates these three accounts and argues that war was seen as a legal due process for solving the disagreement over claims to the French throne

If you Visited Agincourt Today…
by

Scott Manning

Posted
October 25, 2013

in
Battlefield Reports, Medieval

Clifford J. Rogers believes the Battle of Agincourt (1415) is “probably the most richly documented of all medieval battles,” but nothing beats visiting the actual battlefield.

Here is what you can expect if you visited Agincourt today.

The people of Agincourt do not hide the fact that tourists streaming through their town are there for the battle. There is a Medieval Times feel, as cartoonish wooden props are sprinkled throughout the town. It may seem hokey, but I am sure kids love it. Military History requires some imagination, so just ignore it!

Part of an incredible collection of Roman, Viking, and Medieval antiquities we have just acquired, including these amazingly interesting pieces, a few, original, battlefield recovered Anglo French wars of the 14th and early 15th centuries, all acquired from a ‘Grand Tour’ of 1820, either from the regions surrounding the battle site of Agincourt. Some like this example were listed specifically as from Agincourt, others as from either the Poitiers or Crecy battle sites. However they were all constructed the same by English armourers, between 600 to 700 years ago. As well as historically incredibly interesting

Richard Lassels, an expatriate Roman Catholic priest, first used the phrase “Grand Tour” in his 1670 book Voyage to Italy, published posthumously in Paris in 1670. In its introduction, Lassels listed four areas in which travel furnished "an accomplished, consummate traveler" with opportunities to experience first hand the intellectual, the social, the ethical, and the political life of the Continent.

The English gentry of the 17th century believed that what a person knew came from the physical stimuli to which he or she has been exposed. Thus, being on-site and seeing famous works of art and history was an all important part of the Grand Tour. So most Grand Tourists spent the majority of their time visiting museums and historic sites.

Once young men began embarking on these journeys, additional guidebooks and tour guides began to appear to meet the needs of the 20-something male and female travelers and their tutors traveling a standard European itinerary. They carried letters of reference and introduction with them as they departed from southern England, enabling them to access money and invitations along the way.

With nearly unlimited funds, aristocratic connections and months or years to roam, these wealthy young tourists commissioned paintings, perfected their language skills and mingled with the upper crust of the Continent.

The wealthy believed the primary value of the Grand Tour lay in the exposure both to classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A Grand Tour could last from several months to several years. The youthful Grand Tourists usually traveled in the company of a Cicerone, a knowledgeable guide or tutor.

The ‘Grand Tour’ era of classical acquisitions from history existed up to around the 1850’s, and extended around the whole of Europe, Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy Land.

The Battle of Agincourt;
After several decades of relative peace, the English had renewed their war effort in 1415 amid the failure of negotiations with the French. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers perished due to disease and the English numbers dwindled, but as they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais they found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. Despite the disadvantage, the following battle ended in an overwhelming tactical victory for the English.

King Henry V of England led his troops into battle and participated in hand-to-hand fighting. The French king of the time, Charles VI, did not command the French army himself, as he suffered from severe psychotic illnesses with moderate mental incapacitation. Instead, the French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party.

This battle is notable for the use of the English longbow in very large numbers, with the English and Welsh archers forming up to 80 percent of Henry's army. The decimation of the French cavalry at their hands is regarded as an indicator of the decline of cavalry and the beginning of the dominance of ranged weapons on the battlefield.

Agincourt is one of England's most celebrated victories. The battle is the centrepiece of the play Henry V by Shakespeare. Juliet Barker in her book Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle ( published in 2005) argues the English and Welsh were outnumbered "at least four to one and possibly as much as six to one". She suggests figures of about 6,000 for the English and 36,000 for the French, based on the Gesta Henrici's figures of 5,000 archers and 900 men-at-arms for the English, and Jean de Wavrin's statement "that the French were six times more numerous than the English". The 2009 Encyclopædia Britannica uses the figures of about 6,000 for the English and 20,000 to 30,000 for the French.

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