And although the precise etymology of the English word fuck is still a matter of debate, it is linguistically nonsensical to maintain that that word entered the language because the "difficult consonant cluster at the beginning" of the phase 'pluck yew' has "gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'f.'" [93] In all, around 6,000 of their fighting men lay dead on the ground. Early in the morning on October 25 (the feast day of St. Crispin), 1415, Henry positioned his army for battle on a recently plowed field bounded by woods. Increasingly, they had to walk around or over fallen comrades. [113] Barker opined that "if the differential really was as low as three to four then this makes a nonsense of the course of the battle as described by eyewitnesses and contemporaries".[110]. They were blocking Henry's retreat, and were perfectly happy to wait for as long as it took. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991 ISBN 0-471-53672-5 (pp. Humble English archers defeated the armoured elite of French chivalry, enshrining both the longbow and the battle in English national legend. Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. The effect of the victory on national morale was powerful. - Do you return these prisoners to your opponents in exchange for nothing, thereby providing them with trained soldiers who can fight against you another day? The idea being that you need two fingers to draw a bow, which makes more sense, and thus links up a national custom with a triumphant moment in national history! Medieval Archers (Everything you Need to Know) - The Finer Times As the mle developed, the French second line also joined the attack, but they too were swallowed up, with the narrow terrain meaning the extra numbers could not be used effectively. Without the middle finger it would be impossible for the English soldiers to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore incapable of fighting in the future. Its not known whether one displayed the digitus infamis in the same manner that we (well, you) flip the bird today. Opie, Iona and Moira Tatem. The two candidates with the strongest claims were Edward III of England, who was the son of Charles's sister, and Philip, Charles's paternal . The Battle of Agincourt was another famous battle where longbowmen had a particularly important . The brunt of the battle had fallen on the Armagnacs and it was they who suffered the majority of senior casualties and carried the blame for the defeat. Soon after the battle started, it had thousands of English and French soldiers and horses running through it. This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as plucking the yew. Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Over the years some folk etymologies have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Contemporary chroniclers did not criticise him for it. Its up there with heres something that they dont want you to know.. 030223 - Musings From Leroy Departing from Harfleur on October 8, Henry marched northward toward the English-held port of Calais, where he would disembark for England, with a force of 1,000 knights and men-at-arms and 5,000 archers. [62] Le Fvre and Wavrin similarly say that it was signs of the French rearguard regrouping and "marching forward in battle order" which made the English think they were still in danger. The trial ranged widely over whether there was just cause for war and not simply the prisoner issue. Originally representing the erect phallus, the gesture conveyssimultaneously a sexual threat to the person to whom it is directed andapotropaicmeans of warding off unwanted elements of the more-than-human. ( here ). Barker, Sumption and Rogers all wrote that the English probably had 6,000 men, these being 5,000 archers and 9001,000 men-at-arms. French knights, charging uphill, were unseated from their horses, either because their mounts were injured on the stakes or because they dismounted to uproot the obstacles, and were overpowered. The French nobility, weakened by the defeat and divided among themselves, were unable to meet new attacks with effective resistance. The French had originally drawn up a battle plan that had archers and crossbowmen in front of their men-at-arms, with a cavalry force at the rear specifically designed to "fall upon the archers, and use their force to break them,"[71] but in the event, the French archers and crossbowmen were deployed behind and to the sides of the men-at-arms (where they seem to have played almost no part, except possibly for an initial volley of arrows at the start of the battle). Thus, when the victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, they said, "See, we can still pluck yew! [85], The French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in the thousands. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. This was not strictly a feudal army, but an army paid through a system similar to that of the English. The insulting gesture of extending one's middle finger (referred to as digitus impudicus in Latin) originated long before the Battle of Agincourt. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. The "middle finger" gesture does not derive from the mutilation of English archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. [76] Modern historians are divided on how effective the longbows would have been against plate armour of the time. [citation needed]. By 1415, negotiations had ground to a halt, with the English claiming that the French had mocked their claims and ridiculed Henry himself. [87] Whether this was part of a deliberate French plan or an act of local brigandage is unclear from the sources. Opie, Iona and Moira Tatem. A labiodental fricative was no less "difficult" for Middle English speakers to pronounce than the aspirated bilabial stop/voiceless lateral combination of 'pl' that the fricative supposedly changed into, nor are there any other examples of such a pronunciation shift occurring in English. It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, written in 1599. "[102], Estimates of the number of prisoners vary between 700 and 2,200, amongst them the dukes of Orlans and Bourbon, the counts of Eu, Vendme, Richemont (brother of the Duke of Brittany and stepbrother of Henry V) and Harcourt, and marshal Jean Le Maingre.[12]. But lets not quibble. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. [90] In his study of the battle John Keegan argued that the main aim was not to actually kill the French knights but rather to terrorise them into submission and quell any possibility they might resume the fight, which would probably have caused the uncommitted French reserve forces to join the fray, as well. [23] The army of about 12,000 men and up to 20,000 horses besieged the port of Harfleur. Nonetheless, so many readers have forwarded it to us accompanied by an "Is this true?" This symbol of rocking out is formed by tucking the middle and index finger and holding them in place with the thumb. Battle of Agincourt: English victory over the French | Britannica One Of The Oldest Insults: The Origin Of The Middle Finger - Storypick Keegan, John. Battle of Agincourt - English History Saint Crispin's Day - Wikipedia A Dictionary of Superstitions. You would think that anything English predating 1607, such as the language, Protestantism, or the Common Law, would have been a part of Americas patrimony. The army was divided into three groups, with the right wing led by Edward, Duke of York, the centre led by the king himself, and the left wing under the old and experienced Baron Thomas Camoys. On October 25, 1415, during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) between England and France, Henry V (1386-1422), the young king of England, led his forces to victory at the Battle of . The History of the Middle Finger & "Fuck You" - Blogger The legend that the "two-fingered salute" stems from the Battle of Agincourt is apocryphal Although scholars and historians continue to debate its origins, according to legend it was first. Battle of Agincourt - The English Really Should Have Lost, But They Won Sumption, thus, concludes that the French had 14,000 men, basing himself on the monk of St. Denis;[119] Mortimer gives 14 or 15 thousand fighting men. Henry V and the resumption of the Hundred Years War, That fought with us upon Saint Crispins day, https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Agincourt, World History Encyclopedia - Battle of Agincourt, Warfare History Network - Miracle in the Mud: The Hundred Years' War's Battle of Agincourt, Battle of Agincourt - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). False. Subject: Truth About the Finger In the film Titanic the character Rose is shown giving the finger to Jack, another character. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Battle of Agincourt - HISTORY On 25 October 1415, an army of English raiders under Henry V faced the French outside an obscure village on the road to Calais. The English Gesta Henrici described three great heaps of the slain around the three main English standards. The Burgundians seized on the opportunity and within 10 days of the battle had mustered their armies and marched on Paris. An account purporting to offer the historical origins of the obscene middle-finger extended hand gesture (varously known as "flipping the bird," "flipping someone off," or the "one-finger salute") is silly, and so obviously a joke that shouldn't need any debunking. Then they had to walk a few hundred yards (metres) through thick mud and a press of comrades while wearing armour weighing 5060 pounds (2327kg), gathering sticky clay all the way. It lasted longer than Henry had anticipated, and his numbers were significantly diminished as a result of casualties, desertions, and disease. In the ensuing campaign, many soldiers died from disease, and the English numbers dwindled; they tried to withdraw to English-held Calais but found their path blocked by a considerably larger French army. . These numbers are based on the Gesta Henrici Quinti and the chronicle of Jean Le Fvre, the only two eyewitness accounts on the English camp. [101] The bailiffs of nine major northern towns were killed, often along with their sons, relatives and supporters. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French,anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. Jean de Wavrin, a knight on the French side wrote that English fatalities were 1,600 men of all ranks. The pl sound, the story goes, gradually changed into an f, giving the gesture its present meaning. And where does the distinction between one and two fingers come from? However, the lack of archaeological evidence at this traditional site has led to suggestions it was fought to the west of Azincourt. After the battle, the English taunted the survivors by showing off what wasn't cut off. When Henry V acceded to the English throne in 1413, there had been a long hiatus in the fighting. The recently ploughed land hemmed in by dense woodland favoured the English, both because of its narrowness, and because of the thick mud through which the French knights had to walk. The Battle of Agincourt originated in 1328. [34] It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, with men-at-arms and knights in the centre. Your opponent is not going to pay you (or pay you much) for the return of mutilated soldiers, so now what do you do with them? The Hundred Years War was a discontinuous conflict between England and France that spanned two centuries. At least one scholar puts the French army at no more than 12,000, indicating that the English were outnumbered 2 to 1. The Battle of Agincourt took place during the the Hundred Years' War, a conflict which, despite its name, was neither one single war nor did it last one hundred years. In the Battle of Agincourt, the French threatened the English Soldiers that they would cut off their fingers and when they failed the Englishmen mocked them by showing their fingers. They might also have deployed some archers in the centre of the line. He contrasts the modern, English king and his army with the medieval, chivalric, older model of the French. The English King Henry V and his troops were marching to Calais to embark for England when he was intercepted by forces which outnumbered his. Contemporary accounts describe the triumphal pageantry with which the king was received in London on November 23, with elaborate displays and choirs attending his passage to St. Pauls Cathedral. It goes on to state thatafter an unexpected victory, the English soldiersmocked thedefeatedFrenchtroopsbywavingtheir middle fingers( here ). Why is the missionary position called that? The decorative use of the image of Priapusmatched the Roman use ofimages of male genitalia for warding off evil. Keegan also speculated that due to the relatively low number of archers actually involved in killing the French knights (roughly 200 by his estimate), together with the refusal of the English knights to assist in a duty they saw as distastefully unchivalrous, and combined with the sheer difficulty of killing such a large number of prisoners in such a short space of time, the actual number of French prisoners put to death may not have been substantial before the French reserves fled the field and Henry rescinded the order. Before the battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French proposed cutting the middle finger off of captured English soldiers rendering them incapable of shooting longbows. To meet and beat him was a triumph, the highest form which self-expression could take in the medieval nobleman's way of life." The Gesta Henrici places this after the English had overcome the onslaught of the French men-at-arms and the weary English troops were eyeing the French rearguard ("in incomparable number and still fresh"). [94][10][11] The list of casualties, one historian has noted, "read like a roll call of the military and political leaders of the past generation". Over the years some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture. "[67] On top of this, the French were expecting thousands of men to join them if they waited. With 4,800 men-at-arms in the vanguard, 3,000 in the main battle, and 1,200 in the infantry wings. Corrections? [127], Shakespeare's play presented Henry as leading a truly English force into battle, playing on the importance of the link between the monarch and the common soldiers in the fight. Bloomsbury Publishing. The delay allowed a large French force, led by the constable Charles dAlbret and the marshal Jean II le Meingre (called Boucicaut), to intercept him near the village of Agincourt on October 24. [48] On account of the lack of space, the French drew up a third battle, the rearguard, which was on horseback and mainly comprised the varlets mounted on the horses belonging to the men fighting on foot ahead. "[129], The play introduced the famous St Crispin's Day Speech, considered one of Shakespeare's most heroic speeches, which Henry delivers movingly to his soldiers just before the battle, urging his "band of brothers" to stand together in the forthcoming fight. The Battle of Agincourt forms a key part of Shakespeare's Henry V. Photo by Nick Ansell / POOL / AFP) Myth: During the Hundred Years War, the French cut off the first and second fingers of any. Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured soldiers. Common estimates place the English army at about 6,000, while the French army probably consisted of 20,000 to 30,000 men. In the ensuing negotiations Henry said that he would give up his claim to the French throne if the French would pay the 1.6million crowns outstanding from the ransom of John II (who had been captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356), and concede English ownership of the lands of Anjou, Brittany, Flanders, Normandy, and Touraine, as well as Aquitaine. If the one-fingered salute comes from Agincourt, as the graphic suggests, then at what point did it get transformed into two fingers in England? It continued as a series of battles, sieges, and disputes throughout the 14th century, with both the French and the English variously taking advantage. The Battle of Agincourt is an iconic moment in English military history. [96] Of the great royal office holders, France lost its constable (Albret), an admiral (the lord of Dampierre), the Master of Crossbowmen (David de Rambures, dead along with three sons), Master of the Royal Household (Guichard Dauphin) and prvt of the marshals. Fighting commenced at 11:00 am, as the English brought their longbows within killing range and the first line of French knights advanced, led by cavalry. The English account in the Gesta Henrici says: "For when some of them, killed when battle was first joined, fall at the front, so great was the undisciplined violence and pressure of the mass of men behind them that the living fell on top of the dead, and others falling on top of the living were killed as well."[62]. [70]), The tightness of the terrain also seems to have restricted the planned deployment of the French forces. I suppose that the two-fingered salute could still come from medieval archery, even if it didnt come specifically from the Battle of Agincourt, although the example that Wikipedia links to (the fourteenth-century Luttrell Psalter) is ambiguous. When did the middle finger become offensive? - BBC News [104] Henry returned a conquering hero, seen as blessed by God in the eyes of his subjects and European powers outside France. Thepostalleges that the Frenchhad planned to cut offthe middle fingers ofall captured English soldiers,to inhibit them fromdrawingtheir longbowsin futurebattles. Battle of Agincourt and the origin of Fu#K | Origin story of middle The metallography and relative effectiveness of arrowheads and armor during the Middle Ages. [39] Curry, Rogers[118] and Mortimer[42] all agree the French had 4 to 5 thousand missile troops. [7] Barker, who believes the English were outnumbered by at least four to one,[120] says that the armed servants formed the rearguard in the battle. Giving the Finger - Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. In December 1414, the English parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. There is a modern museum in Agincourt village dedicated to the battle. By 24 October, both armies faced each other for battle, but the French declined, hoping for the arrival of more troops. Battles were observed and chronicled by heralds who were present at the scene and recorded what they saw, judged who won, and fixed names for the battles. This famous English longbow was . [72], The French cavalry, despite being disorganised and not at full numbers, charged towards the longbowmen. The French were commanded by Constable Charles d'Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party. What it is supposed to represent I have no idea. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. [34][d] The French apparently had no clear plan for deploying the rest of the army. (Even if archers whose middle fingers had been amputated could no longer effectively use their bows, they were still capable of wielding mallets, battleaxes, swords, lances, daggers, maces, and other weapons, as archers typically did when the opponents closed ranks with them and the fighting became hand-to-hand.). It forms the backdrop to events in William Shakespeare 's play Henry V, written in 1599. It seems clear, however, that the English were at a decided numerical disadvantage. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the battle ended in an overwhelming victory for the English. Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. This head-lowered position restricted their breathing and their vision. [130][131] Partially as a result, the battle was used as a metaphor at the beginning of the First World War, when the British Expeditionary Force's attempts to stop the German advances were widely likened to it.[132]. The battlefield was a freshly plowed field, and at the time of the battle, it had been raining continuously for several days. It sounds rather fishy to me. The Burgundian sources have him concluding the speech by telling his men that the French had boasted that they would cut off two fingers from the right hand of every archer, so that he could never draw a longbow again. Update [June 20, 2022]: Updated SEO/social. He considered a knight in the best-quality steel armour invulnerable to an arrow on the breastplate or top of the helmet, but vulnerable to shots hitting the limbs, particularly at close range. [54] To disperse the enemy archers, a cavalry force of 8001,200 picked men-at-arms,[55] led by Clignet de Brban and Louis de Bosredon, was distributed evenly between both flanks of the vanguard (standing slightly forward, like horns). [69] (The use of stakes was an innovation for the English: during the Battle of Crcy, for example, the archers had been instead protected by pits and other obstacles. On the morning of 25 October, the French were still waiting for additional troops to arrive. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 ( Saint Crispin's Day ), near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France. [23] Thomas Morstede, Henry V's royal surgeon,[24] had previously been contracted by the king to supply a team of surgeons and makers of surgical instruments to take part in the Agincourt campaign. In Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution, Desmond Morris and colleagues note that the digitus infamis or digitus impudicus (infamous or indecent finger) is mentioned several times in the literature of ancient Rome. By most contemporary accounts, the French army was also significantly larger than the English, though the exact degree of their numerical superiority is disputed. This famous weapon was made of the . The terrain favoured Henrys army and disadvantaged its opponent, as it reduced the numerical advantage of the French army by narrowing the front. [89] A slaughter of the French prisoners ensued. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here . Materials characterization, 29(2), 111117. The basic premise that the origins of the one-finger gesture and its association with the profane word "fuck" were an outgrowth of the 1415 battle between French and English forces at Agincourt is simple enough to debunk. [92], The French had suffered a catastrophic defeat. The key word for describing the battle of Agincourt is mud . A complete coat of plate was considered such good protection that shields were generally not used,[75] although the Burgundian contemporary sources distinguish between Frenchmen who used shields and those who did not, and Rogers has suggested that the front elements of the French force used axes and shields. [86], The only French success was an attack on the lightly protected English baggage train, with Ysembart d'Azincourt (leading a small number of men-at-arms and varlets plus about 600 peasants) seizing some of Henry's personal treasures, including a crown.