Agincourt again

In the devotional “Against all the Odds” I referred to the battle of Agincourt: 25 October 1415. It was an English routing of the better equipped and numerically superior French – A muddy battlefield and heavy armour played a major part in the French defeat. Along with the hail of arrows from English long bow archers, the French advance was also hampered by the deplorable condition of the battlefield. Several days of torrential rains had turned the recently tilled ground at Agincourt into a soggy morass. The English, under Henry V removed their heavy armour and this gave them a tactical advantage. The French, in their heavy armour, became bogged and were picked of one by one by the English arrows and more agile soldiiers minus their armour. The battle probably lasted no longer than three hours and was perhaps as short as half an hour, according to some estimates. While the precise number of casualties is unknown, it is estimated that English losses amounted to about 400 and French losses to about 6,000, many of whom were noblemen.

William Shakespeare less than 100 years later thought so much of the battle that he immortalized it in a play called, strangely, “Henry V”. Here is another snippet from that historical and epic battle. Things did not look good for the King of England prior to the battle. Most of Henry’s soldiers were weak from wounds and sickness. He no longer had an army big enough to fight battles. Nevertheless, he marched on to Calais, determined to take at least one French city. (Shakespeare called them ‘a band of brothers.’)

The French retreated before the miserable army, burning or hiding all the food in their path. As a result, Henry’s men were not only sick but hungry. They subsisted somehow on berries and walnuts that they gathered as they marched. Then rain began to fall heavily. The next day they would have to fight in the mud.

They could go no further in the darkness and rain; Henry knew they must either fight or surrender. Henry decided to fight, even though they were outnumbered more than three to one. In Henry’s kingdom at home archery had been heavily encouraged (all other sports were banned) so everyone of his soldiers could shoot well. “Let every archer cut a two-metre stake from the woods, and sharpen both ends,” Henry had ordered. “Place one end in the mud. Slant the other toward the advancing army so that the point reaches the height of a horse’s chest.”

The next morning the archers took of their shoes so that they could get a good grip in the mud with their toes. They arranged themselves behind the pointed stakes and waited for the French attack. The battle was fierce, but the English stakes did their work. The Frenchmen had to jump off their horses for hand-to-hand combat. In heavy armour they became sitting ducks for the English long bows.

At one stage the cry went up, “Henry is hit!” A French axe had crashed against his helmet, knocking him to the ground. In a moment he was up fighting again. When the defeated French retreated, everyone gathered around to see the dent in Henry’s helmet.

               “This helmet saved my life!” King Henry said.

A helmet can save your life just as surely as that one did King Henry’s. Satan is ever ready to take a swing at you with his axe of doubt or his sword of temptation. In two places the Apostle Paul use the helmet as a spiritual protection against the ‘schemes of the devil’. “And for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Ephesians 6:17). Without your helmet you could lose your head and heaven. So, in your rush to get busy in the morning, don’t leave without your helmet. In the thick of the battle, you’ll be glad you took the time to put on the helmet of salvation.