Full Description
Winner of the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2017
This casebook is the most extensive collection of documents ever assembled for the study of one of the famous battles in history. Here we see the Battle of Crécy across the cultural landscape of Europe — through chronicles and letters, through poems and prophecies, through sermons and laments — enabling us to understand the events of 26 August 1346 like never before. Together with other experts, the editors have gathered, edited, and translated over 80 fourteenth-century sources concerning this fascinating and important conflict — sources from Bohemia to France, from Italy to Wales — many here printed or translated for the first time. Original essays provide historical context and literary background to help interpret the battle in light of this new material. Among the discoveries: despite its fame, the location of the battle has been misidentified for centuries, and the actions of the men on both sides of the bloodied field have been completely misunderstood. This unparalleled accumulation of material means that the Battle of Crécy will never be seen in the same way again.
Contents
ILLUSTRATIONS
CONTRIBUTORS
PREFACE: THE SHAPE OF THE VOLUME
MAP OF THE CRÉCY CAMPAIGN
LOSSES UNCOUNTABLE: THE CONTEXT OF CRÉCY
Michael Livingston
SOURCES ON THE BATTLE
1. William Retford, Kitchen Journal
2. Cleopatra Itinerary
3. Colins de Beaumont, On the Crécy Dead
4. Richard Wynkeley, Letter to the Blackfriars
5. Edward III, Letter to Thomas Lucy
6. Michael Northburgh, Letter
7. Edward III, Request for Supplies
8. Philippe VI, Payment to Loyal Men
9. Robert de Dreuex, Horses Lost at Crécy
10. Johann von Schönfeld, Letter to Passau
11. Thomas Bradwardine, Victory Sermon
12. Jean de Batery, Poem of the Eight Coats-of-Arms
13. King John of Bohemia
14. Chronicle of the Este Family
15. Annals of Zwettl
16. Chronicle of Lanercost
17. Chronicle of Guyenne
18. Crécy Poem
19. Guillaume Flote, Horses Lost at Crécy
20. Chronicle of the Counts of Flanders
21. Chronicle of Artois
22. Chronicle of Saint-Omer
23. Capture of Tifford
24. Rhyming Chronicle
25. Giovanni Villani, New Chronicle
26. John of Hocsem, Chronicle
27. Pistoian History
28. Jean de Winterthur, Chronicle
29. Gilles li Muisit, Major Chronicle
30. Grand Chronicles
31. William of Dene, History of Rochester
32. Matthias von Neuenburg, Chronicle
33. Anonymous of Leoben, Chronicle
34. John of Tynemouth, Golden History
35. Pseudo-Adam Murimuth, Chronicle [Nero Version]
36. Philippe of Orléans, Ransom Payment
37. Chronicle of Siena
38. Jan van Boendale, Brabantese Stories
39. Laurence Minot, Edward III in France
40. Polychronicon Continuation
41. Iolo Goch, Panegyric to Edward III
42. Francis of Prague, Chronicle
43. Marco Battagli, Chronicle
44. Michael de Leone, Housebook
45. Geoffrey le Baker, Chronicle
46. Anonymous of Rome, Chronicle
47. Iolo Goch, Elegy for Sir Rhys ap Gruffudd
48. Richard Lescot, Chronicle Continuation
49. Guglielmo Cortusio, History of Padua
50. Jean le Bel, Chronicle
51. Heinrich of Diessenhofen, Chronicle
52. Thomas Gray, Scalacronica [Leland's Abstract]
53. Thomas Bisset, Gesta Annalia II
54. Neplach of Opatovice, Chronicle
55. Heinrich Taube of Selbach, Chronicle
56. John Ergom, Commentary to Bridlington's Prophecy
57. Brief Chronicle
58. Chronicle of Canterbury
59. Eulogium Historiarum
60. Accounts of a Citizen of Valenciennes
61. Chronicle of Saint-Trond
62. John of Reading, Chronicle
63. Jean de Venette, Chronicle
64. Chronicle of Normandy
65. Beneš Krabice, Chronicle of the Church of Prague
66. World-chronicle of Köln
67. Prose Brut [Common Version to 1377]
68. Chronicle of Flanders [Version A]
69. Niccolò of Ferrara, World History
70. Chandos Herald, Life of the Black Prince
71. Death of King John
72. Henry Knighton, Chronicle
73. Anonimalle Chronicle
74. Tilemann Elhen, Chronicle of Limburg
75. Jean Froissart, Chronicles [Amiens Version]
76. Jean Froissart, Chronicles [Abridged Version]
77. Jakob Twinger, Chronicle of Strasburg
78. Chronicle of the First Four Valois Kings
79. Thomas Burton, Chronicle of Meaux Abbey
80. Chronicle of the Low Countries
81. Jean Froissart, Chronicles [B/C Version]
NOTES TO THE TEXTS
ESSAYS ON THE BATTLE
THE LOCATION OF THE BATTLE OF CRÉCY
Michael Livingston
THE BOHEMIAN PARTICIPATION IN CRÉCY
Jan Biederman and Václav Žuorek
THE GENOESE CROSSBOWMEN AT CRÉCY
Kelly DeVries and Niccolò Capponi
THE TACTICS OF CRÉCY
Kelly DeVries
FROISSART'S HERCE AND CRÉCY
Kelly DeVries and Michael Livingston
THE ITALIAN PERSPECTIVE ON CRÉCY
Niccolò Capponi
COUNTING THE DEAD AT CRÉCY
Michael Livingston
THE AFTER-LIFE OF CRÉCY
Michael Livingston
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX TO THE VOLUME
John K. Bollard
