Read Online WAR CRIMES AND ATROCITIES (True Crime) by Anne Williams, Vivian Head, Janice Anderson - Free Book Online
Ads: Link
Romanticism to create a feverish interest in the occult, in bloodsucking vampires, in devil-worship and much else. When Bram Stoker wrote Dracula , his classic vampire horror story, it is not surprising that one of his main inspirations was Vlad Dracula. Vlad was not a vampire, and he had not worshipped the devil. But his name – another meaning of ‘dracul’ in Romanian was ‘devil’ – and his habit of impaling people on stakes, then eating their bodies and drinking their blood, certainly made him a prime candidate for the lead in a story about vampires, which could only be destroyed by driving a stake through their body.
Henry V At Agincourt
25 October 1415
Henry V’s destruction of the military strength French nobility at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was the high point of English success in the Hundred Years War. Edward III, Henry’s great-grandfather, had begun the campaign 80 years earlier to wrest back from France territories that the English king laid claim to through his French ancestry.
When Henry V succeeded to the throne in 1413 he was already planning to consolidate the work begun by his ancestor. He wanted to win back lands lost and to gain possession of other lands that the French had never handed over. He planned to first take possession of Normandy, which he claimed to have been a domain of the English crown since the time of William the Conquer. From this power base, he would be in a strong position to make the French acknowledge and honour his claim to the French crown.
Henry V’s invasion of Normandy was no quick raid across the Channel. On 11 August, 1415, a pleasant Sunday afternoon on Southampton Water, the king gave the signal that sent on its way to France an armada of 1,500 ships – 12 times the number of ships that Spain sent against England in 1588 – carrying an army of 12,000 men and the huge tonnage of arms and equipment needed to support them in the months ahead. Three days later the little ships, most of which were merchant ships and coastal traders, were unloading their cargoes near Harfleur, on the south bank of the mouth of the river Seine in Normandy.
Henry had originally intended to cross the Seine from Harfleur and push north to the English possession of Calais, gathering in the lands of Normandy as he went and relying on speed to get him to Calais before the French could muster a response. Unfortunately, the town of Harfleur was well garrisoned and Henry had to besiege it. It was a month before Harfleur capitulated, and Henry eventually set off north early in October. By this time, his army had been depleted in both men and resources, with much having to be left behind to garrison and defend Harfleur.
At the same time, the French were organizing their forces into an increasingly formidable, well-organized army. The English found themselves constantly harried, short on rations, and again and again having to turn away from their chosen line of march because bridges and fords were now held by the French. Much of the way was through wooded country or marshy land on either side of rivers, and when the weather broke, heavy rain turned the country into a muddy quagmire. Much of this land, the valley of the Somme, was to be fought over again by French and British forces during World War I, now on the same side, in equally dreadful conditions in 1916.
On 20 October, the French sent heralds to the English camp, with a formal challenge for Henry V from the dukes of Orléans and Bourbon. Henry rejected it, sending back a message to the French that he intended to continue his march to Calais and would fight them if they opposed him. For the next four days the English and French armies marched virtually in parallel north towards Calais. Late in the day on
24 October, the two armies came together in a gorge between Agincourt and Tramecourt, with the French army blocking Henry’s way to Calais. Both armies made camp within sight and sound of each other. Clearly, there
Henry V At Agincourt
25 October 1415
Henry V’s destruction of the military strength French nobility at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was the high point of English success in the Hundred Years War. Edward III, Henry’s great-grandfather, had begun the campaign 80 years earlier to wrest back from France territories that the English king laid claim to through his French ancestry.
When Henry V succeeded to the throne in 1413 he was already planning to consolidate the work begun by his ancestor. He wanted to win back lands lost and to gain possession of other lands that the French had never handed over. He planned to first take possession of Normandy, which he claimed to have been a domain of the English crown since the time of William the Conquer. From this power base, he would be in a strong position to make the French acknowledge and honour his claim to the French crown.
Henry V’s invasion of Normandy was no quick raid across the Channel. On 11 August, 1415, a pleasant Sunday afternoon on Southampton Water, the king gave the signal that sent on its way to France an armada of 1,500 ships – 12 times the number of ships that Spain sent against England in 1588 – carrying an army of 12,000 men and the huge tonnage of arms and equipment needed to support them in the months ahead. Three days later the little ships, most of which were merchant ships and coastal traders, were unloading their cargoes near Harfleur, on the south bank of the mouth of the river Seine in Normandy.
Henry had originally intended to cross the Seine from Harfleur and push north to the English possession of Calais, gathering in the lands of Normandy as he went and relying on speed to get him to Calais before the French could muster a response. Unfortunately, the town of Harfleur was well garrisoned and Henry had to besiege it. It was a month before Harfleur capitulated, and Henry eventually set off north early in October. By this time, his army had been depleted in both men and resources, with much having to be left behind to garrison and defend Harfleur.
At the same time, the French were organizing their forces into an increasingly formidable, well-organized army. The English found themselves constantly harried, short on rations, and again and again having to turn away from their chosen line of march because bridges and fords were now held by the French. Much of the way was through wooded country or marshy land on either side of rivers, and when the weather broke, heavy rain turned the country into a muddy quagmire. Much of this land, the valley of the Somme, was to be fought over again by French and British forces during World War I, now on the same side, in equally dreadful conditions in 1916.
On 20 October, the French sent heralds to the English camp, with a formal challenge for Henry V from the dukes of Orléans and Bourbon. Henry rejected it, sending back a message to the French that he intended to continue his march to Calais and would fight them if they opposed him. For the next four days the English and French armies marched virtually in parallel north towards Calais. Late in the day on
24 October, the two armies came together in a gorge between Agincourt and Tramecourt, with the French army blocking Henry’s way to Calais. Both armies made camp within sight and sound of each other. Clearly, there
Similar Books
The 30-Minute Vegan's Taste of the East: 150 Asian-Inspired Recipes--from Soba Noodles to Summer Rolls
Mark Reinfeld, Jennifer Murray
