Richard, you covered Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt in your Band of Brothers series. Was it your intention to write about Crecy too back then?
I wrote Band of Brothers some years ago. As much as I grew to admire the courage and skill of the longbowman (it’s more difficult to pull than a nun at a disco), I don’t believe I thought about writing another Hundred Years War series then. The idea for the Men-at-Arms project came after reading a biography of the Black Prince, by Michael Jones. The book is a deft synthesis of storytelling and scholarship, which gives a window into the character/achievements of the Black Prince, as well as the period he lived in. I’ve written a number of series since coming up with the idea, but writing about the Black Prince was an itch I needed to eventually scratch.
Unlike focusing on a group of archers, which I did in Band of Brothers, I wanted the main characters to be a man-at-arms and spy (although there is due weight given to the Black Prince and Edward III in the story). Such was the drama of the battle, it was also important to put the feat of arms of Crécy at the forefront of the book, in the same way that Agincourt is the climax of the Band of Brothers series.
Crécy is of course a work of fiction and one of the attractions of the series, for the readers hopefully as well as myself, is creating the lead characters of William Gower (a Sharpe-like soldier) and Sir Hugh Grey (a spy). They have a sense of humour and sense of honour. The novel is as much about those two as it is about history.
The chapters focusing on the Battle of Crecy are not without drama, partly because of the sense of jeopardy involving several characters. But the contest was far from a close run thing it seems. The victory was comprehensive. As you allude to, it was as much a slaughter as a battle. To repeat what you pose in your end note, did the French lose the battle or did the English win it?
I’ll be diplomatic, for once, and say that both of those things happened. Edward III and the English (ably supported by Welsh troops) chose the right ground. They prepared well, possessed a number of experienced commanders and it’s large contingent of longbowmen meant that the English army was always going to be a formidable force. They were a professional army, fighting for their survival. The archers knew that they might have lost more than just their fingers if they were defeated and taken prisoner. Knights and noblemen fighting in the battle may have also lost their estates back home in paying for their ransoms if captured.
As for the French, what could go wrong invariably did go wrong. The rain ruined the effectiveness of the mass of Genoese crossbowmen (who also entered the field without their pavise shields, from them being stuck in the baggage train). Philip of France did not have command of his forces in the same way Edward III did. A glory and ransom hunting French nobility believed that, due to their numbers and skill, they would easily break through the English lines. The French cavalry proved that it’s possible to be both brave and foolish at the same time. If the French had waited and maneuvered their superior numbers to their advantage, instead of just launching an immediate full-frontal assault, then the Battle of Crécy could have been a different story.
The Black Prince features heavily in the novel – and is at the heart of the fighting. Tell us a little about your take on the Prince of Wales.
What should be remembered is that the Black Prince – Edward of Woodstock – was just sixteen years old when he fought at Crécy. He stood in a shield wall and acquitted himself admirably. I think all I did was stand in a line in a queue for a kebab when I was sixteen years old. It may have been considered brave and foolish of Edward III to post the prince at the vanguard of his army. But the king rightly had faith in his son. It can be argued that the Black Prince fought too well and got carried away, as he ventured too far forward and was nearly captured by the enemy. The youth was looking to prove himself – to his father and his peers. Although Edward III knighted his son when the army landed in Normandy, the prince won his spurs when taking the city of Caen and fighting at Crécy. One of the purposes of the series, aside from earning enough money so I can drink non-house wine, is to bring the character and history of the Black Prince to the fore. He was famed throughout Christendom when alive. He should be more famous now. It is of course a shame that he died before he could ascend to the throne. The Black Prince certainly displayed more welcome qualities than his son, Richard II, did. I would urge readers to check out the recent book about Richard II, The Eagle and the Hart, written by Helen Castor. Richard II really was an appalling ruler – up there (or down there) with King John, Papa (and Baby) Doc and Keir Starmer.
Can you recommend to our readers some further reading, should they be interested in reading more about the Black Prince and the Hundred Years War?
I can recommend the following titles. Crécy: Battle of Five Kings, by Michael Livingston. A Great and Glorious Adventure, by Gordon Corrigan, covers the entirety of the Hundred Years War. There’s also Finest Hours by Gordon Corrigan, which hones in on Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. For an even greater forensic look at the Hundred Years War then check out Jonathan Sumption’s peerless series on the conflict. For those wishing to read about the Black Prince, as well as the period, then as mentioned there is The Black Prince, by Michael Jones. For those interested in Edward III and his reign, there’s The Perfect King, by Ian Mortimer (for a shorter biography then there Jonathan Sumption’s Edward III, in the Penguin Monarchs series). Should you be interested in reading more fiction about the campaign then I would heartily recommend Harlequin, by Bernard Cornwell. There’s also Essex Dogs, by Dan Jones, which contains a far less flattering portrait of the Black Prince – but has some wonderful cursing by knights and archers alike.
Can you tell us when the next instalment in the series will be published?
All things being equal it should be out by the end of the summer. I just need to finish writing a novella in the Spies of Rome series beforehand. I wish I could whet your appetite by telling you a bit more about what will unfold for William Gower, Sir Hugh Grey and the Black Prince – but even I wouldn’t want to say what will happen next yet. I’m not that brave or foolish.
Richard Foreman is a bestselling writer and the author of Crécy: Men-At-Arms.
