French take aim at the 'myth' of Agincourt

The death has occurred, on St Crispin's Day of all days, of the myth of Agincourt. It was nearly 600 years old, and has been frail for some time.

The passing of one of the great and sustaining legends of the English island story was announced by a group of French historians, meeting yesterday at Agincourt's Medieval History Museum. They managed to keep a straight face.

Having studied the matter in detail, they declared that: a) the English were not nearly so out-numbered as has always been claimed (only 2:1, rather than the more fanciful 6:1 favoured down the centuries by myopic, roast beef-eating English chroniclers; and b) the forces of Henry V behaved like war criminals, setting fire to prisoners and killing French noblemen who had surrendered. The scrupulous academic disinterest which the French historians brought to the task of reaching these conclusions was personified by Christophe Gilliot, director of the museum, who said: "There were numerous heroic acts by the French on the field of battle, but they were met with barbarism by the English."

On the issue of the number of troops on either side, historians have long been divided, chiefly by the English Channel. So it was again yesterday. Attendance at the conference was as follows: French experts: lots; English: none. Outnumbered again, then.