📅 On This Day in Military History

August 26

1 event across history

⚔️📍 Crécy, Normandy, France1346

Battle of Crécy — English Longbowmen Destroy French Knights

An English army under Edward III annihilated a much larger French army under Philip VI at Crécy, with English longbowmen shooting 12 arrows per minute against charging French knights. The French cavalry charged 15 times and were repulsed each time.

Crécy proved that disciplined infantry with longbows could destroy armored cavalry, ending the military dominance of the feudal knight and beginning the transformation of medieval warfare.

Outcome

English victory; 1,500 French knights killed

Casualties

10,000