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.Brief description: Michael Livingston is an Associate Professor at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He is the editor of 'The Battle of Brunanburh: A Casebook' (2011), along with scholarly editions of 'Siege of Jerusalem' (2004), ' In Praise of Peace' (2005), and 'The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament' (2011).
Review Quotes:
'Livingston and DeVries thus provide another essential book on the Battle of Crécy, enriching the debate around some of its military aspects. More fundamental for any scholar of the Hundred Years War is the useful edition of collected primary sources.'
Pit Péporté, Hémecht