Centre Azincourt 1415

Centre Azincourt 1415 The totally revamped museum (2021) aims to tell the true story of the great 15th century battle and provides new detail about the Anglo-French conflict dubbed The Hundred Years War. The new museum was designed by British Professor and author Anne Curry Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton and French historian and author Christophe Gillot, Director of the Centre. They pored over material pertaining to the Battle of Agincourt that has survived in the National archives in the UK as well as chronicles and material in France. Their work has led to a new understanding of the battle. For many centuries much of our ‘knowledge’ of Agincourt has come from William Shakespeare. Who can listen and not be moved by the stirring speeches the English king gives in Shakespeare’s Henry V (1599): They are words which have inspired time and again, representing “Englishness” and triumph in the face of adversity. Some 500 years later Laurence Olivier’s famous film of the play, released in 1944, was dedicated to the commandos and airborne troops who made D-Day possible. A great piece of propaganda. But not everything we think we know is true and the Centre Azincourt1415 sets out to dispel the myths and examine the real and extraordinary story. The museum gives a lot of information in an easy and digestible way – in French and in English. Try games like Sovereigns of the Hundred Years’ War; discover what soldiers ate, and words from the Middle Ages, and details of daily life, the clothes of the period, the illnesses, the treating of wounds. The section devoted to armour shows how different ranks were protected, the richer you were, the better your equipment of course. ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; And ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ 40 | The Good Life France

Step back in time and discover the past at Azincourt 1415 historic centre Azincourt1415.com 24 Rue Charles VI 62310 Azincourt The Good Life France | 41