Battle of Crécy 1346
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1346 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Hundred Years' War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Bohemia, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.2564, 1.8878 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.
The English army had landed in the Cotentin Peninsula on 12 July. It had burnt a path of destruction through some of the richest lands in France to within 2 miles (3 km) of Paris, sacking many towns on the way. The English then marched north, hoping to link up with an allied Flemish army which had invaded from Flanders. Hearing that the Flemish had turned back, and having temporarily outdistanced the pursuing French, Edward had his army prepare a defensive position on a hillside near Crécy-en-Ponthieu. Late on 26 August the French army, which greatly outnumbered the English, attacked.
During a brief archery duel a large force of French mercenary crossbowmen was routed by Welsh and English longbowmen. The French then launched a series of cavalry charges by their mounted knights.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Crécy (revision 1374385242), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Blanchetaque 1346 · 18 km
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Other battles of the Hundred Years' War
- Battle of Saint-Omer 1340
- Battle of Sluys 1340
- Siege of Tournai (1340) 1340
- Battle of Auberoche 1345
- Battle of Bergerac 1345
- Battle of Blanchetaque 1346
- Battle of Caen (1346) 1346
- Battle of Neville's Cross 1346
- Siege of Aiguillon 1346
- Siege of Calais (1346–1347) 1346
All 63 battles of the Hundred Years' War →
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