Episode 841
Battle of Blanchetaque
Sat, 2019-Aug-24 01:22 UTC
Length - 2:52
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Saturday, 24 August 2019 is Battle of Blanchetaque.
The Battle of Blanchetaque was fought on 24 August 1346 between an English army under King Edward III and a French force commanded by Godemar du Fay. The battle was part of the Crécy campaign, which took place during the early stages of the Hundred Years' War. 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 20 miles (32 km) of Paris, sacking a number of towns on the way. The English then marched north, hoping to link up with an allied Flemish army which had invaded from Flanders. They were outmanoeuvred by the French King, Philip VI, who garrisoned all of the bridges and fords over the River Somme and followed the English with his own field army. The area had previously been stripped of food stocks by the French and the English were essentially trapped.
Hearing of a ford at Blanchetaque, 10 miles (16 km) from the sea, Edward marched for it and encountered the blocking force under du Fay. Once the ebbing tide had lowered the water level, a force of English longbowmen marched part way across the ford, and, standing in the water, engaged a force of mercenary crossbowmen, whose shooting they were able to suppress. A French cavalry force attempted to push back the longbowmen but were in turn attacked by English men-at-arms. After a disorderly mêlée in the river, the French were pushed back, more English troops were fed into the fight and the French broke and fled. French casualties were reported as over half of their force, while English losses were light. Two days after Blanchetaque, the main French army under Philip was defeated at the Battle of Crécy with heavy loss of life. Edward ended the campaign by laying siege to Calais, which fell after twelve months, securing an English entrepôt into northern France which was held for two hundred years.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:22 UTC on Saturday, 24 August 2019.
For the full current version of the article, see Battle of Blanchetaque on Wikipedia.
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This has been Emma. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
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