Technological Determinisms of Victory at the Battle of Agincourt

Abstract

This article takes issue with the deterministic conclusions of a recent study by three scientists who investigated the effects of wearing armour on soldier exhaustion during the battle of Agincourt. Armour is not the usual military technology given credit for determining victory and defeat at the battle of Agincourt. That has been longbow archery. Too often in retelling the story of Agincourt the technology has determined the outcome. As I show in this article, while armour and the longbow play a role in the battle narratives of the original sources, they do not determine victory and defeat.