Formigny (Normandy in the Hundred Years War)
The battle of Formigny, a village located just a few kilometers from the D-Day Omaha Beach, brought to an end to the English presence in Normandy. In 1450 a decisive battle was fought here, when two French armies routed an invading English army. (As at the battle of Waterloo, battle was initially joined between two armies, but the arrival of a third army later in the day produced a decisive outcome.)
Three years later, a further decisive battle was fought at Castillon on the Dordogne River and the English hold on south-western France was broken for good.
The Hundred Years War, which lasted from 1337 to 1453, was an utter disaster for France. This memorial, very close to the site of the battle, commemorates the French victory.
What have we British learned about the 100 years war? The English victories of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt are well known, but none of them produced a decisive result; so why have we not heard about Formigny or Castillon?
Going a little further back in history, to the reign of King John, why have we not been taught about the battles of Bouvines (in 1204) and La Roche-aux-Moines (1214)? Could this perhaps be because they were major French victories as a result of which the Plantagenet English lost the entirety of their very substantial possessions in France?
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