What weapon dominated the Battle of Agincourt?

The longbow dominated the Battle of Agincourt. English and Welsh archers used large numbers of powerful bows to disrupt the much larger French army during the English victory on October 25, 1415.

King Henry V's army included roughly 7,000 longbowmen and about 1,500 men-at-arms. Archers made up nearly 80 percent of the English force. They were deployed along the flanks and protected their positions with sharpened wooden stakes, which helped deter French cavalry charges.

The battlefield's narrow, muddy terrain made the French advance especially difficult. Many French knights fought on foot, weighed down by armor and exhausted by the long approach. The archers' sustained shooting caused casualties, disrupted formations, and helped the English men-at-arms defeat successive French attacks.

The longbow was not a magical armor-piercing weapon: good plate armor could protect against arrows. Its effectiveness came from massed fire, speed, range, disruption, and attacks on less-protected soldiers and horses. Agincourt was one of several major English victories associated with the weapon, alongside Crécy and Poitiers.