Azincourt

Which is the French spelling of the village better known in English history as Agincourt.
It was the archer's battle, which is why I was at the History Group talk at the Swan instead of across the river at the Baskerville, singing. As an archer and historical re-enactor, I couldn't miss this one.
It was an evening of filthy weather, but even so, the room at the Swan was packed out. They had to find extra chairs, and one late-comer was almost sitting out in the entrance hall.
The speaker was Bryan Davies, ex-RAF and Intelligence, who has been indulging his interest in medieval history since he retired.
It all started when he was a boy, when there was a board in Brecon Museum listing the local men who had gone to fight at Agincourt. When he had time to do a bit of research, he wondered where those names had come from - how had anyone known? Which led him to a document called the Merbury Indenture. This was the list of all the men who joined up for the Agincourt campaign from South Wales, specifically the Duchy of Lancaster lands. They wore a blue and white livery, the Lancaster colours. Then, as now, the Duke of Lancaster was also the monarch - and that means that Henry V was, at one time, Lord of Hay! John Merbury was his Chamberlain in South Wales, and mustered the men. They gathered at Tretower and marched down to the fleet at Southampton, and from there they crossed the channel in a flotilla of a thousand ships, to besiege Harfleur.

Twenty men came from "Haysland" and their names were:
Richard ap John ap Gruffudd
Philip Bailly
Rees Fferrour
Llywelyn ap David
Gruffudd ap Hochekyn
Henry Lloyt
Jankyn Lloyt
Ieuan ap Gruffudd Ston
John ap Iowerth
Ieuan ap Philip Keheryn
David ap Howel ap Madoc
Rees Penduy
Ieuan ap John ap Howell
Thomas ap Daffydd ap Madoc
David ap Madoc ap Jake
John Saer
Thomas ap Gruffudd ap Madoc
Jankyn ap Eynon
John Bailly
Philip ap Ieuan ap Eynon

Mr Davies had helpfully printed out hand outs to be given out.
When he got to describing the battle, fought when the English were on their way to Calais and home, I brought out the arrows and arrowhead I'd brought with me. It's always easier if you can see an example - in this case a long bodkin arrowhead and a broad head. The long bodkins (named because they look like a needle) were used to penetrate chainmail, and later a shorter version was perfected with a more chisel-shaped point, and these were armour-piercing. The broad heads were most useful against horses.
Mr Davies is part of the group co-ordinating the celebrations of Agincourt's 600th anniversary in this part of the world. There is a website called Agincourt600.com and also an Agincourt600wales.com Interestingly, he dismissed the myth that the archers at Agincourt were mostly Welsh. It was only about ten years after the rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr, who was still at large and was never captured, so there was no recruitment from North Wales at all. Only 6% of the archers, therefore, were Welsh. Crecy, an earlier English victory, has a better claim to be the battle won by Welsh archers.
There are going to be quite a few events through the year commemorating Agincourt. I forsee a couple of trips to Brecon in my future, wearing medieval kit.
On Friday 20th March Professor Ann Curry will be speaking at Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon - free but ticketed, and he said that the tickets were going fast. She's a leading expert on the 1415 campaign and the battle. There will also be an exhibition on The Welsh Bowmen and the Agincourt Campaign of 1415.
On Saturday 20th June, in Brecon, there will be workshops for children in the morning followed by the Great Brecon Pageant in the afternoon, re-enacting the departure of the men of Brecknock for Henry V's Expedition to France. This is where the names of the participants becomes important, as they want to gather children aged between eight and sixteen, and give each of them a name from the Merbury Indenture to be their character for the day. They're not going for complete authenticity of costume, but something that's accessible for everyone who wants to dress up (so a hoodie can stand in for a medieval liripipe, for instance) but they are hoping to have some blue and white material available so the children can have tabards in the proper livery. The men at arms commanding the detachments will have more authentic costumes.
In August, there will be a medieval festival at Trecastle, and the Welsh Bowmen exhibition will be popping up here and there all year.
On Sunday 25th October, St Crispin's Day and the day of the battle, there will be a commemoration service at Brecon Cathedral, where wreaths will be blessed, one of which will be taken to Abergavenny Church to the tomb of Gwladys, daughter of Davy Gam. Davy Gam was one of the few men on the English side to die in the battle, but legend has it that he recieved his mortal wounds while rescuing King Henry himself on the battlefield, with several other Welsh gentlemen, and was knighted on the spot. (Kings could do that in those days).
There will also be events in Abergavenny, Raglan Castle, Tretower, and Newport. And Hay, of course, to be decided on soon, though I think that Professor Curry will be speaking at the Castle in September.