In the last article about Edith Piaf and “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien,” I referenced the St Crispin’s Day Speech from Henry V. It is not a play I’m that familiar with. I think I’ve read it all once (but I’ve read bits of it many times while trying to answer various questions). And I’ve seen Kenneth Branagh’s filmed version several times. But the Battle of Agincourt is very strange in the play. Henry and his “band of brothers” are standing around thinking that they’ve lost the battle. Then Montjoy shows up and says, “No. You crushed us!”
Okay, fine. It’s a play. But it is supposed to be based upon historical record. And if there’s one thing I know about war, it is this: when one army is out gunned 5 to 1, it almost always loses. And when it doesn’t, there is a reason. Well, it turns out that the English really were badly outnumbered by the French at the Battle of Agincourt. And the English won. And there is one reason and one reason alone that they won. But first, some Shakespeare:
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Well, I don’t believe that. I think most men of that time just want to tend to their farms or trades and had no real interest in that war that had been going on for 78 year and would continue on for another 38. It, like most wars, was pointless and stupid. It was a war about who ought to sit on the French thrown. Henry himself died 31 years before the whole bloody thing was over.
What won the battle for the English was the same thing that had won most of their battles in the first half of the war: the long bow. So again, it is not a question of heroics or will to power. Wars are won based upon what the resources each army has to use. Historically, it was just humans. But over time, technological advantages have made the difference. And sometimes it is just bad leadership. Does anyone really think that Hitler would have lost WWII if he hadn’t decided to pull Stalin back into the war?
I love the St Crispin’s Day Speech. It is beautiful. It is also pernicious propaganda. It wasn’t Henry’s “band of brothers.” It was his lowly artillery men with their cutting edge long bows. At the Battle of Patay, things were almost reversed, with the English having overwhelming numbers. But the French were able to destroy the archer position. As a result 1,500 French massacred 5,000 English. It was the beginning of the end of for the English. It’s all discussed in the three Henry VI plays, if you can bear them. They were among Shakespeare’s earliest plays. It isn’t that they are especially bad. But you can see how the English Empire would push Henry V all over the world because it makes the British look good. But the Henry VI plays make the British look like a bunch of impotent back-biters.
Afterword
You know what’s a good Shakespeare historical play, Henry IV, Part 1. Do you know why? Because Henry IV isn’t a major player in it. It’s mostly about Falstaffe and Harry, before he became the annoying King Henry V.
When I think of songs that are about strength and self-reliance, I think of Frank Sinatra. Songs like “It Was A Very Good Year” and “My Way” and “New York, New York” (even though I too know it from Liza Minnelli singing it in the film). But when I want to pick myself up, it is not one of these songs I turn to. It is instead Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien,” or in English, “No, I regret nothing”!
On this day in 1901, 
In the following interview with Denys Turner, he gets to the very basis of my thinking regarding spiritual matters, and I think he has a lesson for how atheists should talk to theists. Basically, he says that if you are going to be an atheist, you have to disregard one question, “Why does anything exist?” I understand where he’s coming from and he is certainly right that most atheists in fact do avoid that question. The problem is that those atheists do not explicitly avoid the question. Too often, they seem utterly unaware of the question.
On this day in 1935, 
You’ve probably heard of the George Washington Bridge closure story. Even though it was a small story, it was too delicious for liberals. What it looked like was that henchmen of Chris Christie caused a huge traffic jam in Fort Lee because it’s Democratic mayor endorsed Barbara Buono rather than Christie. Now it has been shown that as improbable as it sounded, this is 
On this day in 1800, 
Marketplace radio 
Larry J. Sabato is a political scientist with a long history of accurately predicting the outcomes of elections. He hasn’t done such a good job during the last two election cycles, so of course, now he’s writing for Politico. He just published, 
The Senate managed to 
Of course, Chait is only talking about the past. If the Democrats offered up a huge tax cut for the rich, the Republicans would not be concerned about adding “to the deficit in an irresponsible way.” If it was an unnecessary war with Iran, there would be no budgetary concerns. In fact, it wouldn’t matter what the money was spent on, as long as it ultimately went to the rich. This is why Republicans continue to push the totally refuted claim that “tax cuts pay for themselves.”
Finally, the end of it. I think by this one, I’m starting to get the hang of it. Now I could go back and do it correctly. But that isn’t going to happen. Maybe if I do it next year, it will be better. I think I have a better idea. Just one introductory paragraph and then a list of the ten best articles from that month. That would be pretty simple and most usable for the readers. We’ll see.