Henry V's Archers and French Knights in the Film and in Reality

What Was the Battle of Agincourt Really Like?

The English king's archers really did cut down the flower of French chivalry. Yet the film misrepresents both the battlefield itself, which really was a field and not hilly terrain, and the fortifications, which are not in the picture at all. And the archers' attack was so successful precisely because of the palisade with which the English ringed the field, cutting off the cavalry's line of retreat. It is also true, however, that the decorous Henry V, as the makers of the film portray him, in reality kept his detachments in the thickets around the field in a state of utter tension, threatening to cut off the ears of anyone who made the slightest noise.

When we see English soldiers gathering swords from the dead after the battle, that is only part of the truth, because far greater attention was paid to armour, which was much more valuable both for reuse and for sale.