Advance Banners English Warfare in the Fifteenth Century

ADVANCE BANNERSIn set battles in the Middle Ages, English commanders almost never yelled'charge' or 'attack'. They exhorted their men to move forward against theenemy battle line with the command of either 'banners forward', or 'advancebanners'. This had significant meaning in England during the Middle Ages.This is the second of a three-volume set. The first volume of this narrativebegan in 1397, which is distinctly not part of the fifteenth century. But inorder to understand the Lancastrian revolution, and what motivated the manwho would become Henry IV, it is necessary to understand a little about hispredecessor, and the tyranny that Richard II promoted. So, Volume I of thisreference work starts in 1397, when Richard II’s absolutism gained a full headof steam. A little over two years later, Richard II was deposed. Volume I, coversthis period, and also includes the entire reigns of both Henry IV and HenryV. It also covers the first few years of the reign of the toddler king, HenryVI. In the process, Volume I includes over 30 battles (including Agincourt,Baugé, Cravant and Verneuil) and over a dozen major sieges.This second volume begins in 1426, taking up where the first volume left off.Sir John, Duke of Bedford, was laboring mightily to complete the work of hisolder brother, the deceased Henry V, and complete the conquest of France.His work was made far more difficult by the machinations of his fickle allies,Burgundy and Brittany. But he also had to deal with a resurgent Charles VIIof France and the unlikely intervention of a young peasant girl named Joan (orJeanne). His task was further compounded by a weak and indecisive Englishmonarch, by the greed and corruption of the English government, and bya discontented populace that finally had had enough of foreign wars andjust wanted peace and stability at home. This volume ends in 1450, and theevents that bring about the collapse of English Normandy. It also covers thegroundwork that was laid to bring about the Wars of the Roses. In the process,it also covers much of the reign of Henry VI, and touches on the beginningsof what will become the Wars of the Roses. Along the way, it covers almost30 major and minor battles (including Patay, Rouvray (Herrings), River Sark,and Formigny) and over two dozen sieges.