With additional contributions from Francoise Autrand, Christophe Piel, Michael Prestwich, and Bertrand Schnerb. On the evening of 26 August 1346, the greatest military power in Christendom, the French royal army with Philip VI at its head, was defeated by an expeditionary force from England under the command of Edward III. A momentous event that sent shock waves across Europe, the battle of Crecy marked a turning point in the English king's struggle with his Valois adversary. While the French suffered humiliation and crippling casualties, compounded by the consequential loss of Calais a year...