THE scale of Henry V’s triumph at Agincourt, which has been feted as one of the greatest victories in British military history, has been exaggerated for almost six centuries, a new book is to reveal.

The English and Welsh were still outnumbered, according to Anne Curry, professor of medieval history at Southampton University — but only by a factor of three to two. For the last 50 years historians have believed the odds were at least four to one.

Curry is the first academic to untangle the true scale of Henry’s victory in 1415 by sifting through original enrolment records at the National Archives in London and the French Bibliothèque Nationale.

“The figures have been exaggerated over the centuries for patriotic reasons,” said Curry, whose book Agincourt: A New History will be published next month. “It was a myth constructed around Henry to build up his reputation as a king.”

Curry discovered there were more English and Welsh troops than previously thought, and far fewer on the French side. She was able to count the number of soldiers on both sides accurately because all were paid recruits. Their names and wages were recorded. She calculates that total numbers were about 8,000 on Henry’s side and 12,000 on the French.

The first account of the battle, in northeast France, was written three years afterwards by an anonymous clergyman who had served in Henry’s ranks. He wrote of “900 English and Welsh men-at-arms and the 5,000 archers” — and said that the French had “30 times as many”.

Estimates were later scaled down, but 16th-century chroniclers including Edward Hall and a scribe writing for “my master, the Duke of Ormonde” still said Henry’s men were outnumbered by at least 10 to one.

The legend of the English as underdogs at Agincourt entered the culture in 1599 when Shakespeare’s Henry V opened. It features the St Crispin’s Day speech before the battle when Henry speaks of “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers”. In 1944 Laurence Olivier took the role of Henry when the play was filmed to boost wartime morale.

“I’ve always assumed the French massively outnumbered Henry’s forces,” said Richard Holmes, the military historian. “But now it is very hard to go against Curry’s figures.”

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