The battle of Agincourt was a military engagement during the Hundred Years' War between an English army under King Henry V and a French army under Charles d'Albret - fought in France on October 25th, 1415. But how did the weather around that time put the French at a disadvantage?

In this battle, the French were overwhelmingly favoured to win due to their army of 25,000 men in comparison to England's measly 6,000. Also, at the time of action, the English army was considerably weakened by disease and hunger. This boosted French confidence and they were self-satisfied even before the battle was fought.

The night before, it rained heavily and the troops on both sides were forced to sleep under the almost continuous rain. Besides the narrowness of the battleground and the faulty tactics of their superiors, the French were put at a real disadvantage because of these heavy rains. This was due to their heavy armour that weighed the soldiers down into the muddy battlefield, making their movements gradual and slowing the French side down as a whole.

The employment of heavily armoured troops and cavalry was all part of the traditional French feudal military system. This caused the French cavalry, which occupied the front positions, to soon become held up in the muddy terrain, making them easy targets for the English archers.

Discouraged by the fate of their cavalry and held back by the mud - the French soldiers were soon completely overwhelmed and suffered many losses in comparison to the English soldiers. Many Frenchmen suffered a cruel fate at the hand of Henry V, as he ordered all the French prisoners to be killed. At the time, however, the fact that it was the rain in combination with their heavy armour that had severely hampered the French side was completely over-shadowed by Henry's victory.

Henry returned to England after Agincourt, and his triumph paved the way to English supremacy of most of France up until the middle of the fifteenth century. His prestige in France was such that never again did a French army attempt to engage him in a major battle, and in England his victory meant that he never had any difficulty in raising men or money to fight in his later crusades. For Henry V the torrential rains were certainly on his side and turned the tables on a situation that had at first appeared impossible.

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