Society of Editors 08: Michael Rosenblum | Online Journalism Blog

2 Comments

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  rosenblumtv November 14, 2008

  Dear Stephen,
  You are correct in that I simplified the Crecy story to make a point, but then again, I had only a half hour, and it was the Society of Editors and not the British Society of Medieval Historians to whom I was speaking. Perhaps Poitiers would have made the point better, and perhaps the introduction of the Bodkin Point was more significant, but this would be splitting hairs = a bit like saying the VJ revolution did not really get going until DV became HDV. Overall though, I think it makes the point pretty well.

  I suppose I could have talked about the Musket Wars to illustrate how new technologies shift cultures, but you know how the English would have responded to that one.

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  pencilgod November 14, 2008

  Michael you really need to learn some history. The battle of Crcey is a fantastic story but while the long bow played a part in it there were a lot of other factors that helped in the victory.
  Only half of the English army were bowmen the other half were traditional Knights. Edmond brilliantly had them dismount and used them to protect the bowmen.
  Also the terrain and the weather all helped.
  Most important was the stupidity of the French army, killing many of the German mercenaries on their own side, literally slashing the wage bill in a ruthless cost saving measure that modern managers would love, while trying to get at the English.
  What was interesting was the ten years of peace after this battle. Not bought about by any technological advance in warfare but by the Black Death Plague which killed nearly a third of Europe’s population.
  I’m sure there is a lesson there somewhere.