St. Crispin’s Day Speech

St. Crispin’s Day Speech Background:

The Hundred Years War erupted between the French and the English in 1337 A.D. and lasted more than one hundred years, to 1453 A.D. The issue was of sovereignty and succession. Back in the days of Charlemagne’s offspring, the Vikings became the Normans. The Northmen or Normans occupied the land North of France called Normandy. These gentile Vikings intermarried with the French nobility and became tied to the line of succession in France. Then they invaded England in 1066 A.D. and began their own sovereign country that became England, and French was their language. There is much to this story of Angles and Saxons, and fierce battles. One cannot forget Joan of Arc, “The Maid of Orléans”, and her exploits in the Hundred Years War, between the years of 1428-1431 A.D. When the French king died without a direct successor, the English were in line for the throne in France. That did not sit well with the French nobility. Henry was born in August of 1386 A.D. (or 1387 A.D.) at Monmouth Castle on the Welsh border. In 1413 A.D., at the young age of 26, Henry the V took the throne. He renewed English claims in France to assert his legacy and authority. In 1415 A.D. Henry gathered his army and sailed for France. They had a victorious but costly siege of Harfleur, in which one-third of his army died of dysentery. On October 25, 1415 A.D., the feast day of St. Crispin, Henry’s army defeated a much larger French force at Agincourt. Henry’s army of about 6,000 battled up to 30,000 or 5 to 1. Watch the entire Henry IV “St. Crispin’s Day Speech Video on the readings signup sheet. There are two links, choose either Tom Hiddleston or Kenneth Branaugh. These film clips are based on a Shakespearean play covering the real historical English king named Henry.

Q1. How does King Henry use time in the speech?

Q2. What specifically does Henry appeal to in the speech?

Q3. Does Henry use politics, religion, and the base natures of humans (Pride, money, honor, legend, power, etc.) to motivate his people?