in the book of Maulana Rumi, one of the America's favorite poets, who is a Nordic Muslim saint. He mentions a story about a prayer man, a man who used to always pray.  He would call upon God in the morning, in the evening, when he was sick, when he was happy, when he was prosperous. Every occasion, he would call upon God to the degree that his mouth would always be moist and sweet from the remembrance of God. So what happened one day? Gov shaitan akhirei bisyaar gu, inama allah raulab bayku.  I've heard you call upon him millions of time. Have you ever heard an answer from him? Me na yoyi adi akh javaw bas fishe taacht, chan allah mi zani bahru isaacht. What is wrong with you?  I've seen you call upon him in the middle of the night. You call upon him when you're happy. You call upon him when you're tired, exhausted from work. What is wrong with you?  God is sitting in the seven heaven on his throne. You think he has time for you to answer your call? Rumi says, Satan broke the man's heart and he's good at that. That is his area of expertise. He breaks people's hearts. He said the man stopped calling upon God. Time passes by and when he falls asleep and he hears the voice of God in his dream and he says, Goft, he nazik chun wan wan dei, chun pu shaymani atan kish khan dei. He said, what happened? Weren't you the man who used to remember us all the time? Do you regret calling upon us? Why did you stop calling? Goft labbeqam nimi aya javab, zon hami tarsam kibosham radh dhabab. He said, you never answered me. I never heard an answer. I called you millions of time, not even one time you could have answered me. I'm afraid I'm amongst the rejected one and you don't care about me. And then God responds. He says, Goft on aloha to labbeqam most. He said, your calling was the answer. Your calling, that was the answer. One knee also with that is the Suzad Pekam most.  That was the melody of the seven heavens. All of the angels used to gather to listen to your calling. And then you used to come up with an excuse and say, Oh God, forgive me. Who do you think put that excuse in your heart? It was us. We put the excuse in your heart because of your calling.  When you loved us and you did all this amazing thing, we put that in your heart.  Satan was telling him that you have called him a million times. He haven't answered you. God is telling him for every calling I had a million answers for you. This is how God works. This is how God works. Our job is to pray. We shouldn't occupy ourselves whether he hears it or not because God hears it.


Okay, so thank you everybody for joining us. We're going to have a short conversation about PBO which is known as project-based learning and several of us from the service unit have attended a seminar or a training session on project-based learning this summer and we want to share with you some of the thoughts and ideas that we got from the conference and I don't know about any of you guys but it really re-energized some of my thinking and I was really excited about the prospects of this in in the classroom. So the first thing I think is what we should talk about is maybe just the definition. What is PBO? What is project-based learning? You want to share their thoughts on that? I'll go ahead and start out. I kind of had a different experience than the four of you. You four the four others besides me did it with the Department of Education and Lincoln and I actually had the opportunity to go with a school out to PBL World out in Napa California with the Buck Institute and the biggest thing that I get out of project-based learning and one of the things that they were pushing on a lot there with it is this is not the dessert project. So this isn't a project that you do at the at the end of the unit as kind of a wrap-up or a dessert piece. It is that piece that it is the meat and potatoes of the entire lesson. This is this is your lesson. This is your unit that's going to last two, three, four weeks depending on the complexity of it and how much you want. And it's where they're learning and it's bringing in more than just your content standard.  You're going to bring in probably some technology and some digital citizenship. You'll have the math but only doing about three or four total standards. So it's more than just that content you're dealing with. It's a whole lot more in a project where they're learning. They have a question that's driving them forward and those projects come back to you in multiple different ways and it doesn't always have to be work as a group. It could be some individual work time as well. And that's kind of what I got out of kind of what the whole project-based learning drive I guess and components are. Like that too. And that was also one of my larger takeaways was that it's not just at the project doesn't happen after the instruction but rather the project contextualizes what we're learning about. We start with that driving question and there's some there is some direct instruction around your content area standards and some processing time but throughout that entire process throughout the project process we are building toward a final product that answers that driving question. And to answer the driving question you have to be able to accomplish or demonstrate your ability to do those content area skills. And I like Otis's point that we like to see these projects as being cross content area in terms of standards that we're addressing. And I just want to add to that those are great great outlines of it and I think one of the power pieces of that too was the idea that the teacher directed the students to pull out those content pieces to pull out that okay what are we going to need to know to accomplish this task. And so it was very student driven in the fact that they kind of had to allude to the information that they would need to know to solve this problem and the teacher definitely had a hand in in the guidance of that getting them to that point but it was definitely like our experience was definitely a student driven student directed form of that of that acquisition of knowledge. I like that point Tina and I think it needs to be said too that this isn't developing pvl or project based learning blended learning which really go hand in hand too I see. This isn't replacing the teacher the teacher's still there a part of it becoming as I kind of like to say more of that meddler in the middle helping guide the students it is student driven but the teacher's there to kind of maybe not give them the answer but kind of coming and say well tell me more about that. Well I don't quite know where can we go and find that information where you know and bring some of those things out and getting to those higher cognition really get that cognitively complex as Marzano would say that was cognitively complex tasks getting them to that higher level of cognition. Yes absolutely and I think that's that's one of the most important parts of it and that again as you stated it ludes itself very well to blended and we're going to talk a little bit more about that later but one of the and those of you who were in my Lincoln session with me heard me say this term many times but I it just resonated with me that the problems and the ideas and the thoughts were all very authentic it was very how does this relate to the real world how does this this relate to your lives and what what can we do to make things different and to actually have a purpose and a cause for this and I think to me that was one of the other power pieces of pbl is the authenticity of the entire project from start to finish. I totally agree with what you're saying I think that as we develop our curricular units and you attach a problem base or a project base learning to your curricular units I think the key takeaway for me in Lincoln was that it is about the curriculum it is not about the problem first I mean sure kids are going to be aware of what's out there but the teacher is facilitating that learning around the curriculum that needs to be learned and assessed not just about willy-nilly hey I want to learn about this water project right now it's how can I connect real-world application to what kids are learning in the classroom but it's curriculum first. Our presenter talked about two different ways to start and one was more of that let's think about the problem first but Eileen I agree with you that think about start with your standards and what what do we need to address and we can find real-world application that's present a driving question around a real-world application of your curricular standards I like that too Eileen. Yeah yeah great anybody else want to include to what PBL is okay the next thing is that I kind of wanted to discuss is is basically what PBL is not what are some of the misconceptions and I know I had some as I was going into this training myself but what are some of the misconceptions of project-based learning? So Tina I do think that so many teachers say well I'm I'm using project-based learning because we do a three-week project at the end of you know three or whatever and and really that is not project-based learning so as we described earlier a true PBL is taking your content and identifying you know your curriculum identifying what needs to be you know learned and what do we need to master all within that that process of a project-based learning opportunity so it's not an added on a project that takes three weeks that the students are just doing that project it's within the content and within the course or the curriculum that is happening that is being delivered. So the projects or the problem contextualizes the learning and we we go through that learning process some direct instructions with some with some practice associated with those content area skills but that so the context of this practice of this direct instruction is wrapped around a real-world application and I think that really helps us then think about why is learning this whatever this may be why is this important. Right and I kind of this is the same kind of idea and I I went into it with a misconception a little bit of it being the end project producing the knowledge of what you have learned through this unit right and and that's not at all what it is it's actually the project-based the project or the design question and all of that is is encompassed throughout the whole unit that is the unit is it's the project and I think that that may be a misconception of many years and I also think and Otis alluded to this earlier about the idea that the teacher doesn't just it's not a hands-off it's very teacher directed it's very the teacher just goes about the the learning process in a whole different way but they are still the lead they're still the guide they're still the you know they still need to stick to those contents and those standards and making sure the understanding is there throughout the project. Otis what do you mean by meddler in the middle? Well that's just learning right along with the kids is really what that is you know it's it's like we've said a hundred times and I know you guys have heard me say this you know it's the sage on the stage that's the way it used to be 30 years ago the teacher was the smurfs person in the classroom then it became that guide on the side you know on the side watching the kids do it now teachers getting in and learning with the kids it's a teacher doesn't know or the teacher may know but can play play the part of not knowing and learn right along with the kids to kind of push them rather than those kids that have you know I hate to say this learn to play the game of school and jump through the hoops to get that a well what how do I get an a I don't know and I think the assessment piece of this is is something there's a misconception about assessment and group work I think in pbl as well you know you can still do those formative and summative assessments you're still going to be doing formative and summative assessments as you're going on it may look more rubric-ish or have rubrics to it rather than here's what you need to do to get a hundred and grading it that way but also there's I think there's a little misconception that everything has to be done as a group I don't think that's the case either because there are going to be some parts that need to be done individually as well and mixing those things up and finding the strengths of those students in the classes and mixing up other strengths to kind of help with some of those group work pieces as well I think what you're saying too Otis by using your common assessments your formative assessments throughout those are your grades that you're collecting and so so many teachers say I can't do a group project because how do I grade this and so by still maintaining or continuing to assess the the level of knowledge you know acquisition for your students those are the grades that you're collecting and then and I was actually able to when Otis went to Napa Valley to the pbl world I did a visit not during the same time but I was at Napa Valley and visited a school that New Tech High School in Napa Valley that complete pbl throughout the whole school district or the whole building I guess I should say but their group work or you know group project was kind of a little bit of self assessment as well as a you know a group partner assessment now it didn't have them the that's not the main grade of that student but we were able to also kind of evaluate each other and ourselves in our efforts of what we did to to work togetherly and collaboratively in that project and I think that's very powerful in in our society today to start to build those you know skills about okay I'm part of this group now it's this is my responsibility and I need to you know I need to make sure that I'm doing my part in this particular project or we had a conversation oh I was working for Marsha Kish and one of the classroom teachers we were talking about group work and teamwork and so forth and she said in the business world if you are working by yourself that means you're on your way out all business businesses today are working in teams and if for some reason you're pulled out of that team and you start to work by yourself guess what you'll will not be employed by that organization for very much longer because that's route number one of out the door so very interesting thoughts about you know how we work in teams and how we you know collectively maybe maybe evaluate each other well and I think Otis there's an article that you shared on the education updates called God Save the Routine and and the article alludes to that information exactly as it stated it talks about you know the idea that collaboration and group work is important it's not the end all in PBO it's not something just as Otis stated it's there is individual time but in reality especially somebody starting a project-based learning component is they're going to have to actually teach collaboration kids don't come in knowing how to collaborate knowing how to work together knowing how to be a team that's actually a skill that has to be built has to be taught and has to be learned and you can do that in the context of project-based learning but the skill has to still be taught it can't be something where you just jump in and and go about it and it's supposed to work so so what are some structures that help students become acquainted with that collaborative work I think some of the things that we did during our project-based learning experiences when we partnered up and we had to draw our partner hi Marcy how are you we got to draw each other it was great and you know when you were expected to meet with anyone in your group and be able to have a conversation with just about anybody our facilitator set us up in different structures to allow for us to learn from each other structured protocols right very much structured protocols I mean we did a sketch a partner we did um what was that one that we did where we we did the superhero thing that was yep and I I honestly think that that in our training was treated somewhat as a standard because like you said Eleni it was it was taught um in many different ways and it was kind of super imposed into the learning that we were doing but it was it's I still felt like that piece was an important piece like it could have been something that we were evaluated on even right the charrette part protocol that he led us through that was one of the on more intriguing opportunities for me during that week whereas I'm I mean I'm an introvert I know that people don't think that I am an introvert but I like my circle I like that those people around me that I know but I had to get out of my shell and go be very very social to other people and do that present and the framing and the feedback and the open discussion where he set that up for us and I felt as a student I I was walking in that student's shoes of somebody that I had to leave my safe foe group and I had to go and find other people to be foes at that point well and and I liked one of the ways they group that my instructor grouped us for our pbl 101 piece was you know was by where is your strength are you a relationship builder are you a higher level thinker so and then there was one of each of those groups in a group to kind of do that so somebody I was one of those that I like to please everybody as hard as that may seem and so I'm one of those that's making sure everybody's voice is heard you know and and making sure that those pieces come together and and I really like the charrette charrette however I'm I don't speak French very well but that protocol is very good as well and I know that when we were going through 101 there were two in my group because I was with mostly teachers I was one of two out of about 30 people that were PD and of course the two PD people we kind of gravitated towards each other and and found out a working relationship right there to kind of toss PD ideas off of and you're going to have those natural kind of groups help sharing type things those are going to form too when they realize maybe those students that don't speak up a whole lot oh they have some good ideas I'm going to go to them so that they can help me and but making sure that it's a safe place in the classroom and no and and this is one thing that really stuck with me too when you're doing that charrette or whether any type of critiquing that you're doing you're critiquing the product not the person making sure that that that is a safe place that hey I'm coming to the product and not to as an example Eileen has come to me I'm looking at Eileen's product not Eileen as a person and the way she treated me the class period before which was great thank you very much and honestly that's something that has to be taught too and it has it's an atmosphere um relationship so yeah it goes back to routines and procedures you know what are those routines and procedures you're setting up and and having those norms or those promises and commitments um that that is very very good and very set up that's determined by the group not just by the teacher but by the group as to what's going to happen that way there's buy-in and commitment there and we're able to hold each other accountable for that and I like Otis that you alluded to the idea of the different personalities when it within the group I think I think that's a different uh a thing something that teachers should be aware of too as they you know try to help formulate groups and knowing that perspective I go back to high school when we took those surveys and I can't remember what the survey was called but it definitely it was a um what's that was it Myers-Briggs that sounds right but basically it told you you know what your personality was are you are you an inclusive somebody who needs to be included are you an extrovert those types of things and I think maybe knowing that about your students might be very beneficial in a pbl setting uh but yeah very true okay so in respective time I a couple more questions that I have is why would you guys suggest pbl to a teacher what what sets pbl or project-based learning apart from from other initiatives and other plans I I think this is one thing that's key you don't have to turn your entire class to pbl from day one to day 180 it the I don't know that it can it can be done uh but to be done well if you're first starting out don't try and do that uh the one thing that I think is key to this is you're able to differentiate for all learners very easily um and you're able to reach all types of learning styles very easily as well you can get those kids that like to get in and get their hands dirty um they can do that however that may be you know those kids that like that kinesthetic hands-on they're able to do that and up and move in a way the classroom may look like chaos but it's organized chaos because they know exactly what they're doing it gives kids that experience like we had said to be able to collaborate and learn those collaboration skills before they get out into the real world business and industry is saying we want people that can collaborate well we need to get those kids to learn how to do that as well and this is the ability to do that and the ability to hit multiple standards uh in one in a two-week period where as normally coming out of the book you may only hit one or two in those in that two three-week period but also that cross-curricular so not only hitting your standards but you're hitting other standards as well in building some of those things can you repeat your question please yeah I my question was why why pbo um what's what's the point in doing a project-based learning or why would you suggest this to your teachers so kind of to piggyback off of what Otis said but maybe to even extend it a little bit more if a teacher said they have to know this deeply they have to be able to um live this standard they have to be able to know this or they can't move on to the next level I think chemistry or I think um some basic science things that they have to have oh maybe even if it's something about hypothesizing um but if they have to know it deeply and be able to engage with it I would do a project-based learning I most teachers would probably say okay well I'm going to give an assessment at the end and to make sure that they learned what I taught them but if if it needs to be that deep I think it warrants utilizing project-based learning on this one um I would second what Otis said about you don't have to change your classroom 100 you do have to take on a little bit of a different role um in this project-based learning you cannot be the only expouser of knowledge um kids will learn from other places and then from yourself but um yeah I would I would say those essential learnings that you've identified as things that have to be taught or have to be learned before they leave thank you yes I would piggyback a little bit off of since we're piggybacking now off of um what what Eileen said when you know when we think about teachers pulling out um the most essential learnings that their students need to do and we have a number of teachers who have then prioritizing their standards especially in our Marzano school because they're doing some uh learning scales they're looking at doing tracking learning and those are the ones that they say that these are the these are the standards that we are going to spend the most time on when we're looking at our MTSS model and we're saying so if I have a student who is showing a deficiency in this that's what I'm going to intervene on I'm not going to intervene on Roman numerals they're nice super bowls but I'm not going to intervene on on Roman numerals I'm going to intervene on these these essential standards that that's where you're going to spend your time and your effort because that's the vehicle you use to deliver other material then uh you know I agree with with Eileen that that would be a place to start to say how can I deepen this and a project would be definitely a way to not just have that surface the okay one level of knowledge if yes I can retrieve it that actually be able to do something with it and make connections so and I think it's important to remember that our instructional model propones that we get to that knowledge application segment of that unit right I mean that is a goal is that we get kids to those deeper levels of knowledge and so how can we do that but but yet not feel overwhelmed with that idea who project based learning it sounds like something so new and different it but what we're trying to communicate is that it's not so yes we start with that that context that driving question of why is what what is the application what why is this important but you still go through and use those formative in this and summative assessments that that you are to use in your district you go through some direct instruction there is some time for knowledge deepening or practice and so coming back to Otis that idea of differentiation and maybe potentially incorporating some of those blended learning instructional strategies for how are we structuring that direct instruction and that knowledge deepening that practice segment but we are contextualizing what i love about it most is is that you too often you hear the question in the classroom why do i need to know this why is this important and and i feel pbl so why would i and why would i recommend this to one of my kids i i hear pbl it would would provide that context i would say tina to wrap it all up that it's about engagement so how do we engage our learners to you know either go deeper kind of take control of their learning and and you know make sure that all of our students are learning at the level um that they're able to so in my opinion engagement is is what i would wrap all of that up around yeah and that and that's kind of exactly what i was thinking you know the power of this for me is the way in which the students are the guiding factor are the the power in changing the process of education and and the forefront is the students guiding the learning but the teacher still you know still there is the major guide and making sure things are followed and assessed and and ideas are learned and but to me the the students complete and total engagement into the authentic processes of the way the world works now and the the way education is is slowly moving towards so yeah absolutely um okay so the next thing that i have on here we we've talked about a couple times and project-based learning lends itself very well to our blended processes and in the way that we think about blend ed so i don't know nick do you want to kind of highlight some of those details for us we had i'd love to do that let's see here so when when i think about blended learning and project-based learning i certainly see some overlaps and so the model or framework that we are using inside of the blended learning pilot across the state of Nebraska for understanding best practices in blended learning it incorporates those three marzano unit segments of direct instruction knowledge deepening knowledge application but also we're trying to promote that that idea of empowering learners and this comes that that word comes from the ISTI international society for technology and education standards for students but in a in a brief overview when we think about direct instruction blended learning our goal is that we differentiate that instruction and so thinking about what are where are kids currently and of course to differentiate to to make that decision we we need to know where where they are we think differentiation in terms of both what are we what are kids ready for but then also we think about modalities of learning and Otis talked about that a little bit as well that idea that maybe some kids need to get up more kinesthetic learners or others learn different ways but thinking about that that different models and blended learning instructional models for providing or facilitating that differentiation you think about things like a whole group rotation with everybody moving around and through these different activities together or maybe you have different stations happening with with different maybe it's a teacher led station where I can dive deeper with an individual student or maybe kids are working together on a component of that project or maybe an individual is working by themselves we talked about that need to assess both that group work but also to hold individual students accountable for those essential learnings or maybe this is a flex model of blended learning where kids have some some can-dos identified but also some must-dos you must do these different things and so real briefly when we think blended learning we also want to address that marzano unit component of knowledge deepening when we talk blended learning our goal is to engage kids with some meaningful choices around how they practice new content and there are plenty there's a ton of different tools that we can pull into that process when we saw when we think choices in blended learning often we hear the word choice board but you might incorporate some supplemental input that might be a Khan Academy video or maybe a new Zella news article some guided practice where kids can get in then to those independent learning platforms like also Khan Academy but then the no red ink or study island or I excel something that your district's paying for so knowledge deepening getting kids to practice where both and we think about this in terms of what are those content area standards that this project or this unit is addressing but also potentially what are those kids ready for ensuring that we we have mastered those those curricular standards when we think knowledge application this is also a goal of blended learning that we get kids we talk about voice and choice choice I think more of about in terms of that knowledge deepening choice over how I'm practicing but voice over how am I demonstrating my ability to accomplish these content area skills but also in a way that promotes these digital age skills and I think project-based learning there's direct overlap within those contexts within those ideas but lastly then empowering learners engaging them in self-assessment goal setting and and also some direct instruction on learning strategies the real goal is that kids can connect the dots between their self-assessment of ability both in so maybe we're thinking pre-assessment at the beginning of the unit well people will do a quick pre-assessment how comfortable are you with doing these different content areas skills we'll also do a post assessment with with the real goal the kids connect those dots growth mindset connect the dots between effortful use of effective learning strategies and the outcomes both on that project but then also on those formative and and summative assessments throughout the learning process those are some overlaps I see we got thank you and I want to say something in that voice and choice and and if you're just starting out and then the article that Tina alluded to kind of said this too whether it's pbo or blended voice or choice you know limited down to one instead of voice they get both voice and choice maybe that choice they're limited to three things that they can create their presentation in that way you're not having to go as a teacher if you have five groups in the class you're not going five different places maybe you're only going one or two so kind of teacher still has a little bit of control at the beginning and when you're out there and looking once again the article and I think it is there Buck Institute who puts on the pbo world and who did this and pbo 101 and everything they kind of came out with you know what is high quality pbo hq pbo and then they have that gold standard just starting out you might not be at the gold standard and that's okay but it's adapting it as you go through some of those things as well and making sure that you adapt as you go forward and knowing that you're not going to start out and everything you're going to see is that gold standard that high quality and you're going to think oh I'm not even close to that chuck it and I'm going to go back to the way it is you got to work at it you got to work at it to get it better and you're it's just like teaching you're going to find some things you know as a as maybe somebody who has three sections of the same thing you may start in the first section of the day realize oh I need to change that for the second section you adapt it for the second section and then once again you have to adapt it for the third because it didn't work out quite so well it's the same thing with this I like that start slow in the number one rule of blended learning that I share with people across the state is don't burn yourself out I think it also applies to project-based learning this is a change don't get overwhelmed don't expect yourself to be at that gold level that high quality every single day don't expect to be able to change everything you do into pbl overnight yeah and I think everything that I've read everything that I've learned about this and and it's anything in education that's you know some of this is just a different way of thinking in a different way of teaching and you got to take it slow so you don't burn yourself out and you don't things are going to go wrong but your kids are learning with you and they know you're learning and it's okay it's okay and and let yourself grow with the kids and grow with the project I think it's important and get feedback from them after it yeah what worked what didn't and then if it worked or what could be better if this work how could it be made better get feedback from them too to improve it so can you have to speed about a tlt special project I think that's what you had on your your screen Nick can you can you tell me what that yep Tina do you want to wrap this up first yeah so at the end of this video too we alluded to quite a few different resources and so I'll make sure I post those resources in our contacts if you have any other questions in regards to some of this information but just to kind of wrap this video up this is kind of a surprise so hopefully I don't make you too nervous here but if you could to give one word to explain pbl or one word that comes to mind when you think about pbl what would that be empowering okay anybody else authentic okay great and collaborative hyphenated real world Marcy do you have one to share well let me think uh you know I think I would agree with Eileen when she says authentic I would say I'm sorry I was saying gauge okay engaged yeah um well I saved me to last because but you guys took all mine but actually I was thinking too one of the things is the very first thing Otis talked about really is the idea that it's all inclusive of different standards and so I guess to me inclusive would be would be the word and I think that's a powerful piece but thank you all for for highlighting some of these details with us and and again I will share some resources and in the end of the video and some context so if you have any other questions


Thank you. Thank you very much Steven. It's a great honour for me to come here. I'm a fellow of the Society and a few weeks ago we had a rather splendid study day. If you weren't able to get to that, look at it online because all of the papers and indeed some songs, I'm not going to burst into song here, Mae'r cyfwyr, mewn meddwl, yn gweithio lleigio oedol, oedol yn gyda'r drwng ymlaen, a efallai i'n rhai sy'n ddim yn fwy o'r gweithio lleigio. Mae'r cwrs yn fawr, mae'r ein ddysgu sy'n meddwl. Mae'r cyfrifftl. Mae'r cyfrifftl yn gweithio'r rhannu yma, mae'r cyfrifftl yn ddysgu'r cyfrifftl yn ddysgu'r rhannu, ac mae'n ddysgu'r rhannu ar y cyfrifftl yn ddysgu'r rhannu o'r clywbeth o gyfnod. Rwy'n hwn yn grwynhau i'n rhanau bod llawer o'r clywed. Mae'r parfodau ffaith o'i clywbeth. Rydyn ni wedi'u mynd i ni, mae'n mynd i'ch meddwl gyda'r rhanau. Rydyn ni wedi'u mynd i'ch meddwl gyflym wedi dwych i'ch meddwl gyflwynt. Rydyn ni'n hollwch y cysylltu panes시�wyd i'r cysylltu yn gyflym. Mae'n 유�w yma o cascyfyddau'r cyhoedd. Mae cynnyddio hyn, mae ni'n cymdog o ddweud The other famous myth about Agincourt is the V-sign. The V-sign was invented there. I can't find the origins of that story. We know that one of the chronicles of the time actually gives a battle speech for Henry. There are many battle speeches incidentally given for Henry and it says that if the archers are caught then her fingers cut off. I think again it's an early 20th century myth. The First World War has a lot to do with this interest in Agincourt and in things military because after all the battle was fought not very far away from the Somme and as you're going to see George V actually visited nearby twice during the First World War. But it just shows also how quickly history moves on. You may not remember the origin of this cartoon by Matt in the Daily Telegraph. It was concerning Ed Ball's suggestion that when shadow chancellor that maybe you should or should not give receipts for workmen when you paid them in cash. It just shows this sort of enduring myth though of the V-sign and Agincourt. And of course the bottle is still used politically today when George Osborne announced a million pounds to go to Agincourt as also to Waterloo in the budget in March. He had the battle showing a strong leader. I think we know which political party was meant for him that. Defeating an ill-judged alliance between the champion of a united Europe, the French force implied there, and a renegade force of Scottish nationalists. Not true. There are no Scots involved in the battle of Agincourt that didn't stop us having a piper at the battlefield on Sunday to great success. The piper actually piped in the French on that occasion. But do have a look at the website Agincourt600.com for more material. Now the campaign of Henry in 1415 is actually quite well known and pretty easily described. Henry set off from Southampton in the middle of August and he landed at Haar Fleur here. He'd signed up his army for 12 months so this was intended as a campaign of conquest and he'd really began to besiege the town of Haar Fleur, a very important port from which there'd been quite a lot of raids on the south coast of England. Unfortunately it proved quite a difficult place to take. It took six months from his initial landing for it to surrender and for various reasons that I'll show you some documents linked to later. He decided to cut the campaign short. He therefore left Haar Fleur with his army around the 6th or the 8th of October, intending to get out of France as quickly as possible. To do that he walked March of his army up here to the crossing of the Saint-Marc Blanche-Tac where his great-grandfather, Edward III, had crossed in 1346. When he got there he heard from French prisoners that there was a great French army on the other side of the river and he didn't dare to chance a crossing. Therefore he brought his army southwards along the Somme being shadowed by the French all the way along until he eventually found a crossing point on the 19th of October. So this long march is a characteristic of this campaign. The French came out of Peron where they'd been gathering and the herald summoned him to battle. So Agincourt is also a tree of ranged battle although we can't be sure whether they arranged it for Azancourt or for another place, Obini on Artois. A couple of French panicles imply that that was the place they had appointed for the battle to take place. Now there's something very interesting about this. Everything in this route here suggests Henry was battle avoiding. Henry won his story in the American Clifford Rogers who's argued otherwise. Henry therefore was trying to avoid an engagement with the French. Here if he was heading for Obini you can see he turns in a completely different direction. Was he again trying to avoid battle? Whatever the case he then moves forward northwards here towards Calais and he has intercepted the French get to Azancourt ahead of him on the 24th of October and battle is given on the 25th of October. One thing that's often forgotten about this, we go on about this march which incidentally was about 23km a day, that's about as fast as an army could move at that point, is that the French are also moving long distances. Most of their troops are gathering in Rouen in late September, early October, although the king himself, Charles VI and his son do not coat to Rouen until Henry has left. You've got to remember that relations between the English and the French had been bad for quite a long time now. The Hundred Years War had begun in the previous century and Henry V very much reopened the war because he knew of divisions in France. He was also trying to strengthen his own position in England where he is after all the son of a usurper, Henry IV that usurped the throne in 1399. We've got to remember that relations had been bad for a long time and therefore the French were hesitant to engage Henry at half flour because battles in the past at Cressy in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356 had led to great French defeats and even worse in 1356 the capture of the French king. Therefore, whilst we love this story of the underdog that the English were always at a disadvantage, the newspapers over the weekend have been full of this against all the odds and that kind of thing, we've got to remember that the French were themselves anxious about this, could not get a large enough army together while he was at half flour and even then hesitated about what to do. It's when he crosses the song that they really make up their minds to give him battle. Maybe they think by then that he has marched long distances running out of food by then that battle is actually given. But what I want to put into your minds right from the start is that this is a much more complex event than we might get certainly from Shakespeare but even from some modern popular history books. The army, the English army, is exceptionally well documented. That's nothing to do with that, you could itself, except that this is the first time since 1359 that a king has led an army to France in person, so over 50 years since a king has led an army in person. It is the largest army to leave England since 1346. It is a very large scale event and when Henry went to the city of London for a loan, he got 10,000 marks from them, he said he intended to invade with no small army. So it has a much greater scale to it right from the start. It is meant to be a significant invasion. As I say, these contracts we have one here for Sir Thomas Erpingham to bring 20-minute arms and 60 archers, we know that they were intended to serve for 12 months. Using these documents, I think I've got another one coming up here, this is Thomas Lord Camois, the commander of the rear guard at the battle for retinue just slightly larger. These documents we know that around 320 men engaged to bring troops. It is a huge recruitment exercise here and we know also that most of the retinues were in a special ratio of one man at arms to three archers, like Erpingham's 20 man at arms and 60 archers. Henry had a clear idea of the sort of army he wanted, already quite archer rich. In the late 14th century, the ratio had been one man at arms to one archer, so he's already increased the number of archers. You're going to say, well, that's because he knew he was going to fight a battle at Argincourt and he knew just how useful it would be. Well, no, but archers are useful in all military situations, sieges, skirmishes, sorties, patrolling, as well as a battle situation and Henry had experienced battle in 1403 where he'd been wounded in the face by an arrow, but the beauty of the archer was that he was cheap. You could get two archers for every man at arms. Archers were paid sixpence a day. All the terms and conditions are in these contracts here, whereas a man at arms was paid a shilling a day. A man at arms has the full plate armour and his role then was to fight hand to hand, on foot, usually, but they would be able to fight from horseback as well. These are the well-trained men, the professional soldiers. The archers, many of those came from the households, many of them were servants. For instance, the old marshal had his barber with him and he served as an archer. I think Dalton Abbey, really, for this kind of army. In fact, quite similar to some of the First World War recruitment as well. Men doubled up as servants and as soldiers as well, but they would have needed to have recruited archers locally. No commissions of a reign were used to raise archers, but we would have had archers recruited from communities. This is very interesting in financial terms. Henry did not have enough money to pay his troops. They had to be paid for six-month service before they set out. The money was given to the captain. He then gave it out to his men. But Henry did not have enough. He only had enough for three months. The nobles would not go on this campaign unless they could find some more. So he raided the royal jewel cupboards, got out plate and jewels and then had it weighed and gave the captains the silver, if you like, even though it is in the object form, to them worth three months worth of wages. The idea being that they could deposit it with London Goldsmiths and get the money like a sort of a hawk system and then give it to their men or they could just pay from their own pocket and then Henry would redeem these items and he set up a redemption date in January 1417. So he very much mortgaged the future for this campaign. That also explains a lot as to why he was determined to be successful. Either successful in getting out of France without too much damage or at the battle, winning the battle. I think it explains a lot about the killing of the prisoners. He cannot afford to lose this campaign. We have the testimony of a French spy who says that Henry was weak in England, that there were other people plotting against him and even as he left Southampton there were people trying to seize the throne from him. So, again, the complexity of the political situation is worth noting. This is one of the receipts for payment given to Thomas Lord Cammons by the Earl of Arundel, the Treasurer of England. Now, I've said on many occasions this is war according to accountants. It's all right Thomas Serpingham saying, yes I will bring 20-minute arms and 60 archers but you want to check that he has actually done that and we have these muster rolls before the campaign. This one's taken quite close to my office in Southampton. You can see the 20-minute arms there at the top, the 60 archers at the bottom. They've all been ticked off with a little dot beside their name when they turned up and we've got four in the middle. Lances in addition to the number. Lances are another word for minute arms at this point. These are people who've turned up, want to go on the campaign but are not in the payroll. In a way they're helping for other people to die. So the enthusiasm for this campaign to go on it is quite substantial. This is a big campaign led by a king leading to substantial conquests, to ransoms, to all the benefits that soldiers would get in addition to their daily wage. Erpingham himself was paid four shawings a day. The Duke of York was paid 13 shawings and fourpins a day. There was a lot of benefit in going on with these sorts of campaigns. Archers then are already present in the retinues but Henry also recruited archer companies. This is the famous South Welsh company, some of them here from Cardiwenshire, Carmarthenshire and these ones are from Breck and Pantosili. They can see these names. I can tell you it's extremely difficult putting Welsh names into a computer database. We have done this. They're already on medieval soldier.org but we're doing a special adjunct database which will be finished by the time the funding runs out at the end of March next year. So not only have we got this special 500 from South Wales, none from the north because Glendale is still at large, probably dies in this year, 500 from Lancashire and perhaps 650 from Cheshire. So we've got these extra archer companies there. As I say, Halfflow is a very difficult place to besiege because it could be flooded rather like what happened in Belgium at the beginning of the First World War, the French were able to flood all of this area making it rather insanitary. Men got dysentery and the causes of the time explained by carcasses and animals being thrown into there and that kind of thing. We've got Henry then on this side here. These are hills above the town and his brother the Duke of Clarence on this side here. It seems that this was the sickly camp, though there's quite a number becoming ill in the King's camp as well. This is also the side where mining took place. We have miners from the forest of Dean recruited for that purpose. We also have gunners here. This picture is taken from Matt Bennett's Osprey book. In fact, it says English guns, yes, but German gunners. We did not have expertise in gunnery at this point and the gunners taken on this campaign. My students working on this actually were all German. It was difficult to take Halfflow, but eventually it surrendered on the 18th of September for formal surrender on the 22nd. However, Henry realised that he had lost a number of men at this siege. Others had dysentery and probably couldn't continue on the campaign and would best then send home. He was a control freak, so people had to have a little xayat to get away. This is attached to a list of games. This is stamped with the signature of the Sennish or Chamberlain of the Household. This is the 6th of October. As he starts to move away from Halfflow, he's deciding who can go home. We actually have lists of sick men. These are amazing as well. The ones down at the bottom there are actually some of the Welsh archers here who don't get to Adgincourt. They are actually invalid at home. We've calculated that these two main lists have about 1500 names in them, so we can say that that number were sent home. However, I have a problem because some of these men's names are also in documents saying they were at the Battle of Adgincourt. It is possible that these are lists of sick rather than lists of men invalid at home. Therefore, some of them may be recovered enough to continue with the fight. It's also interesting that in Jonathan Sumpson's recent book, Cursed Kings, he has a chapter on Adgincourt. He says 2000 English soldiers died at Halfflow. I found 50. In fact, there is quite a lot of documentary evidence here. We have another role. This is the Earl of Arundel's muster, and he will see replacements came in there. We shouldn't underestimate how many Henry's still had with him. The reason we know what happened to the troops is because after the campaign there were more financial records drawn up. This is Erpingham's, and we also have the retinue lists that were drawn up. This is Camois. These show how few people actually died at the Siege of Halfflow and so far from about 80 retinues, I can only find 50 men. Now there were 300 retinues, so we haven't got all of the evidence, but to get to 2000 is impossible. So it is a figure taken from chronical evidence rather than from these sorts of sources. Henry, however, did need to put 1200 into garrison. So if he lost 1500 going home, 1200 into garrison, perhaps 50 multiplied by whatever you think we need, perhaps about 300 dying at the bottom altogether, we can see that he still had about 8,500 men with him. But of those, only 1,000 to 1,500 were men-at-arms, about 7,000 were archers. It's just the way the death toll went that Henry now had an even more archer-rich army for the march, and that's going to be very significant for the battle. But I hope you can see from this, we actually have a huge amount of material that we can use. We don't need to use the chronical sources, which we'll see in a minute when we look at the French, are very misleading indeed. You can just see here, virtually the whole of Camoy's retinue was within at the battle. He's the rearguard on the left, so probably engaging less in the fighting than Duke of York's company on the right. So that's how these battles were conducted. But this one here, Samsung Broccas, stayed within the town of Haar Fleur. So we know he was one soldier from the retinue of Camoy's who was detailed into Haar Fleur. If you go to the very good exhibition of the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London, this one's actually up on the wall, and underneath it is a little touchscreen, you can touch it and see what happened to people. We've put in the retinues they were in, what their rank was, and also what their fate was on the campaign. The player under this will be put it online in due course. So lots of material to draw on, and also on ransoms, this is from Camoy's saying the men in his retinue took ransoms, and out of that Camoy's got a cut and so did the crown, so we know how much was made from ransoms from each retinue. And then just ended this little picture here in the period before metal filing cabinets, what you're even wouldn't once, what you did was put all of Erpingham's documents into a little bag here made from cheap skin essentially, and you tied it up and hung it on a peg with the name Erpingham written over it. So a filing system written for the style. We're back then on the campaign, and we've got to about here just south of Corbyn, and Henry Hears from French prisoners, because he remembers a lot of military activities going on during this all the time, that the French have a coming plan, and the plan is to send cavalry against the archers. So the French already know that the archers could be a threat to them, even though they've not fought a pitched battle against the English for quite a long time. And so Henry famously orders the archers to repair states. I gave a talk at the Wildon Downland Museum down in Sussex, and it was very interesting there, because obviously they do a lot of timber structures there, and one man came up with some very interesting ideas of what dimension the states would be and how it would be part of the coprasing cycle, and how on earth could they do it in the middle of enemy territory. Probably they're not that thick, but they've got to be strong enough to be able to hammer them into the ground and also sharpen them possibly with one of those kind of pruning devices, or bark removing devices there. So this is going to be also very important. It's the first known use of a stake wall in Western Europe, but it had been used by the Turks at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, and there'd been some Englishmen there, so probably it has come into knowledge in the west. Now the other fascinating thing about this is we do actually have the French battle plan. It survives. It was found in the British Library in the 1980s by Christopher Philpots, and we don't know how it got to England. I like to think, because of course I had my hand at the 5th tremendously, that actually was captured during this march. It's not specifically for our Duke, or the French thought they might fight at any point along the Song, and it doesn't have in this plan the Duke of Orleans who's going to end up as commander on the day, or the Duke of Bourbon, so second in command, but it has all of these features. It has the plan to override the arches with a cavalry. It has the plan to have a certain number of French divisions, and also the plan to attack the baggage. So again, I hope you will leave today thinking how sophisticated medieval warfare is, because sometimes the way it's talked about, it's like a stag weekend in the Pada Cale. We've had that whilst we go. Here we are at our Duke court, or probably we don't actually know where the battle was fought, but this is the traditional site, and this is where the monument was erected. In fact, just about there. So the seat of the battle is thought to be in the middle here. As I'm close across here, Tramcourt here, Lucerville there, where the French are supposed to be, and Maison's cell down here where the English are. So you are the English. I would imagine the French are coming out to you there. We've got three groups of men-at-arms, the King in the centre, the Duke of York on the right. It's a little far forward. The Lord Camois on the left. 65 years old, Lord Camois was chosen because he was married into the Royal Family, but also because as an elderly man, he would be able to hold his troops firm while the others started fighting, because they sort of come in one division after the other. You've got some archers in front of you initially, although they're going to fall back when the French men-at-arms come to grips with you in the melee, and then you've got archers flanking. There must be huge flanking, or rather like a horseshoe-shaped flanking there, because one French chronicle comments on the idea have been encircled by the English archers. You remember the number I've said, 7,000 or more, they've got to be accommodated maybe in the woodland on each side, which is also talked about. There are problems with this battlefield. It's not the most obvious place for a battle. It was usually fought on a slightly hilly land, and I'll show you some other possible locations towards the end of the tour. The soil there, as colleagues who are with us at the weekend will testify, is very sort of clawing. There is one there, we call it lecloir. If you get it on your shoes, I still haven't cleaned mine. I didn't bring myself to do it this morning. I did it in a hotel a few weeks ago in France. I actually blocked the sink. You can see why it was a problem. The intriguing thing here is that Henry seems, no doubt from scouting, to have been able to put his men on ground that is less problematic and that the French have to come through this area, maybe also churned up by their horses, exercising in it the night before. It's like a bridal path. You know how terrible it is moving across that kind of terrain. Now we know that some of the French are going to fall over into this and they can't get up again because people are piling on top of them. If you did fall face down into this, it would be very, very difficult indeed. There's a tremendous suction effect and work done by soil scientists in this area has very much shown that. The terrain is significant so you've got to say why did the French choose this ground or how is it possible that Henry managed to get the better position on the day even though he arrived second on to the battlefield. There's a lot of problems about this. I think the French, it's also intriguing that Henry gets there on the 24th and he sets his men into battle array straight away. He thinks the French are going to attack him straight away and indeed they should have done. That would be to their advantage. They choose not to and that's because they're still hoping more troops will come. This is very difficult, getting everybody to the right place, even more so if some of them had been told it was at Albini. The Duke of Brabant we know arrives late. The Duke of Brittany gets no further than Amiens doesn't get there in time. There are several other troops that don't get there in time. I'm estimating around 12,000 French and I'll say a bit more about the numbers in a minute but just to show you then what is going to happen. The first attack then would be the cavalry on each side against the archers and yet the French cannot get enough men to volunteer to be in that cavalry. And it shows really the command problem. The king is mad, the dofa is not on the campaigns, they're worried about the English. So the leading commander is a 21 year old, the Duke of Orleans, who's never been in a pitchfackled before. Maybe then he can't command the troops to do this but this is a pretty bad indictment if the commander cannot force men to do these military actions. And the other things said, maybe they don't like fighting against archers because what honour is there to be gained in that? You're not going to get ransoms that way. But I reckon they're also very worried about their horses, extremely expensive, well trained horses, extremely vulnerable to arrow shot. They're not fully armoured and therefore I think there was a disinclination to engage in that manoeuvre in the battle. But it is a disaster for the French because instead of the archers being overridden by the French cavalry, instead the French cavalry cannot penetrate, that's what the stakes were about to stop the horses getting at the archers. Archers have no plate armour, they have helmets and reinforced jerkings but they are not suitable for fighting in the melee, therefore they've got to be wholly protected and they are by the stakes. But also the shot which I think is in volleys, I don't think we need to know how many an archer can shoot in a minute because I think they are more like Zulu if you know that very famous shooting thing where one lot shoots then the other shoots. I think it's that kind of situation and that's even more scary. Can you imagine, pretend to be the French for a minute or two, imagine you're walking along and then all of a sudden there's hundreds of tennis balls being thrown at you.  The rest of you keep going and you think is there going to be another one? Yes there is but you don't know when it's going to be. And it's not so likely that the archers will be loosening all the time because research by Tom Richardson at the Royal Armouries says that archers, arrows coming groups of 24, 48 were issued for the campaign. So it's not wholly clear how many they had and you don't need to have lots each if you've got 7000 archers there. The other thing that happens with arrow fire, arrow shot I should say is that it has the effect of particularly for the men-at-arms moving forward on foot of making you crowding on each other. It's a natural reaction, a work done on crowd control shows this too, that you would all bunch together. You get so close you cannot raise your weapon arm. And it's also right for falling over, others falling on top of you and the heaps that are mentioned, the heaps of dead in which some people are living and then you're pulled out later, are a characteristic of the narratives of this account. So how much actual fighting there is, how many actually get through to fight with the English men-at-arms on foot is quite dubious. Maybe you wouldn't want to be the Duke of York slot on his side because you are the ones who are going to suffer. We know that at least 90 people in the Duke of York's retinue died and the Earl of Suffer, whose father had died at half-flade, only recently inherited died at the battle as well. So the right gets the full force but Camois retinue as far as I can see has no dead in it at all. So what we also see from this helpful diagram is it's not clear how many of these further French divisions, I don't know quite well if they have two divisions or three, but we see here that quite a lot of them have run away. Also means it doesn't really matter how many men you have in an army if they do not all engage and that's essentially what happens at Argincourt. So treason and cowardice are a feature of French narratives. Now brings me to the question of the French army sizes. Chronicles are a common source we use, they are sort of narrative accounts, it's on history if you like as it was written at the time. We have about 28 chronicles written within 50 years of the battle, most famous for the gesture Henry Quinty written by 1417 in Latin. Quite a lot of these texts are written by monks, very few by eye witnesses but they follow a tradition of historical writing, they're not unique to Argincourt. You can look at things for the 14th century. Walsingham, who was listed there, wrote a chronicle that went from the 1370s through to 1422, so they are general histories in which Argincourt features. Walsingham's account of Argincourt is very interesting because he knew very little about the battle and so he just put in lots of quotes from classical texts instead. Now you can see here that the figures they give on the English chronicles for the French army are huge. Absolutely huge. 60,000 seems quite small doesn't it really? Now the problem with the 60,000 is it's a very popular number with medieval chronicles, it means a large number. How many peasants were there from Kent in London in 1381? 60,000. Clever because the population of Kent using the poll tax was only about 51,000. And we assume that women and children didn't turn up, indeed not every peasant turned up. So these are not credible numbers, they mean something. There's quite a strong biblical influence as well in these kinds of things. So we really cannot use them except comparatively. So if for instance the gesture had said 30,000 for something else, what we're seeing is he thinks that's smaller than that. But we cannot use them for their actual figures. And that's true of all battles, it's not unique to this. I've done it on Bosworth, it's exactly the same problem. Notice also that the French chronicles give much lower figures for their troops. Well of course you bound to say it's like fishermen isn't it? It was this big, really the English were bound to say that the French were in very large numbers. So the French already are producing a difficulty including two down here, the Barry Herald and the point de Richemont, which was actually present at the battle, was written by one of his servants, actually say that the English are outnumbered the French. So again it is not at all clear on the French side how many were there. I've used some financial records, they've got very similar sources for the French side except just not as many of them. Only the third bullet points the most important, but after the English invaded, Chancellor Six raised a tax to cover the cost of 9,000 men. We know that they then issued a summons of the nobles and people would have turned up for that, but they turned up with very small companies, so I've allowed another 3,000 to get a total of 12,000. OK, it might be a few thousand more than that, but we're in that kind of territory here. And I can also compare with the reforms of the 1440s, very much modelled on the English success, where we know that Chancellor Seventh raised 7,200 men at arms group and 8,000 archers. So we know what the French got to by the 1440s, it couldn't really have been there already in 1415. I'm starting now to do the same with the French muster rolls as I can with the English, just to show you the sort of thing. These are mustering on the 22nd of September, but we've got quite a lot of documentation. For instance, we know that the Duke of Berrie had 1,500 men, he wasn't at the battle but we can assume most of those were there. Now that's interesting because the Duke of Clarence is the peer on the English side of the largest company, 960 men. So if the Duke of Berrie has 1,500 men, we're sort of seeing roughly speaking the relationship perhaps between the two armies. But many companies, as in England, were very small. And also, something I've done is look at later French armies. And if we were to say that the French had 60,000 at Argincourt, then we're in the reign of Louis XIV. It is impossible that the French had that number, they could not with their population base. Furthermore, they couldn't because this is a regional battle, imagine life without a mobile phone. You can't phone down to Neon and say we're planning a battle at Argincourt, but there's a very good TGV. If you get on it, you'll be there. It is a very cool battle. And this is where the dead and the prisoners came from. It is entirely from the society in Piccadillartois and up in Normandy there. It's a very nice French version of this, it just appeared on the website. So, if I look at casualties as well, the chronicles tell us 3,000 to 12,000 people died. Monstrelay, if I'm not mistaken, French countries 5,800. Yet, he only names 273. There we are, they're ringing to tell you where to go for the battle. In fact, we can only identify 500 people who died at this battle. Now, you've got to put a multiplier to that. Like the dead-at-half-lugs, we haven't got all the records. But it cannot be the sorts of figures given, maybe 2,000, 1,500 to 2,000 would be credible. The same with the prisoners, we've been able to identify for a few more reasons, about 320 prisoners now. But these are the credible figures. I just want to end with a few things about why Argincourt has still lingered on in the English speaking. It was not a decisive battle. The Duke of Orleans, there was no effort to, he was the main prisoner, no effort to ransom him, or no serious effort, because France was divided and his enemy, the Duke of Burgundy, not at the battle, had no intention of redeeming his enemy. In fact, the Burgundians were able to get control of the government essentially through what had happened at Argincourt. The King was not captured, although there were some valuable prisoners, some of those 300. It was a bit like winning the lottery at the time for the soldiers themselves. It did not have an effect on international diplomacy. Rather like at Cressy, the French were so humiliated by this defeat that they didn't want to come to the negotiating table at all. There were efforts of mediation in 1416, but essentially they didn't take up any opportunities, and Henry invaded again in 1417. In fact, he raised an army of 7,000 to save Half Fleur in 1416 in a naval battle, and he invaded again in 1417 and took all of Normandy, as he'd probably been intending to do. In 1419, there was an assassination by the Dolfan, then the leader of the Orleanist party in the absence of the Duke of Orlians, murdering the Duke of Burgundy. That's going to be a radio programme about this, I think, next week, on Radio 4. What this means is that the English then ally with the Burgundians, and Henry is accepted in 1420 as heir to the throne of France. Shakespeare, of course, rushes us straight from the Battle of Agincourt to the Treaty of Trois in 1420 in the marriage to Catherine. In fact, there's a lot of fighting in between, and a lot of political divisions within France, which is what gets Henry the airship in 1420. Shakespeare has a lot to answer for, both in terms of the fame of Agincourt. It's a battle we've all seen, alarms and excursions. It doesn't actually give much battle scene in it. It's a comic scene with Monsieur Lefer and Pistol, and then there's French rush on. That's what excursions means. They rush on the stage and say, all these last, all these last and then rush off again, probably to take another part. That's how these plays worked. But this play, probably the first produced at the Globe in 1599, is really what everybody remembers about Agincourt. Ironic, because there were no archers in Shakespeare's Home of the Fifth. This portrait has a lot of interest in the medieval past in the Tudor period, and this portrait is one of a number of factors, one in this building here from the 16th century. 1599 meant for Shakespeare, but this coincided with a period of great activity by the heralds and men claiming that they were gentlemen. James I, after all, was fanning this later with the idea of creating baronetsies and all of that sort of thing. The heralds were copying out lists, and this is the Agincourt role. It exists in three copies, one in the College of Arms, one in the Bodlein Library and one in the British Library. These were copied out by Robert Glover in the 1580s. He was Somerset Herald. The idea being that when he and the other heralds went out into the counties and people said, I should be a gentleman, and they said, what grounds have you for that? They said, well my ancestors served at Agincourt. Not just Agincourt, Henry VIII's campaigns were wheeled out in the same way, the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. So there are certain battles that they thought would help in their claim to get a coat of arms, so that's what this is. Now interestingly, this is from a lost original. There was a medieval role of this sort. It doesn't seem to survive. Glover only copied out, or the text he copied it from, only named the men-at-arms, because of course archers couldn't possibly be gentlemen, so there was no need to take those names down. For many years people said that we do not know the names of the archers at Agincourt. In fact we do by using the materials in the National Archives. So this role here has actually misled quite a lot. It occurs a cutting number of websites as a sort of secret. You almost imagine the Templars are behind this list. It's only by certain families in America and for a small sum you can check whether your ancestors served at Agincourt. In fact it is something done by heralds in the late 16th century. But it did, the whole situation of this gentility led to spurious claims. If I look at the visitations, heraldic visitations for Kent between 1592 and 1619, between those two dates the Waller family added the little coat of arms at the top there on their walnut tree from the name Waller, and that's the coat of the Duke of Orleans. The idea being they'd captured the Duke of Orleans at the battle. Now Richard Waller was there but he didn't capture the Duke. He had in his custody John Count of Angulam, the younger brother of the Duke of Orleans. We would say that these French peers are all much of a muchness, except it was a hostage deal of 1412. It has nothing to do with Agincourt. It gets worse in the 19th century. The earls of Kimberley, the woodhouses invented this tremendous coat of arms here with Agincourt, the motto at the bottom, the drops of blood. And the cudgel at the top that John Woodhouse is supposed to have used at the battle going on clonking people on the head with it and shouting, frack four to get hard. Now Woodhouse was not at the battle and that story actually comes from a poem by Michael Drayton written in 1627. So it's part of this medievalism in the late 16th and early 17th century. Woodhouse's Drayton's poem, The Battle of Agincourt, written in 1627 is amazing really. It is a very violent poem.  At the end of the battle the French are defeated and the English force them to carry them on their backs. It's just weird really. He'd already written a shorter poem in 1606 which is The Fest of the Wind for France and it's a pseudo medieval poem. So this interest in Agincourt is certainly around in the early 17th century. And this is when Davy Gamm comes into the story. Davy Gamm is mentioned in The Chronicles as dying at the battle. We're not sure why that's the case but he had indented for it himself and three archers. The first mention of him is in Walter Raleigh's history of the world and he's sent a spy and he comes back with this.  Now we don't know why Raleigh inserted this as he's talking about Hannibal at the time. So we don't know where the story came from but it gets copied into all of the subsequent histories of Wales and Goodwin's history of the reign of Henry V. So it is a story made up in probably the early 17th century. Over the course of the 18th century we were at war with the French so often that it was convenient to wheel out Agincourt, really to say we've knocked the hell out of them in the past, we can do it again lads. It's that sort of feeling and here we are in the war of Austrian succession. British valor has always been a notice that it didn't create a problem moving from English to British. That probably becomes a British victory even though technically it is English. So suddenly it was during that war that the princesses of the royal family paid for productions of Shakespeare's Henry V. When Henry V starts going to perform very, very frequently it gets more so in the Seven Years War. This idea also coming in the radical fortitude, we were morally and politically superior to the French but it was their Irish stones, they were bound to have a revolution sooner or later and we were already men of the soil of that kind of thing. The first indication of the anniversary newspaper, the first reminder that today is the anniversary of the battle, is in 1757 during the Seven Years War, found by the fact that George III actually acceded to the throne on 25th October in 1760. When we continued fighting in the Revolutionary Wars we get the same sort of thing there. The French preserved that character, they're the same in 1415 as they are now. In 1805, the year of Trafalgar, you could pay a shilling to see this huge painting in the Lyceum. One was done of Serringa Patam as well. You could evoke the memory of Agincourt at the Lord Mayor's show in 1815, we've got a float this year. They looked at both Waterloo and Agincourt as great victories. Shakespeare continued to be tremendously popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is from the 1850s. The production's got more and more lavish. You had real horses on the stage. You even had dancing girls in the French camp the night before the battle to show the battle to general that they were. It also got women on the stage instead of playing, otherwise there's very few opportunities. In 1915, of course, we were allies. These are marvellous scenes of the French welcoming British troops. This was in the Illustrated London News and also the French newspaper. They shook hands over this place of previous conflict but now we're allies, as they said. They were shown round the field by this French Lieutenant Colonel. I'd love to get hold of those handouts that the British officers are holding. I haven't been able to find them. But intriguingly, this chap here said that the English had 28,000 men at this battle. Finally, where was it? Well, the earliest map actually shows it to the west of the village of Azancourt there. But the area I showed you before is actually there between Azancourt and Tramacourt. So we do have a problem because the first book about the battle in 1827 did the same. It put it to the west of Azancourt. But the traditional site was first surveyed in 1818 when we occupied that area after the Napoleonic Wars. You can see here how the two hours ago the French up there and then the English are put here. Various other features are marked on here such as grave pits, that kind of thing. Now, the surveyor, John Woodford, actually did carry out some excavations, but nothing of those now survives. Victorian excavations are often very difficult to rediscover. And there is some possibility that this map, with its burial of 5,800 knights, remember that's what Monsterlade said, is more like Tolkien's map of Middle Earth. It is imposing the battle on to an actual terrain. We've excavated here around the Calvair where Woodford marked the graves. Nothing there at all apart from an oil drilling rig from the 1870s. It's possible this field would handle more, but the French have not been very keen on excavation recently. A new plaque was put onto this calvair, which dates originally to around the Franco-Prussian War. There are some bodies. These were in the Church of Ulce de Hedon, where the ceremony was held on Sunday morning. And this one of these is Gala de Fougère, the Provost-Marshall, who is deemed by the French to be the first gendarme. So the ceremony at the weekend had a lot about the history of the gendarmery. It was organised by then. And this body was dug up in the 1930s and is now at the bottom of the gendarmery monument in Versailles. We know where 54 people were buried on the French side. We know where they were taken to. At these, so far, the only ones that have been dug up, we haven't found grave pits. Tim Sutherland has suggested that this could be the site of the battle. With a road through the middle, we're never going to get that excavated. Because somebody has talked about a valley. If you remember what I showed you before, it was totally flat. So is it this valley here? It's nearer to Risseville. I imagine it's down through there. Another possibility is this position here. We're looking at that. It's the centre of the battlefield there. But we're looking at it obliquely from Maison. So, and again, it is much more likely to be the sort of terrain that battles were fought in, where armies adopted a hill, a sort of hilly-up position. Borealising it is also interesting. In 1963, this was put up on St Joan of Arc's feast day, to show that the French won the war, if not the battle. The Saint-Historic was built in 2001, with European money, very nicely done with a sort of longbow frontage to it. Then finally, on Sunday, Ajucourt 600 paid for this rather splendid monument to the dead, both sides with no known graves. In fact, this was part of the ceremony. It was a very interesting event, I thought, although it showed the characteristics of the French, I think, which some of which, in a way, you can date back to Ajucourt as well. There were nine speeches. At every level, our French local government has to contribute. I was honoured to be invited to speak. I've done a lot of work for the Saint-Historic over the years. We wanted to read it in French and in English, so mine took even longer. It's very interesting, but it was lovely to see on the following day, which was when this picture was taken, a lot of people going to have a look. The museum will be refurbished next year. They've got quite a bit of money to do that, and we're hoping there will be excavation. As you can see, we know a lot about Ajucourt, but there's still a lot more to know, from the point of view of the French Army and the archaeology of it. I hope you will continue your interest in the future. Thanks very much.


It's snow in my life you've never seen snow. Yeah, I don't think you're gonna get it in Iran Yes You know, I have never taken an English guy You've never you've learned on your own Yeah, yeah, I learned this by myself That's that's what helped me learn quickly You know, I'm learning English phrases, you know Alien phrases. I would like to be like you, you know Well, so now what we're streaming our video of our of our call now so people on Facebook can watch us and on you stream So tell us so people can hear your voice and and you have here's your chance to practice your English with our audience Tell us a little bit about yourself. Are you a student or?  I'm looking for a knowledge. All right So you're so this is a good way to tell what your skills are if you're looking for a job. You said you are in Iran, correct? I'm I'm still in junior but actually I'm gonna I'm gonna get Gonna need you up to to learn experience For my career. Excellent. So what what are you studying in school? What's what's your major? I will tell you I studied civil engineering civil engineering Civil engineering. We just had a call from an electrical engineer in Vietnam and we've we hear from a lot of engineers and So do you want to build bridges or what do you are buildings? What what do you want to do as a civil engineer? Yeah, actually my major What did you think of Bridge and building and any construction. Great. What did you think of the you've been watching the Olympics? Have you been I'll bet you've been looking at the stadium, right when they're or the you know, how they built it, right? Have you been enjoying the watching the Olympics? Yeah, I was killed of them, you know, but I Don't I don't watch TV more much, you know This I spent all my my what my time only to interest, you know, my interest is not so good. That's maybe I can't You know what? Windows Something online. Well, you're doing a great job with your English. We want to wish you luck in his thanks call anytime We'll talk to you again soon. Take care. Well, we're going to oh, we've got we've got stevo calling us from Yeah, hi stevo stevo. Are you there? Hi There we go now we can hear you now the the last time we talked in February you were you were in Aleppo in Syria Yeah, and you're still there. You're still there. How is it today? Yeah, today, I think it's quite today comparing to their previous days. I Didn't hear any sound of clashes or bombs. I used to hear a few years a few days ago and what are you and getting better, I think and There wasn't red in my In my city, but now before two days the oven the oven the bakery next to my home is Was opened and we can get to the bread and but we still have no no fuels like gas or benzene diesel or Other stuff. That's been a problem for a long time. I remember in February. You were telling us that was an issue What are you hearing from?  Are they encouraged? I mean, it's been going on a long time in Syria Nobody knows actually but most of the people living in the Eastern Eastern part of the city Have fled the fled their homes and when to maybe many of them are now living in schools schools and some of them are living in the dormitory of the university and And others Let's do the countryside the countryside now in Aleppo the countryside of Aleppo is now safer than the city itself previous month the countryside was more disturbing and Inconvenient for people to live there because the clashes Were in the countryside, but now the clashes went to inside the city and the countryside is now safe so some people the Left maybe to their parents or to their relatives in the countryside Some of them to the schools some of them to the dormitory some of them to their relatives inside Aleppo the Western part of the city is still safe and I am living in the Western part in Aleppo and The situation here is is quiet Comparing to the what's happening in the western and the eastern side of the city but every day I wake up due to the sounds of the the bombs and the the aircrafts flying over my home and the aircrafts jet fighters aircrafts Are plenty in the sky and every maybe every ten minutes a few minutes you can hear them flying over you Do you have electricity where you are? Yes, I have electricity, but not for a long time Sometimes The electricity went out maybe for one hour sometimes for four hours sometimes for a day. Nobody knows they They bring the electricity and they cut and they cut it We don't know which time they provide the electricity and which time they stop it or cut it out Do you still go to work Steve? Oh? No, no, I stopped going to work. I work at the Aleppo University as an engineer and when the clashes started the University of Aleppo is closed now and So how do you not only the University of Aleppo all the mental institutes or the complements of compartmental Buildings are stopped now. Nobody goes to work. How are you supporting yourself leave? How do you how do you pay for things? How do you buy food pay your rent? I? Have some saves before I saved some money from previous time and I knew that this will happen So when that when there is no great I still have some great because I stored some at my refrigerator I knew that would happen and I stored some foods some everything. So I prepared myself for such a circumstances but now The situation is getting better indeed. There are some shops opened And you can get to whatever you want actually in some part of the city in some shops now are opening Well, you is it all right if we if we share this conversation with our newsroom to know Okay, thank you Yeah, stay safe and please keep keep us informed on how you're doing and we wish you the best Okay, bye. Bye. Bye, Steve. Oh Okay, we're going to go to a caller now named chow chow. Can you hear us? Hello chow Hello chow Chow, maybe? Hello. Can you hear us? Oh? You have a very happy photo of Watch it. I think we're having Trouble with I can't really hear we're going to go to CJ Hi CJ Where are you calling us from CJ your picture looks very American with your baseball cap Thailand great. Yeah, and are you following the Olympics? Yeah, yes, I do. Yeah, how is the Thai team doing? What's your favorite sport to watch Are you are you viewing it on TV or do you read about in the newspaper? How do you keep up? My favorite boy There's a game today Who's the US playing today, or there's there's a basketball game today, I know I heard on the radio this morning I haven't been we haven't at last time I looked up at the TV in the office. They were showing Synchronized swimming, you know where they eat the swimmers in the pool all synchronized. It's amazing that they they can do that in the wall Yeah, I find it amazing to and the rhythmic gymnastics. Oh my gosh. Those women are incredible But there's so many stories that come out like the the runner that ran on the broken leg Yeah, they're running one that he wanted Mitchell was it? Yeah, I won the Decathlon. He's the world's best athlete who's running with it. Yeah What's the early regard? I'm getting it mixed up. There was a hundred meter. Okay I'm getting my athletes with the broken with the leg problems mixed up, but it's incredible It's just I don't know so so who are you rooting for in basketball? Sorry, who are you supporting in basketball? I must go They're not in the Olympics though, right We're going to CJ. It was great talking to you. We're going to go on chow is calling us back. Can you hear us now chow? Chow, you're very muffled Your microphone isn't real clear Oh, we brought a problem. This is this is today's USA Today newspaper Big national newspaper showing a sweet victory. This was the American women's soccer team Celebrating after winning the gold against Japan yesterday two to one. Yeah And there are stories basically saying that that the US says 39 gold medals China has 37 Right behind in the Olympics, but it's a good year and very close to be interesting To see what night brings and this weekend chow. Can you hear us? Can you hear us? Well, we've got let's see we've getting lots of more lots more contact requests here. So we'll be taking a It's a good chance for people to call and let's catch up on some of our wow Here's your chance give us give us a call now VOA learning English on Skype, you know Well, we're waiting for the calls. I gotta tell you. Oh, there we go. Let's go to Mohammed and then we'll talk about Mohammed, are you there? Hello Wait, let's let me in this call here Mohammed can you hear us? I'm a Rocco. Let's try. Let's try calling. I'm calling you Mohammed and we'll see if you answer So, you know the one the one Olympics sport that I could never do is the open water swim Oh my gosh, they're in the water for an hour and there are people swimming over top of you and under you and yeah From what I understand that's I mean, you know people we get panicked That's not a good place to get a panic attack, right? But that's murky water and Hyde Park and it's the serpentine river and Mohammed. Can you hear us? We can't even hear you. Oh All right Wait, we have Iqbal Iqbal. Hi Iqbal Can you hear us? Are you there Iqbal? Maybe it's Iqbal. Hello. Hi. Hello. Hi. Who's this? Hello. Hello. Can you hear us? How are you? We are great What's your name? My name is Abid. Abid. Okay. You don't look like your picture Abid or we're getting a different name What tell us where you're calling from? We have a picture for you Abid of a man with a beard Maybe our picture is me Where are you calling from? Abid, where do you live? What? Abid, where do you live? What country are you calling from? Tunisia. Tunisia. Very nice. Oh and you have something to celebrate that the Tunisians won the Ten kilometer race. We were just talking about that the open swim, right? What? For the Olympics. Have you been following the Olympics? I don't know. No? Okay. Well your country won. Congratulations. Congratulations. What part of Tunisia are you calling from? I don't know. I don't think she's hearing us very well. Maybe we can go to Fern. We're going to go to Fern. Fern, can you hear us? Hey. Hey Fern. Hey Fern. Where are you calling from? I'm really excited to call with you now. Which country do you... What country are you from? I'm from Thailand. Do you know this country? Yeah, we just spoke to another caller from Thailand a little while ago. I was telling him I was there in Thailand in 1990, Thailand and Vietnam. So from what I saw at Bangkok I really enjoyed it. From July of 1990. Is that where you live in Bangkok? Yeah, a lot a lot. I'm living in some harmony in the city beside the beach. It's very good. The beach. On the beach. Yeah. I hear it's wonderful for scuba diving. Are you near a good scuba diving area? Yeah, it's near Gokshank. You may be around here. Yes? We're talking today about the Olympics Fern. Have you been watching or following the Olympics? Yeah, I was sometimes. I'm really busy now. You're busy, of course. Of course. Are you in school? Yeah. Are you in school? You look very young in the video. Yeah. I'm in high school. So you're on your summer break? When is your summer or your vacation? When are Thailand schools on long vacation, on break? It's on October. But you're not in school today? It's Saturday there, right? That's right. Time difference. It's Friday here. So tell us about what's life like for a high school student where you are? What's the social life like at high school? So tell us what do you want to mean? What? What? Tell us a little bit about your high school. Is it big? Is it small? Do you like your classes? Yeah. It's easy to be a schoolboy. I'm not happy about school. Yeah. It makes it easy for me to know and thank the teachers. I'm in school a lot because of school. And what do you do when you're not in school, Fern? What do you like to do after school? I think I always change the problem for a teacher at my school every day. Okay. Well, Fern, it was great talking to you. And I wish you the best with your rest of your school year. So take care. Thanks for it. Bye-bye. All right. Well, let's see who else has been trying to call us here. Okay, so we finished with that call. Well, let's see. We've been talking. We've been talking for a while, right? We have. Why don't we go ahead and start wrapping up this edition? You've got to go on to... Anchoring, special English today, learning English. Carolyn records our week's videos this afternoon in about three hours. Right. And those will be on YouTube soon. And next week, same thing. Yeah, very good. So it's a good way to learn English because you not only see my mouth move, but you see the words right here at the bottom of your screen. So you can read along while I'm reading to you. And you can listen. Listen and learn. The same time. And the videos are... You can find them all at youtube.com-voa-learning-english, where we'll post this video when we're done, and at voaspecialenglish.com. So we want to thank you all for joining us. Thank you. And we will have another Skype call-in show soon. Take care. Bye-bye.