Apr 23, 2024
Time for a puzzler. This one is historic in nature. And there are conflicting versions out there, so don't get all upset if this is just one of them.
Here we go.
The year was 1415. It was in October of 1415. Earlier in that year, Henry V of England had invaded France because he thought he had a claim to the French throne.
So, after spending many months there and being unsuccessful in his mission of taking over the French thrown, they decided to head back to England. The troops were starving and fighting disease and they were just dying to see their families again. They decide to go to Calais, the French port city, to hitch a boat ride back to their homeland, merry old England.
That was their plan, but they were cut off by the French. And at that point, Henry V tries to sue for peace and says, "I don't want to fight!"
And the French basically say, "Well, that's tough. You're fighting..."
I'm paraphrasing here, of course...
So, the French were under the command of a man named Charles d'Albret. He was commanding a force of about 25,000 men, while Henry V had about 6,000 men total. The French go into this convinced that the Brits are done for. They're tired, they're outnumbered... The French then proclaim that after the battle is over, they will take the British soldiers that are still alive and they will remove certain parts of their bodies so they might never be able to fight again.
Well, it turns out that the battle was preceded by heavy rains and the French troops were at a disadvantage because they were in a valley and they were weighted down by their heavy armor, and the tactics of the British soldiers were superior and somehow, the Brits won the battle. It was a decisive battle, and d'Albert and many of the French nobility were killed in the battle.
When the battle was over, the British soldiers then displayed the parts of themselves that would have been cut off by the French as a way to revel in their victory.
What were they displaying?
Good luck.
So when the battle was over, the British soldiers then displayed what parts of themselves to the French to symbolize their victory? The parts of themselves that the French had threatened to cut off?
And here is the answer. Many of the British soldiers were archers. And the French had threatened to cut off their first two fingers so they couldn't pull back their bows any longer, and could never be archers again.
So, after winning the battle, the Battle of Agincourt, the British held up their first two fingers to the now defeated French.
And those first two finger are what we know as ta V for Victory sign.
There is some argument about this, about what actually happened in history. But I like this version, so we are keeping it!