The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French.
The Battle of Crécy, from a 15th-century illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles
Edward III of England
Philip VI of France
Depiction of an English bombard as used at the Battle of Crécy
Philip VI, called the Fortunate or the Catholic and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death in 1350. Philip's reign was dominated by the consequences of a succession dispute. When King Charles IV of France died in 1328, his nearest male relative was his nephew, King Edward III of England, but the French nobility preferred Charles's paternal cousin, Philip.
Philip VI in a contemporary miniature depicting the trial of Robert III of Artois, c. 1336
Coronation of Philip VI
Flemish leader as fish seller went to search in French camp
Philip VI and his first wife, Joan of Burgundy