Sir Anthony DOD of Edge & his role in the Battle of Agincourt

[Spike Malet]

Anthony Dod of Edge is listed in Visitations as having been knighted after the Battle of Agincourt. See:-

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qf4GAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA548&lpg=PA548&dq=anthony+dod+agincourt&source=bl&ots=3rZ-JYKkHI&sig=ZUxphoqQf5qmhYwTKQ8tHxIp7aw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EVfrU6vWAtSu7AbE6oDwDQ&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=anthony%20dod%20agincourt&f=false

Does anyone know of any other evidence for his being there or where to find out about his role in the Battle?

Thanks.

[Little Nell]

Welcome to RootsChat.   

Anthony commanded the English archers at Agincourt.

Nell

[Spike Malet]

Hi Nell,

Sir Thomas ERPINGHAM is widely reported to have been the overall commander of the English archers at Agincourt:-

"He [] fought there with King Henry V, famously at Agincourt where he was in command of the king's deadly archers, giving the signal to fire with the mysterious command recorded by French heralds as "Nestroque!"  Historian Matthew Bennet, on a visit to Norfolk, recently recognised this as strong Norfolk dialect (still spoken in some parts) for "Now strike"!  Shakespeare makes him an older man at Agincourt with Henry, glad to rest his head on the ground to sleep like a king."

http://www.norfolkheraldry.org.uk/Sir_Thomas_Erpingham.html

As far as I have read the English battle line consisted of a pretty crude formation of the men-at-arms and cavalry lined up in the centre with a flank of archers on either side. Sir Thomas ERPINGHAM was supposed to have ridden out in front of the lines and given the command to the archers before withdrawing to the middle to fight alongside Henry V.

Obviously each flank of archers probably had their own commanders and were divided into sub-units so perhaps Sir Anthony DOD(D)(E) was leader of one of these? Or were the archers divided into a longbow group and a shortbow group? Alternatively perhaps ERPINGHAM was not in command of the archers really and was just acting as the King's deputy in giving the order to fire and to start the attack on the French, but his role has been twisted by Shakespear etc?

Anthony DODDE does seem to have come from a family with a strong background in archery as do many Cheshire families. His father was called David DOD and there is a record of an archer of that name being in the Kings Bodyguard in the late 1300s, although according to the following the Kings Bodyguard may have ended up fighting against the King and dying at the Battle of Shrewsbury!

http://www.medievalsoldier.org/August2008.htm

But this is deviating from the original question. Although the fact that Anthony DOD is listed in Visitations as having been knighted at Agincourt, and likely had a background in archery, is there a place where his role would have been recorded in more detail?

[Little Nell]

There might be - that information (which occurs in a number of places) had to have come from some account, probably contemporary.  You might have to consult some bibliographies in some very scholarly tomes to find a good source.

Nell

[Spike Malet]

Hi Nell,

Which information is in a variety of places? In relation to:-
 

• Anthony Dod being knighted after the Battle of Agincourt and being buryed at Canterbury after dying on the journey back to England - This is mentioned in at least 2 Visitations, Burkes & a County History book
• Anthony Dod being in command of the archers -  the only places I have seen this are an unreferenced entry on Wikipedia and a newspaper article about the Olympic archers William & Lottie Dod who said that when they were children they were told that Sir Anthony was in command of the archers so it would be a good thing if they took up archery!

We all know how accurate some of things that adults tell children are, so the story about him being a commander might be a bit dubious.  Henry V was supposed to have knighted half the army that was still standing at the end of Agincourt so perhaps Anthony was just a lower ranked soldier and the story embellished over time?

If there was a tomb/effigy/inscription at Canterbury to confirm his burial there I guess that might add a bit more weight though, as just a rank and file knight would probably not have been buried there? I've had a look on the internet and can't find anything though. I guess inscriptions from c.1415 may not have survived?

[Little Nell]

I found that Anthony was supposed to have commanded the archers in two or three places (it wasn't wikipedia, I know that) but I can't find the search in my internet history (I was using a different PC earlier this week) so I can't tell you where.

I've no idea about burial at Canterbury - I don't think I found that.  There are an enormous number of tombs at Canterbury - the most prominent ones seem to be of past archbishops - besides any other burials.   

Nell

[mazi]

familysearch  has him buried in Canterbury and cites the source as "a history of the county palatine of Cheshire and city of chester"  Ormerod, George 1882 published by G Routledge London.

mike

[Spike Malet]

Thanks Nell and Mike.

I suspect that both The Ormerod book and Burkes Commoners just draw upon the Dod of Edge Pedigree on p.80 of the 1613 Visitation of Cheshire (or p.92 of the PDF document):-

http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/visitations1613/1613.pdf

which just says:-

"Sir Anthoney Dodde knighted at the battall of Agencourt & lyeth buried at Canterbury H. 5 [1415]"

Nothing about his exact role or references though.