Battle of Agincourt Conquest of France", raising the popular prominence of particular events mentioned only in passing by the original chroniclers, such as the gift of tennis balls before the campaign. The most famous cultural depiction of the battle today is William Shakespeare's "Henry V", written in 1599. The play focuses on the pressures of kingship, the tensions between how a king should "appear" – chivalric, honest, and just – and how a king must sometimes "act" – Machiavellian and ruthless. Shakespeare illustrates these tensions by depicting Henry's decision to kill some of the French prisoners, whilst attempting to justify it and distance
Battle of Agincourt battle itself, leading critic Rose Zimbardo to characterise it as "full of warfare, yet empty of conflict." The play introduced the famous St Crispin's Day Speech, considered one of Shakespeare's most heroic speeches, in which Henry delivers movingly to his soldiers just before the battle, urging his "band of brothers" to stand together in the forthcoming fight. Critic David Margolies describes how it "oozes honour, military glory, love of country and self-sacrifice", and forms one of the first instances of English literature linking solidarity and comradeship to success in battle. Partially as a result, the battle was used as a