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 the Zab for the caliph, however, was only lukewarm. The morale of the Umayyads had been damaged by the series of defeats inflicted earlier in the rebellion, while the morale of the Abbasid armies had increased. The Abbasid army formed a spear wall, a tactic they had adopted from their Syrian opponents, presumably from witnessing it in earlier battles. This entailed standing in a battle line with their lances pointed at the enemy (similar to the stakes used by English longbowmen at Agincourt and Crécy many centuries later). The Umayyad cavalry charged, possibly believing that with their experience they could break the