Prisoner of war: Difference between revisions

 

King [[Henry V of England|Henry V]]'s English army killed many French prisoners of war after the [[Battle of Agincourt]] in 1415.<ref>"But when the outcries of the lackies and boies, which ran awaie for feare of the Frenchmen thus spoiling the campe came to the kings eares, he doubting least his enimies should gather togither againe, and begin a new field; and mistrusting further that the prisoners would be an aid to his enimies, or the verie enimies to their takers in deed if they were suffered to live, contrarie to his accustomed gentleness, commended by sound of trumpet, that everie man (upon pain and death) should uncontinentlie slaie his prisoner. When this dolorous decree, and pitifull proclamation was pronounced, pitie it was to see how some Frenchmen were suddenlie sticked with daggers, some were brained with pollaxes, some slaine with malls, others had their throats cut, and some their bellies panched, so that in effect, having respect to the great number, few prisoners were saved." [[Raphael Holinshed]], ''Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland'', quoted by Andrew Gurr in his introduction to {{cite book | last1 = Shakespeare | first1 = William | last2 = Gurr | first2 = Andrew | title = King Henry V | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2005 | page = 24 | isbn = 0-521-84792-3}}</ref> This was done in retaliation for the French killing of the boys and other non-combatants handling the baggage and equipment of the army, and because the French were attacking again and Henry was afraid that they would break through and free the prisoners who would rejoin the fight against the English.

 

[[Feudal Japan]] had no custom of ransoming prisoners of war, who could expect for the most part summary execution.<ref>[http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_japanese_studies/v031/31.2lamers.html "Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124715/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=%2Fjournals%2Fjournal_of_japanese_studies%2Fv031%2F31.2lamers.html |date=4 March 2016 }}, ''The Journal of Japanese Studies''.</ref>