During the famous battle of Agincourt Henry V’s baggage train was ransacked. Amongst the items taken was ‘the sword of King Arthur which was worth so much money that no one knew what to do with it…’
Quite what it was doing there is not immediately clear, but how Excalibur came to be in Henry’s saddlebags is a double mystery, as that same sword had been given away by Richard the Lionheart over two hundred years earlier.
In this talk, Dr Rob Jones, will explain why not one but two English kings could be so careless with Britain’s most famous sword.
Dr Rob Jones is a medieval historian, focusing on the cultural historian of medieval warfare and knighthood. A Fellow of the Royal Historical society and A Visiting Scholar in History at Franklin and Marshall College, Pensylvania, he works for Haberdashers’ Monmouth independent school. Author of ‘A Cultural History of the Medieval Sword: Power, Piety, and Play’ and ‘Bloodied Banners: Martial Display in the Medieval Battlefield’, Rob is also a reenactor and a practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts.
Date: August 02, 2026
Start time: 16:00
End time: 17:00
Venue: Battle of Evesham Festival Presentation Marquee
Coordinates: 52°05’17.7″N 1°56’54.7″W
- Parking Info: No parking at venue. Please use the Festival Park and Ride at Evesham Town Football Club, Cheltenham Rd, Evesham WR11 2LZ – All day parking £10 per vehicle with free shuttle buses (or a 15 mins walk). Buses run 9am to 7pm.
