In theory, every Englishman had an obligation to serve for forty days. England was one of the most centralized states in the Late Middle Ages, and the armies that fought the Hundred Years' War were mostly paid professionals. It was estimated that the best infantrymen came from the younger sons of free land-owning yeomen, such as the English archers and Swiss pikemen. Towns and cities could also field militias.Īs central governments grew in power, a return to the citizen and mercenary armies of the classical period also began, as central levies of the peasantry began to be the central recruiting tool. They could, however, be efficient in disadvantageous terrain. Typically the feudal armies consisted of a core of highly skilled knights and their household troops, mercenaries hired for the time of the campaign and feudal levies fulfilling their feudal obligations, who usually were little more than rabble. The more resources the noble had access to, the better his troops would typically be. This decentralized system was necessary due to the social order of the time but could lead to motley forces with variable training, equipment and abilities. In the earliest Middle Ages, it was the obligation of every noble to respond to the call to battle with his equipment, archers, and infantry. Before the battle of Lechfeld in 955 Medieval Europeans were vulnerable from the Nomadic style of war that came from the Hungarians. Recruiting Hungarian raids in the 10th century. Most armies contained significant numbers of spearmen, archers and other unmounted soldiers. Many infantrymen in prolonged wars would be mercenaries. The infantry was recruited and trained in a wide variety of manners in different regions of Europe all through the Middle Ages, and probably always formed the most numerous part of a medieval field army. Many countries developed their styles of light cavalries, such as Hungarian mounted archers, Spanish jinetes, Italian and German mounted crossbowmen and English currours. Light cavalry was used as scouts, skirmishers or outflankers. Later in the Middle Ages, light cavalry would also include sergeants who were men who had trained as knights but could not afford the costs associated with the title. In much of the Middle Ages, light cavalry usually consisted of wealthy commoners. The light cavalry consisted usually of lighter armed and armoured men, who could have lances, javelins or missile weapons, such as bows or crossbows. During the crusades, holy orders of Knights fought in the Holy Land (see Knights Templar, the Hospitallers, etc.). The cost of their armour, horses, and weapons was great this, among other things, helped gradually transform the knight, at least in western Europe, into a distinct social class separate from other warriors. The medieval knight was usually a mounted and armoured soldier, often connected with nobility or royalty, although (especially in north-eastern Europe) knights could also come from the lower classes, and could even be enslaved persons. See also: Heavy cavalry and Light cavalry
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