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The Composition of the Medieval Army

Every time a medieval army marched to war, it brought together a mix of social classes ranging from wealthy nobles to poor peasant farmers. A typical army consisted of between $5,000$ and $10,000$ men. Within this force, infantry and archers heavily outnumbered the mounted cavalry by a ratio of at least $2:1$ or $3:1$ .

Armour Evolution: Protective gear evolved significantly between $1250$ and $1500$ . Around $1250$ , cavalry wore chainmail (a hauberk) and a great helm. Between $1300$ and $1400$ , plate elements were added to protect limbs from blunt force and arrows. By $1400$ , elite soldiers wore full plate armour to defend against powerful missile weapons.
Infantry: Foot soldiers were primarily drawn from the peasantry. They did not have expensive armour; instead, they wore a gambeson (a quilted linen jacket) and an iron skull cap. They fought mainly with spears, shields, and daggers, often forming a defensive schiltron (a tight circle or square of outward-pointing spears) to block cavalry charges.
Archers: The English military relied heavily on the longbow, a $6$ -foot yew bow with a draw weight of $80$ – $150\text{ lbs}$ . Skilled archers could fire $10$ to $12$ arrows per minute up to an effective range of $200\text{m}$ , capable of piercing chainmail. In contrast, crossbows had a much slower rate of fire (around bolts per minute) but required very little training to use effectively.

Social Structure and Army Command

Understanding who commanded a medieval army requires looking at who owned the land they fought on. The feudal system meant that military leadership was entirely dictated by social hierarchy rather than tactical skill.

Land and Leadership: The King owned all the land in England. He kept some for himself, granted $25\%$ to the Church, and gave the remaining $50\%$ to his most powerful nobles, known as tenants-in-chief.
Obligations of Service: In exchange for a fief (a parcel of land), these nobles owed the King knight service. This required them to provide a set quota of fully armed knights for $40$ days of unpaid military service each year. Because these tenants-in-chief provided the troops from their own lands, they automatically served as senior commanders leading their own retinues.
The Command Hierarchy: The chain of command mirrored the social pyramid perfectly. The King acted as Commander-in-Chief. Beneath him, the Earl Constable and Earl Marshal managed logistics. The tenants-in-chief commanded large wings of the army, while lower-ranking knights acted as captains leading smaller companies.

Students often assume medieval armies were mostly made up of knights. In reality, infantry and archers outnumbered mounted knights by a ratio of at least $2:1$ .

For 'Explain' questions on army command, examiners expect you to explicitly link land ownership to military rank. Always use precise terminology like 'tenants-in-chief' to show this causal link.

When describing the composition of the army, highlight how the longbow shifted the balance of power on the battlefield from the noble, heavily armoured knight to the common archer.

Foot soldiers, primarily drawn from the peasant class, forming the defensive bulk of a medieval army.

Soldiers who fought on horseback, making up the social and military elite of the medieval army.

Highly trained, armoured cavalrymen drawn from the nobility or gentry.

Heavily armoured cavalry soldiers who fought like knights but lacked the formal social title of knighthood.

Tight, disciplined cavalry formations of 20 to 30 men used to deliver devastating mounted charges.

A stiff, pointed dagger used by soldiers in hand-to-hand combat to pierce the gaps in plate armour.

Flexible armour made of interlocking iron rings, standard protection for wealthy soldiers around 1250.

A thick, quilted linen or leather jacket used as affordable protection by common infantry.

A defensive infantry formation made of tightly packed soldiers pointing spears or pikes outward to stop cavalry.

A powerful 6-foot bow capable of rapid fire and high armour penetration, heavily used by English armies.

The medieval social structure where land was exchanged for loyalty and military service.

Powerful nobles (barons or bishops) who held land directly from the King and were responsible for providing quotas of knights.

A parcel of land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for military service and loyalty.

The obligation of a landholder to provide 40 days of unpaid military service per year to the King.