The Nature and Impact of Medieval Warfare

You might expect a medieval king to have a permanent, highly trained army ready to fight at a moment's notice, but early medieval kings actually had to build their forces from scratch every time a war broke out.

• For much of the early medieval period, the primary method of recruitment was the Feudal Levy. Kings granted land to nobles, who in return provided a set number of knights (a knight's fee) for 40 days of unpaid service per year.
• By 1181, the Assize of Arms required all free men to own weapons based on their wealth, creating a domestic "nation in arms" for local defence.
• However, the 40-day limit was useless for long, overseas campaigns like the Hundred Years War. This limitation forced the Adaptation of Feudal Service.
• Kings began using the Contract System. They signed an Indenture (a formal written contract) with military captains to provide a specific number of paid, specialized soldiers, known as Indentured Retinues.
• This shift towards professionalization allowed armies to recruit highly skilled troops, such as Welsh longbowmen who practiced from age seven, and eventually utilize early artillery like the cannons seen at the Battle of Castillon (1453).
• Ultimately, the scale of change was massive: warfare transformed from a temporary, unpaid feudal obligation based on land ownership into a highly specialized, paid profession that could sustain years of continuous campaigning.

The Financial Cost and Evolution of Taxation

Anyone who has ever borrowed money for an expensive purchase knows that debts must eventually be paid back, and medieval kings fighting long wars were no exception.

• The professionalization of armies and the hiring of foreign Mercenaries made warfare ruinously expensive. For example, Richard I's ransom in 1193 cost 150,000 marks, equating to three years of the Crown's entire annual revenue.
• Edward III borrowed over £300,000 from Italian banking families to fund his wars; his inability to repay them in 1345 triggered a European financial crisis.
• To fund these massive costs, taxation evolved. Initially, kings relied on Scutage (shield money paid instead of military service), but extreme rates demanded by King John sparked the Magna Carta in 1215.
• Kings then shifted to taxing moveable goods via the Tenth and Fifteenth tax, and later introduced the highly controversial Poll Tax to fund the Hundred Years War.
• The changing nature of war forced a fundamental shift in political power: the sheer cost of conflict meant kings had to frequently summon Parliament to request taxes, granting Parliament new powers such as the right to audit royal accounts.

Worked Example

How did the 1381 Poll Tax impact an ordinary peasant family? (Given: The 1381 Poll Tax was a flat rate of 4 groats, or 12d, per person over 15. An unskilled labourer earned roughly 1d per day.)

Step 1: Identify the tax burden per person.

• $\text{Tax per person} = 12\text{d}$

Step 2: Calculate the days of labour required to pay for one person.

• $12\text{d} \div 1\text{d/day} = 12 \text{ days}$

Step 3: Evaluate the economic impact.

• A single peasant would have to work for nearly two full weeks just to pay the tax for one family member, directly contributing to the outbreak of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.

The Destructive Impact of Warfare on Civilians

In medieval conflicts, full-scale battles between armies were incredibly rare; instead, commanders deliberately targeted the civilian population to ruin the enemy's economy.

• English armies in France frequently used the Chevauchée tactic—rapid, scorched-earth cavalry raids designed to burn crops, mills, and towns, completely destroying the rural economic backbone of the enemy.
• Domestically, English civilians suffered greatly from Purveyance, the Crown's legal right to forcibly purchase food and horses at a low, appraised price, often paying only with wooden IOUs (tallies).
• The logistical burden of moving large armies was devastating to local areas. An army of 20,000 men could exhaust the total food and fuel supplies of a 2,000-person town in just one or two days.
• Furthermore, when soldiers' wages were delayed, armies often resorted to illegal Plundering, stealing civilian goods and spreading terror as they "lived off the land."
• The domestic impact was so severe that intense social unrest forced the government to pass the Statute of 1362, which heavily restricted purveyance for military logistics.

Fortifications and Economic Benefits of War

Understanding the sheer scale of medieval armies explains why some towns actually grew richer during periods of intense conflict.

• Large armies waiting to embark for France created massive demand for food, leather, and weapons. This stimulated local trade in coastal Garrison Towns like Southampton and Portsmouth.
• Troops often spent their wages or French plunder in local markets, providing a "trickle-down" economic boost to these regions.
• The threat of raids led to heavy investment in Point Defense. While kings spent vast sums on royal castles (like Edward I's Iron Ring), local towns relied on Murage grants to fund their own stone walls.
• Following devastating French raids, towns like Rye were granted a Licence to Crenellate, allowing them to build secure town walls that protected civilians and ultimately increased local property values.
• In conclusion, the impact of war on populations was highly polarized. While rural communities and foreign populations suffered catastrophic physical and economic destruction from raiding and purveyance, fortified coastal towns frequently experienced economic stimulation and long-term civic investment.