FRENCH INFANTRY OF THE 100 YEARS WAR

"XIV - XV A.D.".

The 14th and 15th centuries saw considerable social change in Europe – change that was to an extent reflected in the art of warfare. The old feudal system was to decline greatly during this time as a falling population gave the commoners a stronger position, and much military service was commuted into money payments, while towns steadily grew in importance. The rise of the merchant and lower classes were seen as a threat by the established aristocracy, which also suffered the indignity of discovering that their chivalric method of fighting wars from horseback was rapidly becoming outdated, so that by the mid 15th century the Hundred Years War was mainly one of infantry conducting sieges. In the popular mind the knights dominated medieval warfare, but in reality the common and paid infantry became crucial to later French successes

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