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Warfare and British Society, c1250–present

The experience of war, c1250–c1500

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

How a king gathered an army, the forty days of service, scutage, commissions of array, training a knight, archery practice, the chevauchée, plunder, the burden on peasant households and purveyance.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How long did a knight owe unpaid military service to his lord each year?

Key term

How were ordinary foot soldiers found for a royal campaign?

Key term

What was a chevauchée?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did a medieval king gather an army for a campaign?

    Model answer

    He summoned the nobles who held land directly from him, and each brought the knights and men they in turn had granted land to.

  2. 2

    How long did a knight owe unpaid military service to his lord each year?

    Model answer

    About forty days, which often ran out before a campaign was finished.

  3. 3

    How could a knight who owed the king military service avoid fighting in person?

    Model answer

    By paying scutage instead, a money payment the king then used to hire soldiers who would serve for as long as he needed.

  4. 4

    How were ordinary foot soldiers found for a royal campaign?

    Model answer

    Royal officers used commissions of array to select able-bodied men from each shire and village.

  5. 5

    How was a boy trained to become a knight?

    Model answer

    He served first as a page and then as a squire in a lord's household, learning to ride and use weapons, and practised in tournaments.

  6. 6

    How did English archers become skilled enough for war?

    Model answer

    They practised at the village butts from boyhood, and the law required regular practice, because the bow took years of strength and training to use well.

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AThe huge loss of life left England short of workers.
BForeign craftsmen and labourers were wanted.
CCompetition for work also bred resentment.

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Strategy means the plan for a whole campaign.
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