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Warfare and British Society, c1250–present

The nature of warfare, c1250–c1500

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Foot soldiers and their weapons, the longbow and where archers stood, the mounted knight and his cost, command by nobles and what it meant for ordinary soldiers, the schiltron and its strengths and weakness, defensive tactics, gunpowder in sieges and battle, the knight's decline, and the difference between strategy and tactics.

What you need to know

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Key term

Which soldiers made up the largest part of a medieval English army?

Key term

Which weapon made the English archer feared across Europe?

Key term

Where in the battle line were English archers usually placed?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Which soldiers made up the largest part of a medieval English army?

    Model answer

    Foot soldiers, drawn from the ordinary population of the shires.

  2. 2

    How were medieval foot soldiers armed and used in battle?

    Model answer

    They carried spears, bills and knives, and their job was to hold ground and fight hand to hand once the two lines met.

  3. 3

    Which weapon made the English archer feared across Europe?

    Model answer

    The longbow, which took years of practice to master and could send arrows in great numbers over a long distance.

  4. 4

    Where in the battle line were English archers usually placed?

    Model answer

    On the wings, so that they could shoot into the flanks of an enemy advancing on the foot soldiers in the centre.

  5. 5

    What made the mounted knight the most powerful fighting man of the age?

    Model answer

    He was armoured from head to foot on a trained warhorse, and a charge with the lance could smash a line of foot soldiers apart.

  6. 6

    Why could only wealthy men fight as knights?

    Model answer

    A warhorse, armour, weapons and the servants to look after them cost more than an ordinary family would earn in a lifetime.

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AThe huge loss of life left England short of workers.
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Strategy means the plan for a whole campaign.
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