American Knights Research Paper

When William I invaded England in 1066 he did so on horseback. In the battle of Hastings the foot-soldier based army of the English wilted under the charge of the Norman knights. With this conquest, Marcus Bull argues, the old era of foot-soldier armies was wiped away and the new era of the horse-backed knight began.

Up until the end of the thirteenth century the mass cavalry charge was the ace-card of battle. The destructive fury of a group of heavily armoured knights could break any unit. Knights lived their entire life to fight. They trained all day in the art of war and at tourney they practised war-games constantly. As time progressed they developed more discipline and cavalry units began to regroup and hit second or third units with a charge. However, throughout the period the discipline of knights was always suspect and the pursuit for personal glory a priority. What would a peasant warrior do when faced
In fourteenth and fifteenth century armies the profession of arms could lead to the ennoblement of the lowliest man-at-arms. For example, the Black Prince's second in command was a lowly noble who carved out vast power and estates for himself by virtues of military prowess. Bertrand du Guesclin was pronounced France's flower of chivalry. After 40% of France's nobility were lost at Poitiers this man rose through the ranks to become France's for-most knight. However English historians - notably Keen - take great glee in pointing out the Bertrand was a Breton axe-man. Keen remarks 'in the case of Du Guesclin, it is hard indeed to dissociate the man who became the great Constable of France from the mercenary riff-raff who were so often his campaign companions' (Keen, Chivalry, pg. 232). Nonetheless, the late middle ages was a time when one could easily become famous and rich by feat of arms. Oliver de La March remarked on nobility at the