Types of soldiers in the middle ages

Slide 2:Types of soldiers in the middle ages �foot soldiers

Foot soldiers are sometimes referred to as infantry or men-at-arms. They made up the majority of medieval armies. It was their job to secure battlefields and capture towns. English foot soldiers tended to be better armed and have better armour than their Scottish counterparts.

Slide 3:Types of soldiers in the middle ages � archers

Archers tended to have little or no armour as that would just get in the way of shooting the enemy � most archers were common peasants. English archers carried longbows. These were very powerful and could pierce most types of armour. Later, in the middle ages, archers become more important than any other type of soldier.

Slide 4:Types of soldiers in the middle ages � knights

Knights wore the heaviest type of armour. It meant that they were almost invulnerable. Warhorses were trained to run into battle: they could kill with their hooves. Before the Scottish wars, most battles were won by knights. The army that had the most knights usually won. Later the knights become less important.

Slide 5:In any war with Scotland, England would have many advantages:

England was a rich country: they could afford more soldiers, and better weapons and armour. The English had far more knights than the Scots. English archers had longbows, which were much more powerful and had a longer range than Scottish bows. The English troops had recent experience at war. Edward had been fighting the Welsh and the French, and so the English were what was called �seasoned campaigners�. The Scots had not fought a battle since Largs in 1266. They were out of practice. Many powerful Scottish nobles would not fight against England in case they lost the lands they had there.