The Spoils of Battle
Men took up arms for many reasons during the Hundred Years War. In the wake of new research into soldiers’ lives, Nicholas Gribit reveals how the promise of fortune was as big a draw as any.
In the March 1992 issue of History Today, Andrew Ayton’s article, War and the English Gentry Under Edward III, analysed the various reasons why men served in English armies during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). The acquisition of war gains was a strong incentive but, as Ayton points out, it was not always a soldier’s priority. The multitude of causes which compelled men to take up the sword in France and elsewhere included comradeship, kinship, lordship and, for those in need of clemency, a grant of a royal pardon.
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