1. How much change was there in training and recruiting soldiers between 1250 and 1500?

2. Learning objective – to be able to identify changes and continuities in medieval recruitment and training.
I can describe the key changes and continuities in medieval recruitment and training.
Grade 3
I can explain the key changes and continuities in medieval recruitment and training.
Grade 6
I can explain and assess changes and continuities in medieval recruitment and training.
Grade 9

4. Who were knights?
Knights came from the wealthy social elite and owned land worth at least £40 a year [20 times the annual income of a peasant].
Knights were given the title of Sir and made up around 4% of the population.
The knights of the Royal Household were the king’s private army. Each knight had their own following of knights and archers who could be called on to fight at quick notice making calling an army quick. However, the Royal Household could not provide a full army for a military campaign – although the Royal Household increased from 500 mounted cavalry to 4,000 between 1250 and 1300.

5. What methods could kings use to recruit knights?
A king relied on a knight’s sense of service and duty to recruit them to fight. Kings had three broad means to recruit knights –
Feudal duty – All knights who had land granted by the king or nobility had to serve 40 days a year in an army if called. Knights also had to provide men to fight too.
A general summons – A king to issue a general summons which asked knights to volunteer to serve in his army. They would be rewarded by plunder and ransoms.
An indenture – this was a contract between a king and a knight. It would state that a knight would agree to serve the king in a military campaign for a set time in return for money.

6. How did the recruitment of knights change?
Decline of feudal duty – Feudal duties became more difficult to enforce and monarchs had to use alternative methods which were more reliable to recruit knights. Also feudal troops were notoriously unreliable and untrained.
The Assize of Arms – This was a tax on wealth, requiring all men with land to provide fully-equipped knights. This is system was clarified by the Statute of Winchester in 1265 under Edward I and overseen by Commissioners of Array.
Mercenaries and scutage – Scutage [shield money] was paid by feudal troops to avoid military service. With this money, the monarch would pay for mercenaries. This particularly in place by 1337, when the monarch would used scutage to pay for indentures to pay for troops.
Royal Household – Permanent troops paid for by the monarch grew in number and importance.

7. What methods could be used to recruit infantry?
There were two broad means to recruit infantry –
Feudal duty – All men had to fight if they were called upon by their local knight – who was their landlord and employer.
Sheriffs – Up to 1277, Sheriffs [local men responsible for enforcing the law] were responsible for mustering men to fight. Men had to present themselves when called to see if they were selected for military service.

8. What problems were there in recruiting infantry?
There problems in recruiting infantry –
Desertion – Large-scale and a constant problem.
Untrained – Most infantry were untrained and unskilled agricultural labourers with no experience of warfare.

9. How did the recruitment of Infantry change?
Decline of feudal duty and payment – Feudal duties became more difficult to enforce and monarchs had to pay for troops saw the first fully paid army in the kings’ service.
The Assize of Arms – The Statute of Winchester in 1265 under Edward I and demanded that all fit men between the ages of 16 and 60 must muster once a year by ready and equipped to serve the king for 40 days’ service.
Commissioners of Array – They took charge of assessing recruits as sheriffs become notorious corruptible.

10. How did the training of soldiers change during the Medieval period?
Because there was no permanent army, there was no formal organised military training. Also, this was uneven as recruitment was on a geographical basis rather than national. This led to some areas being better focused on military preparations than others.
Knights tended to hone their military skills in tournaments and trained informally with relatives and friends.
The Assize of Arms called for infantry recruits to be skilled in the longbow. To help with this in 1385 the Statute of Winchester set up archery targets in every town to support the order that men had to train every Sunday.
Although the Assize of Arms demanded that infantry soldiers to be skilled with the weapons, this was often not the case.

11. Design a mind map. Use the framework to help you get started ….
Recruitment and training
Recruiting knights
Changes in recruiting knights
Recruiting infantry
Changes in recruiting infantry

12. Follow up Task Complete the table below -
Changes caused by science and technology
Changes caused by governments and individuals
Changes caused by social attitudes

13. Plenary – My Brain Subheading – My Brain
Draw an outline of your brain.
Fill your drawn brain with all the things you have learnt in this lesson. This can be in the form of key words, drawings, bullet points, lists – anything you like so long as it summarises your learning and that others can understand it.