Asked by rebecca
Tended to use more peasant soldiers with pikes and longbows
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GPT-5 mini
AI
Do you mean “Who tended to use more peasant soldiers armed with pikes and longbows?” or would you like a short explanation of that practice? I can expand either way — here’s a quick summary in case that’s what you meant:
- England (14th–15th centuries): English armies in the Hundred Years’ War made heavy use of large numbers of longbowmen drawn from the yeoman/peasant classes (e.g., Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt). Longbowmen were often free rural commoners rather than nobility. They worked with dismounted men-at-arms and defensive measures (stakes, terrain).
- Continental Europe (late medieval → early modern): Many city militias and mercenary contingents used massed pikemen (block/pike formations). Prominent examples include the Swiss pike squares and later German Landsknechts. Pikemen were commonly recruited from townsmen and peasants.
- Transition: By the 16th–17th centuries the longbow declined as gunpowder weapons (arquebus/musket) rose, and combined pike-and-shot formations became standard; pikemen remained commoners while firearms replaced bows.
- Nuance: “Peasant” is an oversimplification — longbowmen were often yeomen (landholding commoners) and many pikemen were urban militia or professional mercenaries rather than subsistence peasants.
Tell me which region or period you’re interested in and I’ll give more detail or examples.
- England (14th–15th centuries): English armies in the Hundred Years’ War made heavy use of large numbers of longbowmen drawn from the yeoman/peasant classes (e.g., Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt). Longbowmen were often free rural commoners rather than nobility. They worked with dismounted men-at-arms and defensive measures (stakes, terrain).
- Continental Europe (late medieval → early modern): Many city militias and mercenary contingents used massed pikemen (block/pike formations). Prominent examples include the Swiss pike squares and later German Landsknechts. Pikemen were commonly recruited from townsmen and peasants.
- Transition: By the 16th–17th centuries the longbow declined as gunpowder weapons (arquebus/musket) rose, and combined pike-and-shot formations became standard; pikemen remained commoners while firearms replaced bows.
- Nuance: “Peasant” is an oversimplification — longbowmen were often yeomen (landholding commoners) and many pikemen were urban militia or professional mercenaries rather than subsistence peasants.
Tell me which region or period you’re interested in and I’ll give more detail or examples.
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