The English way of war, 1360-1399
This thesis challenges the orthodox view that the years 1360 to 1399 witnessed a period of martial decline for the English. Several reasons are advanced to support this hypothesis: the problems of hindsight and perception (as in a comparison with the periods directly before and after the one under consideration), the fact that the âstrengthsâ of Englandâs enemies have been overly praised, whilst the âweaknessesâ of the English have been overly emphasized and her achievements either ignored or belittled. There are, however, two central arguments against the hypothesis of decline. The first is that the changes that occurred in the structure and recruitment of armies in the first-half of the fourteenth-century had by the second-half of the century, and certainly after the resumption of the Anglo-French war in 1369, profoundly altered the composition of the English military-community; the men who fought within these armies. Increasing demands from the crown for military service, not to mention exogenous demands for English soldiers, coupled with increasing fiscal expense for the individual to fight, meant that the social composition of the community changed. War became increasingly the preserve of a
Baker, Gary Paul
History
The English way of war, 1360-1399. This thesis challenges the orthodox view that the years 1360 to 1399 witnessed a period of martial decline for the English. Several reasons are advanced to support this hypothesis: the problems of hindsight and perception (as in a comparison with the periods directly before and after the one under consideration), the fact that the âstrengthsâ of Englandâs enemies have been overly praised, whilst the âweaknessesâ of the English have been overly emphasized and her achievements either ignored or belittled. There are, however, two central arguments against the hypothesis of decline. The first is that the changes that occurred in the structure and recruitment of armies in the first-half of the fourteenth-century had by the second-half of the century, and certainly after the resumption of the Anglo-French war in 1369, profoundly altered the composition of the English military-community; the men who fought within these armies. Increasing demands from the crown for military service, not to mention exogenous demands for English soldiers, coupled with increasing fiscal expense for the individual to fight, meant that the social composition of the community changed. War became increasingly the preserve of a
english way war challenge orthodox view witnessed period martial decline english several reason advance support_hypothesis problem perception comparison period directly consideration fact strength england enemy overly praise whilst weakness english overly emphasize achievement either ignore however central_argument hypothesis decline first change_occur structure recruitment army certainly resumption anglo_french war profoundly alter composition english military community men fight within army increasing demand crown military_service mention demand english soldier couple increase fiscal expense individual fight mean social_composition community change war become_increasingly preserve