ARMOR FOR FOOT SOLDIERS

Though knights regarded them with contempt, the lowly foot soldiers played a vital role in military maneuvers. It was the skilled work of longbowmen, for instance, that gave England two celebrated victories over the French, at Crécy in 1346 and at Agincourt in 1415. Their contributions, however, were not always appreciated. At the Battle of Courtrai in 1302, when pikemen and bowmen appeared to be overcoming their Flemish opponents, the French knights, fearful of losing the honor of victory, rode down their own men to be in the vanguard of the attack. France lost the battle.