The period under discussion, from 1430 to 1500, saw the common foot soldier, whether bowman, arbalestier, billman, petardier, or cannonier, much better equipped, and in every way more carefully provided for, than in any preceding age. It had early been perceived in England that the native infantry was as effective in battle as the flower of foreign chivalry, and instead of being jealous of this fact, as were the foreign nobles as a rule of their own foot soldiers, the knights of our own country sought by every possible means to add to the deadly prowess of the soldier, and to defend him by every artifice that wit could devise. It came to be recognised as an article of military knowledge that a charge of cavalry against English archers armed with the long-bow resulted, under ordinary conditions, in disaster, and that no good result was to be obtained by it, but on the contrary it was simply to court destruction. The lessons of Creçy and of Poictiers had been well learnt, and it was remembered that the French chivalry, although encased in steel and the horses defended by bardings, simply melted away before the deadly sleet of arrows emanating from the English position, and in spite of their most strenuous efforts only managed to reach the archers in such a disorganised form that an effective charge was out of the question. So long as the bowmen stood firmly in their position and preserved order and discipline they had nothing to fear from the most determined charge of cavalry. The secret of this undoubtedly was that although the knight himself was impervious to the arrow so long as it did not strike a gousset or the junction or joint between two plates, his horse was by no means equally well protected, and it is well known that the arrow was in most cases directed towards the unfortunate steed in preference to the invulnerable rider. It thus became a custom for the knights and heavily-accoutred men-at-arms to dismount and advance on foot to the charge, in imitation doubtless of the example set by the Black Prince at Poictiers. But the slow progress of such a mass of heavily-armed men against a body of archers gave the latter plenty of time to select their opponents, and with unerring aim to challenge the weak points of their adversaries’ defences with the deadly cloth-yard shaft. The invariable result was that the archer came off victorious, and the discomfited mail-clad knight thus found himself unable to reach the enemy with whom he desired to close either on horseback or on foot. In this dilemma the invention of the pavise came to his help, and for a time the archer was to a certain extent nonplussed. This was at first an upright wicker-work defence, square in form and plane of surface, sufficiently large to cover the knight and also the page or squire who bore it. The knight also carried his own shield as an additional defence, and thus effectually protected from arrows could advance to close quarters, or if necessary, take