The British nation a history / by George MWrong . y andusually paid rent in cash. Between the great nobles andthese new lords of the manor there was a social them was required no militaryservice, and, instead of the old feudallevy, the noble now had a host of re-tainers—men who paid him a smallfee and i& return received from himfood and clothing. He pledged him-self to provide them with horses andarms, and they in turn wore his liveryand were ready at his beck and call. By the days of Henry YII the oldchivalry which helped to inspire thecrusades had lost all vigour, though formore th
The British nation a history / by George MWrong . y andusually paid rent in cash. Between the great nobles andthese new lords of the manor there was a social them was required no militaryservice, and, instead of the old feudallevy, the noble now had a host of re-tainers—men who paid him a smallfee and i& return received from himfood and clothing. He pledged him-self to provide them with horses andarms, and they in turn wore his liveryand were ready at his beck and call. By the days of Henry YII the oldchivalry which helped to inspire thecrusades had lost all vigour, though formore than a century stilla few talked of it untilCervantes held them upto ridicule in the pagesof Don Quixote. To thefourteenth century the Black Princewas the beau-ideal of a chivalrous knight; his code of dutyand honour showed little regard for the humble in rank,but it was still much higher than the debased code of thewarring factions in the next age. Then knighthood fell Decline ofchivaby and ofthe militaryeffectiveness ofthe knight KxICtHT. Fifteenth Cexturt. 244 THE BRITISH NATION very low even in its trade of war. About 1350 the earlierlight chain armour gave way to heavy ])late armour ; breast,shoulders, arms and legs were then shielded with casings of steel, effective to Avard off ar-rows and heavy blows. But whentlie knight dismounted and triedto fight on foot, as at Poitiersand Agincourt, he moved withgreat difficulty. If once he fellhe could not rise, and was easilyvanquished by plebeian and light-ly armed foemen. Not only theleaders showed de-cline; so also did therank and file. Theretainers, unlike thevassals of an earliertime, were an idleclass who fattenedupon war and tu-mult. When theyfollowed their lord toFrance they sharedthe spoils of victory,sold for ransom pris-oners who could pay,and usually killed ruthlessly those who could not. Some-times the great nobles waged war as if they Avere sover-eigns. For example, the Duke of Xorfolkcovets Caister, the c
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