already mentioned, that of Scotland and that of the German cities fought
with credit on many fields. Their arm was the pike, and they were always
formed in solid masses (called in Scotland, _schiltrons_). The basis of
the medieval commune being the suppression of the individual in the
social unit, it was natural that the burgher infantry should fight "in
serried ranks and in better order" than a line of individual knights,
who, moreover, were almost powerless before walled cities. But these
forces lacked offensive power, and it was left for the English archers,
whose importance dates from the latter years of the 13th century, to
show afresh, at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt, the value of missile
action. When properly supported by other arms, they proved themselves
capable of meeting both the man-at-arms and the pikeman. The greatest
importance attaches to the evolution of this idea of mutual support and
combination. Once it was realized, war became an art, and armies became
specially organized bodies of troops of different arms. It cannot be
admitted, indeed, as has been claimed, that the 14th century had a
scientific system of tactics, or that the campaign of Poitiers was
arranged by the French "general staff." Nevertheless, during this
century armies were steadily coming to consist of expert soldiers, to
the exclusion of national levies and casual mercenaries. It is true
that, by his system of "indents," Edward III. of England raised national
armies of a professional type, but the English soldier thus enrolled,
when discharged by his own sovereign, naturally sought similar
employment elsewhere. This system produced, moreover, a class of
unemployed soldiers, and these, with others who became adventurers from
choice or necessity, and even with foreign troops, formed the armies
which fought in the Wars of the Roses--armies which differed but
slightly from others of the time. The natural result of these wars was
to implant a hatred of soldiery in the heart of a nation which had
formerly produced the best fighting men in Europe, a hatred which left a
deep imprint on the constitutional and social life of the people. In
France, where Joan of Arc passed like a meteor across the military
firmament, the idea of a national regular army took a practical form in
the middle of the 15th century. Still, the forces thus brought into
existence were not numerous, and the soldier of fortune, in spite of
such experiences of his methods as those of the Wars of the Roses, was
yet to attain the zenith of his career.