Quote Originally Posted by Ludens View Post
Not to take anything away from the English generals, but they wouldn't have done well in command of a French army either. The English had something approaching a professional army: the nobility paid scutage tax rather than do feudal duty, and the king used the money to hire mercenaries. The French used the old feudal host. This meant that every unit was loyal to its own commanders rather than the king, which was a problem since the French nobility was very independent-minded. Every count fancied himself a general. Furthermore, because the noblemen only owed 40 days of service to the king, the campaign (and that included assembling and marching to the enemy) had to be done quickly or the crown would have to pay extra. As a result, large armies (more high nobility, more assembly time) were almost unmanageable: the French seem to have done better when their army was smaller.
I agree.

In short, the French did most of the kicking of their own butts. Terribly... terribly... kicking their own butts.