The English Longbow

[Brandy Blue]

When it comes to wages then crossbowmen were not paid less. There was a difference between foot and mounted archers and same thing with crossbowmen. AFAIK missile armed soldiers apparently had higher wages than basic infantry although their wages could vary too: Edward II was willing to pay 4d for the best-armed spearmen, 3d for half-armed and 2d for the rest and that was when foot archers would be getting 2-3d.

Thanks, CBR. That's the kind of information I wanted to dig up but don't have time to. In my opinion its more important than whether or not longbow arrows could penetrate white armor. It gives a general feel for how useful the troops were from the viewpoint of their paymaster.