How were real medieval armies composed?

[monkian]

During the HYW it was two-thirds. The ratio became 2:1 during the Wars of the Roses as the pool of trained archers got smaller because of casualities.

Sounds about right

[Duke John]

Is'nt two-thirds and 2:1 the same?

No, 2:1 equals half of the total according to CA's paradox theory of 2 years being 6 months

[Furious Mental]

"How were real medieval armies composed?"

I think you would have to address that to a specific army in order to get a meaningful answer.

"the local lord with his vassal knights and their men at arms, these are pretty much indistinguishable from each other apart from the amount of cash expended on armor. they all carry as many sharp or blunt objects as possible.

the peasant levy, no armor, no formal training, and as many sharp or blunt objects as they possibly can afford and carry. the only kind of specialisation would be if anybody brought bows.

no other troops, be they professional or part-timers. no units made up of specific weapons."

I am no expert on medieval armies generally but I know a thing or two about Anglo-Norman armies-

The centrepiece of the army, if it was royal, was the King and his familia regia, which was a military household of professional soldiers not a feudal host. Absolutely no "peasant levy". If the army was operating within England it would rely on semi-professional fyrdmen to provide the bulk of foot soldiers, if overseas, Breton and Flemish mercenaries. Other mercenaries fought as archers and crossbowmen. From the beginning there were tactical units at least in the terms of missile troops, infantry and cavalry, as demonstrated at the Battle of Hastings. In the Angevin period it became more complex still as English Kings relied for the bulk of their armies on recruitment by mercenary captains, who were contracted to find specific numbers of soldiers armed with specific weapons. A baronial army would not be terribly different except in that it would rely perhaps somewhat more on knights owing feudal obligations, and mercenary infantry, the fyrd not being theirs to summon.

So if medieval European armies were indeed a disorganised morass of knights and pitchfork wielding peasants, England was completely different.

[Tempiic]

and specific time. and location ;)

Well maybe just specific army at specific time.

[Azog 150]

I have never understood the difference between polearms, Halberds, Poleaxes, bills ect

Am i right in thinking, a halberd is a sprear/axe/a hook thing to pull donw cavalry. Now thats all i know, and im not sure if its even right.

[DukeofSerbia]

Very long story...
In feudal Europe clashes were mostly between knights. Typical European medieval army had 5% of mounted units.

[LadyAnn]

A Halberd has as curve chopping edge, if wield correctly would be able to chop a man in two. It also has a hook to pull down a rider. It has a pointy tip (sometimes the curve blade's tip serve that purpose). The tip is to thrust into armor's gap or kill the mount.

Anniep

[CBR]

Well basically a bill and halberd is the same thing: a two-handed pole weapon that combines a spear with a heavy axe like head and occasionally a hook. There are many names and variations of such weapons.

The pollaxe/pole axe is really a shorter version of a halberd better suited for individual close combat, it also has a much smaller axe head.


CBR

[Husar]

I have never understood the difference between polearms, Halberds, Poleaxes, bills ect

A polearm should be anything that has a long stick
A halberd has a long stick with an axe on top, a poleaxe has a longer stick with a smaller axe on top, both have some spearpoint as well, that's how I see it.
Bills usually consist of a piece of paper with a written documentation about how much the receiving person or group needs to pay.

[spong]

Polearm - a weapon which involves a two-handed haft of varying lengths.

Bill - Adapted from agricultural bill hooks, varied quite widely in appearance but comprised essentially of a thrusting spike, often a curved and heavy chopping blade, a curved often forward-facing hook to unseat a rider or hook a footsoldier behind the leg, often also had spikes on the rear of the head for puncturing armour.

Pic of a typical bill hook:
http://www.anshelmarms.com/images/arms/halberd1.jpg
(labelled Halberd for some reason)

Voulge/ Glaive / Guisarme - Varied widely, essentially a big cleaving knife on the end of a pole, but did evolve to include various rear facing spikes.

http://www.members.aol.com/dargolyt/...ge/Voulge1.gif

http://www.members.aol.com/dargolyt/...ge/voulge2.gif

Partly contributed to the evolution of...

Halberd! - Differed from the voulge in that it was essentially an axehead or cleaver on the end of a pole, wheras the voulge could already be used for thrusting with the point of the 'knife' blade as it where, the halberd developed its own thrusting point and also had rear-facing spikes.

http://www.anshelmarms.com/images/arms/halberd3.jpg

http://www.anshelmarms.com/images/arms/halberd2.jpg

Poleaxe or Polehammer - Haft 5-6 feet, used most frequently by dismounted men-at-arms (knights, sergeants etc.) Had an axe head, rear facing spike or more often hammer-head and a thrusting spike on the top.

Poleaxe with hammer at rear
http://www.chicagoswordplayguild.com...rmor/azza1.jpg

Poleaxe with spike at rear
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...lr%3D%26sa%3DG

Some of the Swiss soldiers favoured a variation known as the Lucerne hammer, which had the axe part omitted and replaced by a hammer head with three curved prongs instead, still with a rear facing spike.

Many polearms including pikes had strips of metal rivetted to the haft near the head to prevent the head being chopped off, these were called 'langets'. Some polearms such as the poleaxe also might be fitted with a metal disc below the head to act as a handgaurd.

Found this useful link http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...lr%3D%26sa%3DG

Another useful link to a galleries page:
http://therionarms.com/old_armor_page.shtml