Quote Originally Posted by Aracnid
I am also sure that some were a large mob of frightened peasants with knives, sharp sticks and the odd bow with a much smaller group of well trained and equipped knights.
The problem with this hypothesis is that it is largerly unproveable - peasant troops seem to, in practically every incident they are mentioned (even extreme examples such as the "people's crusade" or the Jaquerie) to have equipped themselves with basic equipment (spears or other polearms, and shields), and whereas they'd typically be inferor to the professionals in manouvre, no-one in their right mind would bring totally unmotivated troops to the battlefield.