Quote Originally Posted by econ21
[Armchair historian mode on]

In the same vein - and fully filling the same function on the battlefield - the English really need a "spear" armed dismounted knight (or rather one with a cut down lance). It was the ability of these chaps to see off a cavalry charge that made the French knights start to dismount over the course of the HYW - as indeed other English knights routinely did in the Wars of the Roses.
[Armchair historian mode off]
The British do have this with some of their dismounted knight units that have polearms. The problem is that there is a bug where once the cavalry charge is over, they don't attack any more and get slaughtered. This should be fixed in the patch.