... was yet to develop the tactics or the weapons which would allow it to stand up to the cavalry charge, a difficulty which had not been widely overcome even by 1494, as suggested by the fact that the first French armies to invade Italy were made up of about two-thirds cavalry. In spite of the development of the offensive capability of the infantry up to this date, and of measures to blunt the effectiveness of cavalry charges, attacks by armoured horsemen remained the ultimate form of attack, capable of breaking up most formations of foot soldiers. One of the underlying reasons behind the value of the heavy cavalry was that the knight's raison d'être was to be a warrior, and as a result of a lifetime's training, he was by far the best-trained of soldiers in late mediaeval armies. Their social position under the feudal system rested on their role as ...

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