The Hundred Years' War is an armed conflict of 1337-1453 between France and England. It should be added here that it was interrupted by numerous truces and peace, but it did not end until 1453. From the very beginning of the conflict, archers, armed with the so-called English longbows. It is worth adding that the English army first interacted with this weapon during the fighting in Wales in the 13th-14th centuries, and it was relatively quickly adapted by them. Long bows were already particularly effective during the Battle of Crecy in 1346. In literature you can even find the term that it was "the triumph of the long bow". Considering the above, it is not surprising that in the course of subsequent expeditions to France, archers in the English army constituted from 60 to even 80% of the manpower! It is estimated that during the Battle of Agincourt they constituted just 80% of the English forces. However, next to archers, an important element of the English foot troops were also soldiers defined by the very broad term men-at-arms. Among them, we can mention mainly spearmen and pikemen, armed with spears, halberds or pikes. As a defensive weapon, they most often used simple helmets and chain mail or armor like brigantines. In general, it should be assumed that throughout the entire Hundred Years' War (up to its last stage, perhaps), the British infantry had a greater combat value than their French counterpart.
The castle is a defensive structure with a compact - usually stone or brick - buildings, which is characteristic of medieval Europe, especially in the period of the full (X-XIII century) and late (XIV-XV century) medieval times. The castle served various functions: the seat of royal, ducal or noble power, it could be the "family home" of a single knight, but also a military outpost subordinate to the royal authority. It is assumed that the first "classic" castles in Europe were built in the 9th century, after the fall of the Carolingian state. In many cases - in today's France or Germany - they had the character of the seat of a ruler or a knight and were often only keep, made of stone. These early castles lack many of the later defensive elements, such as towers or an extensive wall system. However, at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, there was a significant change and under the influence of the experience of the Crusades, castles evolve, becoming more and more complex. They begin to have one or more rows of walls. In the territory of Poland, castles appeared at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, replacing the previous wooden and earth castles, and one of the first such fortresses is the castle in Legnica or the reconstruction of Wawel in Krakow. It is also worth remembering that the Teutonic castles in Pomerania and Livonia were unusual in their own way, because they were built primarily of brick, not stone. A great example of such a castle is, for example, Malbork. The decline of castles dates back to the 15th century, when the popularization of gunpowder made it possible to acquire them relatively quickly.
The Hundred Years' War is an armed conflict of 1337-1453 between France and England. It should be added here that it was interrupted by numerous truces and peace, but it finally ended only in 1453. At the beginning of the conflict, the main strike force of the French troops in battle was their knighthood, which was known for its bravery on the battlefield, very good individual training, but also pride (it was common to assume that the French knights at that time claimed that if heaven collapsed on the head - they would support it with their copies) and an almost total lack of discipline. This made itself felt catastrophically at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. The armament of the French knight at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War (14th century) was undoubtedly very good. As a defensive weapon, he used a shield, chain mail with numerous elements of plate armor, or - less often - full plate armor. As an offensive weapon he used a lance, a one-handed sword and various types of blunt weapons, such as a piercing. Significant changes in the French cavalry took place during the reign of Charles VII (reigned 1422-1461). This ruler introduced in 1445 the so-called ordonance companies, of which at the beginning there were 15, and each of them had 100 copiers. This cavalry was well-trained, disciplined and was taken as a royal pay, and was not - as before - appointed on the basis of a mass move.