What follows is the culmination of several years of research which has led me through the doors of numerous archives and libraries in England and ‘across the way’ in France. The search through voluminous original documents and records, and the consultation of published primary sources, has been a lengthy process; such a task cannot be completed without enduring some level of tedium, but feelings of this sort are easily eclipsed by the excitement of discovering new pieces of evidence which, however significant, can throw further light on the subject of medieval English armies and the lives of the individuals who constituted them.

From the outset of this research it was my intention to write a clear and ‘rounded’ account of an English military expedition (1345–46) that would appeal to students, academic researchers and the general reader alike. In this fashion I have endeavoured to further our understanding of medieval warfare, but if this present work only succeeds in sparking the interest of a curious mind, or aids the research of somebody else, then I shall be replete.

There are a handful of individuals and institutions to whom I am greatly indebted for their generous help and support in bringing this current work to fruition. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the grant made by the Scouloudi Foundation in association with the Institute of Historical Research, which helped make this publication possible. An award from the Extraordinary Research Fund, made by the University of Leeds School of History, enabled me to undertake archival research in France, and I was warmly welcomed by the community of scholars at Université de Bordeaux III (now Université Bordeaux Montaigne) who permitted my use of the research institute, Ausonius – UMR 5607, during my brief sojourn in the regional capital. The Ranulf Higden Society has also provided a stimulating environment in which I have had numerous queries regarding the translation of complex medieval documents answered.

David Simpkin, David Green and Philip Caudrey have been particularly generous in sharing their research findings. They have offered specialist advice on the careers of those men who fought in the reigns of Edward I and Edward II, who belonged to the affinity of Edward, the Black Prince, and who originated from Norfolk, respectively.

An investigation of the extent to which Henry of Lancaster's war retinue was a cohesive force, and an assessment of the stability of its composition, are prerequisites to understanding why it was such a formidable fighting contingent in 1345. The strength and cohesion of the retinue were fundamental to establishing efficient networks of command and communication, discipline and tactical capability, all of which were vital to its ‘operational effectiveness’ and no doubt contributed to the overall success of the expedition in the duchy. A feeling of camaraderie based on previous experience of fighting alongside one another, of serving under the same captain or campaigning in the same theatre of war, would have helped forge a collective identity among the troop and enhanced their effectiveness and efficiency as a team of combatants. An insight into the esprit de corpswhich had developed among Lancaster's retinue can be gained by analysing the men's histories of service: including how often they had taken up arms together on earlier occasions and the proportion who had previously served under Lancaster's command. Moreover, evidence of continuity of military service with Lancaster on campaigns undertaken either side of the expedition to Aquitaine can be used to establish the stability of his military personnel in the mid 1340s. The level of stability of the composition of Lancaster's retinue can also be compared with that of retinues led by other captains around that time, as well as those led by noblemen at the end of the thirteenth and later in the fourteenth centuries, in order to determine whether the size of his comitiva, and the means by which it had been assembled, affected the overall stability of his troop in 1345.

In addition to a shared campaigning experience prior to 1345, the cohesion and unity of Lancaster's retinue derived from a wide range of personal connections which existed, on the one hand, between the retinue leader and his men (at-arms or archers) and, on the other, between the men themselves based, among other things, on family and friends, comradeship, lordship, tenure and a shared locality.

The study of an English army raised during an important period of transformation in the organisation of war would not be complete without an investigation of the development of professional soldiering. The careers of the most renowned professional soldiers such as the Cheshire knights Robert Knolles and Hugh Calveley have been well documented in both contemporary and modern literature, and there can be little doubt of their single-minded commitment to a martial lifestyle. The task of establishing traits of professionalism amongst less well-known soldiers, however, is more difficult. It is the aim in this final chapter to investigate the extent to which professional soldiering is evident in the retinue of Henry of Lancaster in 1345–46. How many of Lancaster's men should be considered as professionals in warfare, and how many different retinue captains had they previously served under before joining Lancaster's comitiva? The answers to these questions may give an insight into men's attitudes towards warfare and their aspirations to different types of careers in arms during the first half of the fourteenth century. It is important to remember that professional soldiers were not a homogeneous group, as the paths and progression of a military career could vary greatly from one man to the next, and a focus, therefore, on the underlying patterns of service of individuals can often help elucidate the various motivations and campaigning habits of military careerists.

If we broaden the analysis to include military service performed after 1345 then we can also capture the careers of men who were inexperienced and relatively new to the business of warfare at the time of Lancaster's first expedition to Aquitaine. By reconstructing the entire careers of the earl's men, as far as the sources permit, and focusing on those individuals who served on the largest number of campaigns, we can also assess the different types of military professionals that emerged in the fourteenth century. The loyal warrior who might be considered a ‘one household soldier’, for example, who served exclusively with the same retinue leader during his lifetime, was clearly of a different cut of cloth from the roaming careerist or freelance soldier who served in the companies of multiple captains.