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<blockquote data-quote="Alhazred" data-source="post: 2341607" data-attributes="member: 19335">England, in 1086, had a population of 2 million (according to an analysis of the Doomsday Book).&nbsp; Europe's population was approximately 38 million.The Black Death of the 1330s and 1340s killed an estimated 25 million people - one-third of the European population.&nbsp; By the 1360s, London's population had recovered to 50,000.Based on these numbers - and numbers alone - fielding an army of 50,000 is not inconceivable.&nbsp; However, as others have mentioned, actually getting 50,000 people together is nothing short of a miracle.&nbsp; Peasant levies and regular combatants (the latter members of the gentry who may or may not possess practical combat experience and who were attached to landholders via feudal obligations) came from the area in which combat was expected.&nbsp; Levies from beyond the theatre of war were rare, although magnates would join on the basis of their feudal obligations and the chance to win favour and prestige (as well as more tangible benefits - ie land).It is not until the early modern period (1500s to 1650s, or so) that armies of several tens of thousands become the norm.&nbsp; For instance, the Spanish in the Netherlands, the Armada, Prussian armies, etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Alhazred, post: 2341607, member: 19335"] England, in 1086, had a population of 2 million (according to an analysis of the Doomsday Book). Europe's population was approximately 38 million. The Black Death of the 1330s and 1340s killed an estimated 25 million people - one-third of the European population. By the 1360s, London's population had recovered to 50,000. Based on these numbers - and numbers alone - fielding an army of 50,000 is not inconceivable. However, as others have mentioned, actually getting 50,000 people together is nothing short of a miracle. Peasant levies and regular combatants (the latter members of the gentry who may or may not possess practical combat experience and who were attached to landholders via feudal obligations) came from the area in which combat was expected. Levies from beyond the theatre of war were rare, although magnates would join on the basis of their feudal obligations and the chance to win favour and prestige (as well as more tangible benefits - ie land). It is not until the early modern period (1500s to 1650s, or so) that armies of several tens of thousands become the norm. For instance, the Spanish in the Netherlands, the Armada, Prussian armies, etc. [/QUOTE]

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