Editing Battle of Poitiers (section)

===French army===
[[File:Armborst 4, Nordisk familjebok.png|thumb|left|upright=0.6|alt=a pen and ink sketch of a medieval crossbowman winding back the bowstring of his weapon|{{center|A crossbowman of the period, reloading}}]]

The French army was made up of between 14,000 and 16,000 men: 10,000 to 12,000 were men-at-arms, 2,000 were [[Arbalist (crossbowman)|crossbowmen]] and 2,000 were infantrymen who were not classed as men-at-arms.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=377, 377 n. 150}} Although most or all of the French had travelled mounted, they all fought dismounted at Poitiers except for two small groups of mounted [[knight]]s, totalling either 300{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=11}} or 500. These were selected from the Frenchmen who had the best armour, especially on their horses; horse armour is known as [[barding]] and the use of plate armour for this was a recent innovation in Western Europe.{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=208}} Their riders were equipped as the dismounted men-at-arms, apart from the superior quality of their armour. They wielded wooden lances, usually ash, tipped with iron and approximately {{convert|13|ft|0}} long;{{sfn|Edge|Paddock|1988|p=88}} their dismounted colleagues retained their lances, but cut them down to {{convert|5|to|6|ft}} in order to use them as short spears.{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=11}}{{sfn|Nicolle|2004|p=51}} The crossbowmen wore metal helmets, [[brigandine]]s (thick leather [[jerkin]]s with varying amounts of small pieces of plate armour sewn to them) and possibly chain-mail [[hauberk]]s. Crossbowmen usually fought from behind [[pavises]]{{snd}}very large shields with their own bearers, behind each of which three crossbowmen could shelter.{{sfn|Rothero|1995|pp=39–40}}{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=61}} A trained crossbowman could shoot his weapon approximately twice a minute{{sfn|Magier|Nowak|Tomasz|Zochowski|2017|p=70}} and had a shorter effective range than a longbowman{{sfn|Rogers|1998|p=238}} of about {{convert|200|m|yd|sigfig=2|order=flip}}.{{sfn|Bachrach|Bachrach|2017|p=236}}

The French army was divided into four battles. The foremost division was led by the [[Grand Constable of France|constable of France]], [[Walter VI, Count of Brienne|Walter, Count of Brienne]]. As well as a large core of French men-at-arms it included 200 Scottish men-at-arms under William Douglas, most of the French infantry and crossbowmen and all of their cavalry.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|pp=378–379, 381}} The two small groups of cavalry were each led by one of the two [[List of Marshals of France|marshals of France]]: [[Arnoul d'Audrehem]] and [[Jean de Clermont]].{{sfn|Green|2013|p=41}} The leading French were approximately {{convert|500|yd|sigfig=1}} from the English.{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=11}} Behind this was a division led jointly by John's 19-year-old son and heir and John's uncle: Charles, the Dauphin, and [[Peter I, Duke of Bourbon|Peter, Duke of Bourbon]], respectively;{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=379}} Charles was experiencing his first taste of war.{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=11}} This formation consisted entirely of dismounted men-at-arms, 4,000 of them.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=379}} The third division was led by John's younger brother, [[Philip, Duke of Orléans]], also inexperienced in war,{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=11}} and was made up of approximately 3,200 men-at-arms.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=380}} The rearmost division, of 2,000 men-at-arms and an uncertain number of crossbowmen, was commanded by the king himself.{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=208}}{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=380}}