Editing Medieval warfare (section)

==Supplies and logistics==
[[File:Topfhelm DHM transparent.png|thumb|left|upright|13th century German [[great helm]] with a flat top to the skull]]
[[File:Byzantine klivanium (Κλιβάνιον).jpg|thumb|right|Byzantine ''[[klivanion]]'']]
[[File:Reproducció de la indumentària d&#039;un almogàver 2.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Spanish [[Almogavars|Almogávar]]]]
Medieval warfare largely predated the use of [[Train (military)|supply trains]], which meant that armies had to acquire food supplies from the territory they were passing through. This meant that large-scale [[looting]] by soldiers was unavoidable, and was actively encouraged in the 14th century with its emphasis on ''[[chevauchée]]'' tactics, where mounted troops would burn and pillage enemy territory in order to distract and demoralize the enemy while denying them their supplies.

Through the medieval period, soldiers were responsible for supplying themselves, either through foraging, looting, or purchases. Even so, military commanders often provided their troops with food and supplies, but this would be provided instead of the soldiers' wages, or soldiers would be expected to pay for it from their wages, either at cost or even with a profit.<ref name=AbelsRichard>{{cite web
 | url = https://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh381/Medieval%20Logistics.htm
 | title = War in the Middle Ages: Medieval Logistics – English Experience
 | last = Abels, Richard
 | author-link = Abels, Richard
 | publisher = [[United States Naval Academy]]
 | access-date = 3 October 2017
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160413140254/http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh381/Medieval%20Logistics.htm
 | archive-date = 13 April 2016
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>

In 1294, the same year [[John Balliol|John II de Balliol of Scotland]] refused to support [[Edward I of England]]'s planned invasion of France, Edward I implemented a system in [[Wales]] and [[Scotland]] where [[sheriff]]s would acquire foodstuffs, horses and carts from merchants with [[Eminent domain|compulsory sales]] at prices fixed below typical market prices under the Crown's rights of [[purveyance|prise and purveyance]]. These goods would then be transported to [[Supply depot|Royal Magazine]]s in southern Scotland and along the Scottish border where English [[Conscription|conscript]]s under his command could purchase them. This continued during the [[Wars of Scottish Independence|First War of Scottish Independence]] which began in 1296, though the system was unpopular and was ended with Edward I's death in 1307.<ref name=AbelsRichard/>

Starting under the rule of [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] in 1307 and ending under the rule of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] in 1337, the English instead used a system where merchants would be asked to meet armies with supplies for the soldiers to purchase. This led to discontent as the merchants saw an opportunity to [[War profiteering|profiteer]], forcing the troops to pay well above normal market prices for food.<ref name=AbelsRichard/>

As Edward III went to war with France in the [[Hundred Years' War]] (starting in 1337), the English returned to a practice of foraging and raiding to meet their logistical needs. This practice lasted throughout the war, extending through the remainder of Edward III's reign into the reign of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]].<ref name=AbelsRichard/>