officers, to distinguish them from the men, wore lofty plumes on their
helmets.

After the Swiss infantry came the archers of Gascony: there were five
thousand of them, wearing a very simple dress, that contrasted with the
rich costume of the Swiss soldiers, the shortest of whom would have been
a head higher than the tallest of the Gascons. But they were excellent
soldiers, full of courage, very light, and with a special reputation for
quickness in stringing and drawing their iron bows.

Behind them rode the cavalry, the flower of the French nobility, with
their gilded helmets and neck bands, their velvet and silk surcoats,
their swords each of which had its own name, their shields each telling
of territorial estates, and their colours each telling of a lady-love.
Besides defensive arms, each man bore a lance in his hand, like an
Italian gendarme, with a solid grooved end, and on his saddle bow a
quantity of weapons, some for cutting and same for thrusting. Their
horses were large and strong, but they had their tails and ears cropped
according to the French custom. These horses, unlike those of the
Italian gendarmes, wore no caparisons of dressed leather, which made them
more exposed to attack. Every knight was followed by three horses--the
first ridden by a page in armour like his own, the two others by
equerries who were called lateral auxiliaries, because in a fray they
fought to right and left of their chief. This troop was not only the
most magnificent, but the most considerable in the whole army; for as
there were 2500 knights, they formed each with their three followers a
total of 10,000 men. Five thousand light horse rode next, who carried
huge wooden bows, and shot long arrows from a distance like English
archers. They were a great help in battle, for moving rapidly wherever
aid was required, they could fly in a moment from one wing to another,