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An insightful look at the difficulties facing Edward III at the commencement of the 100 Years War to recruit, supply and finance a large army to go over to France may be found in English Armies in the Hundred Years War - A Scheme in 1341 Edward's plan for a massive coalition of allies fell apart in large part because he could not pay them. Truce after truce was extended under pretext while Edward moved ahead with plans for an invasion army and fleet. (Does this sound familiar? Would the failed 'Coalition of the Willing' for the Iraq War been more easily assembled on a larger scale, and more dedicated to the mission of the United States if they had been paid as outright mercenary armies ?)
Contracts were made with magnates for specific numbers of soldiers with increasing frequency as the Hundred Years War enlarged and royal armies paid by the wardrobe were never sufficient. The 1341 magnate contract was paid by a levy of wool, not so odd when the shortage of coin in the realm is considered. Men-at-arms and mounted archers were to be most important types of soldiers in the English army during the Hundred Years War.
War began in 1337 when French ships began scouting the coast of England. Philip VI reclaimed Gascony and on All Saints Day, Henry Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln arrived in Paris. An alliance with the Low Countries amounted to very little, payments to the German princes and cost of maintaining an army abroad drove England into bankruptcy. France dominated the English Channel and sacked some English towns.
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