FEUDAL LEVY

The summoning of an army by the king. The *fyrd came together as a result of the king's summons. After the Conquest, servitium debitum answered the king's need for knights; the great lords with their retinues also responded, though they may well have been at court when such a decision was made. By the 14c, the emergence of paid service and the use of *merce-naries became increasingly common, and a more reliable source of troops, equipped as knights or not. Those knights answering the levy who were part of a lord's servitium were among other such groups, producing a rather disorganised force. *Scutage also presented problems; even the collection of the money liability of scutage proved difficult. Recruiting by "Indenture and payment made organisation and administration easier and more predictable. Ordinary foot soldiers were still supplied by the boroughs and the shires. The very last summons of the feudal levy was issued by Richard II in June 1385. -

Cf. Array, Commission of