In the period between the Hundred Years War (1339-1453) and the English Civil Wars (1642-8) the English army stagnated relative to the armed forces of the Continent. The technology of manufacture and quality of weapons lagged behind the European centres. Waging war was expensive, and this was reflected most in the cavalry. A contemporary wrote that in all of Wales only a few good horses could be found. In 1544, King Henry VIII (1509-47) organized a campaign in France, accompanied by 73 fully armoured ‘gentleman pensioners’ of the Household Cavalry, and 121 heavily armoured men-at-arms. The rest of the 4,000 English cavalry were English gentry who served as demi-lances on unbarded horses, light horsemen called ‘Light Staves’ and ‘Javelins’ and the Scottish ‘Border Horse’. European kings of Henry’s rank could summon many thousand heavy cavalrymen, compared to his several hundred.

One of Henry’s first undertakings had been the reorganization and replenishing of the national arsenal. In 1512, 2,000 complete harnesses of the almayne ryvettes type were bought from Florentine merchant Guido Portinari. These were similar to the armour worn by the German Landsknecht. Each set included a helmet (sallet), throat protector {gorget), backplate, breastplate and a pair of arm harnesses. All this was obtained at the favourable price of 16 shillings a set, and a further 5,000 sets were bought in Milan the following year.

After special armour for the infantry was introduced, similar protection for medium and light cavalry became the norm. Medium cavalry in England were known as lances or demi-lances, and used a lighter type of lance which did not require the use of a lance-rest. In modern parlance, their armour was of the three-quarters type (German harnasb), because it extended to the knees only. From the mid-sixteenth century, the demi-lances started using the morion helmet, previously popular among the infantry.

After 1550, the term ‘light horse’ seems to have been widespread, but it did not refer to the demi-lances. It seems that light horse troops wore a cuirass with no lance-rest, an open helmet, and optional mail sleeves. On occasion, the cuirass was replaced with only a mail shirt. Gauntlets and an oval shield were also in use. The English demi-lances used heavier horses (another reason why they were not included in the light horse), and their chief role was in a set battle, making them a cheaper substitute for battle cavalry.

In the 1660s, the demi-lances, who made up about one-fifth of the English cavalry, increasingly rejected the lance and started using firearms – pistols, arquebuses and petronels (sixteenth-century cavalry gun of medium size).