8. Mounted knights were not anywhere near as crucial to the outcome of battles as portrayed in popular media.
Whilst early mounted warriors were undeniably effective in combat, the use of cavalry during the Middle Ages has been grossly exaggerated in popular imagination in the centuries since. Knights were never the backbone of armies, proving far too expensive to field in great numbers, and the armies of the European Middle Age were predominantly comprised of foot soldiers. With the development of more advanced forms of archery, in particular the English longbow, archers, not cavalry, came to define medieval warfare. By the time of The Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses, even knights partaking in these events electing to so from the ground rather than horseback.
The Battle of Agincourt in 1415, one of the most famed engagements of the Middle Ages featured approximately 6,000-9,000 English soldiers. Of these, an estimated 5 in 6 were longbowmen, with the remainder dismounted knights and men-at-arms in heavy armor. Moreover, Knights were never a ubiquitous feature of medieval life. During the High Middle Ages (1000-1250), throughout the entirety of England there were likely no more than 1,200 fighting knights at any one time. By the Late Middle Ages (1250-1500), this relatively limited number had decreased further to as few as 50.