These units formed companies under a captain either as mercenary bands or in the retinue of wealthy nobles and royalty.
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The last Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, made a number of ordinances prescribing the organisation of his forces in the 1460s and 1470s.
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In the Abbeville Ordinance of 1471, the army is re-organised into 1250 lances of 9 men each : a man-at-arms, a coustillier, a non-combatant page, three mounted archers and three footsoldiers (a crossbowmen, handgunner, and pikeman).