As time went on, the cities of Medieval England expanded greatly and so too did the population, with London’s own population growing by 500% over the course of just a couple of centuries. As such, the idea of a standing English army that would remain active through both peacetime and war became much more plausible and realistic. This meant that there was less and less of a need for Knights to be called up to serve in the military, and eventually the status of Knighthood was more of an economic than martial role. However, the upper class did try their hardest to prevent this – through parading chivalrous ideals, holding tournaments and other displays of valour, and so on.
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