<P> The English army was also equipped with five ribauldequin, an early form of cannon . </P> <P> The French army was led by Philip VI and the blind John of Bohemia . The exact size of the French army is less certain as the financial records from the Crécy campaign are lost, however there is a prevailing consensus that it was substantially larger than the English . The French army likely numbered around 20,000--30,000 men . Contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart places the French numbers at 100,000, Wynkeley suggests 12,000 men - at - arms, 6,000 Genoese Crossbowmen and 60,000 infantry, and Henry Knighton claimed the king of France brought 72,000 . Jean Le Bel gave 20,000 cavalry, 100,000 foot and 12,000 crossbowmen . Thomas of Burton reported 30,000 cavalry . An Italian chronicler claimed 100,000 knights, 12,000 infantry and 5,000 crossbowmen . Contemporary chroniclers estimated the number of crossbowmen as 2,000--20,000 . These numbers have been described as unrealistic and exaggerated by historians, going by the extant war treasury records for 1340, six years before the battle . Ayton suggests around 12,000 mounted men - at - arms as the core soldiery of the French army, several thousand Genoese crossbowmen and a "large, though indeterminate number of common infantry". Most historians have accepted the figure of 6,000 Genoese crossbowmen . However, Schnerb questions this figure, based on the estimates of 2,000 available crossbowmen in all of France in 1340 . That Genoa on its own could have put several thousand mercenary crossbowmen at the disposal of the French monarch is described by Schnerb as "doubtful". The contingent of common infantrymen is not known with any certainty, except that it outnumbered the English and was in the thousands . </P> <P> The Battle of Crécy is often exemplified as a battle in which the longbow defeated the rival crossbow . The crossbow had become the dominant ranged infantry weapon on the continental European battlefield: the choice weapon for expert mercenary companies . The crossbow was favoured as it required less physical strength to load and shoot than a longbow, and could release more kinetic energy than its rival, making it deadlier at close range . It was, however, hampered by slower, more difficult loading, its cumbersome shape and its range, in which the longbow had the advantage . Furthermore a sudden rainstorm is said to have stretched the strings of the crossbows while the English longbowmen had removed their bowstrings, and stored them under their water - resistant leather caps . </P> <P> Later developments in more powerful crossbows in the 15th century, such as the windlass - span crossbow, negated these advantages, while advances in bow technology brought to Europe from armies on crusade introduced composite technology; decreasing the size of the crossbow while increasing its power . A common claim about the crossbow is a reload time of one bolt every 1--2 minutes . A test conducted by Mike Loades for Weapons That Changed Britain - The Longbow found that a belt - and - claw span crossbow could discharge 4 bolts in 30 seconds, while a longbow could shoot 9 . A second speed test conducted using a hand - span crossbow found that the weapon could shoot 6 bolts in the same time it took for a longbow to shoot 10 . </P>

3) which country did the squire fight a battle in