,
_reiters_, as they were called,--"riders,"--who, together with the
cuirass and other defensive armor, carried pistols, probably of rude
workmanship, but which made them formidable from the weapon being little
known in that day. They were, indeed, the most dreaded troops of their
time. The men-at-arms, encumbered with their unwieldy lances, were drawn
up in line, and required an open plain to manoeuvre to advantage, being
easily discomposed by obstacles; and once broken, they could hardly
rally. But the _reiters_, each with five or six pistols in his belt,
were formed into columns of considerable depth, the size of their
weapons allowing them to go through all the evolutions of light cavalry,
in which they were perfectly drilled. Philip's cavalry was further
strengthened by a fine corps of Burgundian lances, and by a great number
of nobles and cavaliers from Spain, who had come to gather laurels in
the fields of France, under the eye of their young sovereign. The flower
of his infantry, too, was drawn from Spain; men who, independently of
the indifference to danger, and wonderful endurance, which made the
Spanish soldier inferior to none of the time, were animated by that
loyalty to the cause which foreign mercenaries could not feel. In
addition to these, the king expected, and soon after received, a
reinforcement of eight thousand English under the earl of Pembroke. They
might well fight bravely on the soil where the arms of England had won
two of the most memorable victories in her history.

The whole force, exclusive of the English, amounted to thirty-five
thousand foot and twelve thousand horse, besides a good train of
battering artillery.[191] The command of this army was given to Emanuel
Philibert, prince of Piedmont, better known by his title of duke of
Savoy. No man had a larger stake in the contest, for he had been
stripped of his dominions by the French, and his recovery of them
depended on the issue of the war. He was at this time but twenty-nine
years of age; but he had had large experience in military affairs, and
had been intrusted by Charles the Fifth, who had early discerned his
capacity, with important commands. His whole life may be said to have
trained him for the profession of arms. He had no taste for effeminate
pleasures, but amused himself, in seasons of leisure, with the hardy
exercise of the chase. He strengthened his constitution, naturally not
very robust, by living as much as possible in the