Dogmantra wrote
It's also traditionally been a path for social mobility. The Romans promised land and citizenship to soldiers who served long enough. The whole deal of Knights under feudalism was that they traded military service for social standing and land. Just like how today the US military will pay for your college if you sign up. I imagine a lot of folks went in with the idea that they'd just try to survive their service and if so, they'd reap the rewards.
Dogmantra wrote
Additionally, once it got to an actual pitched battle, one of the roles of the formation of a block of men was to make it hard for people to run away. You were packed so tightly with everyone else that it was difficult to do anything but move with the flow, and retreating as an individual was pretty tricky. Once you make contact with the enemy, the choice essentially comes down to fight or die, which for most people is a pretty easy choice.
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