[Jaroslav Kravcak]

Well the point about quickly killing came solely out of my reading of english translation of Orderic Vitaliss version of the battle, I just saw battle mentioned, so I put the question here.

Regarding infantry line, or maybe to use square in example, wouldnt the amount of men, that can cram themselves into each line be bigger, than how many lines can put one behind the other, or is this evidently visible only with horsemen? So eight ranks of men in eight ranks wouldnt be perfect square, but rectangle, deeper, than wider. Also, regarding stopping cavalry, how many ranks were considered most suitable to be perfectly sure of being able to resist even the most determined and well armoured cavalry? It indeed seems to me more than 5 rows of pikes and maybe 2-3 rows of halberds/spear wouldnt be nessesary in actual clash, as thers would simply stand behind waiting for their turn. Would inner core of such a formation also be clustered together with almost no space between men, or would crowding only appear in first few closed ranks and inner core of the formation would be more open? (Im rather adressing this question to rennaisance pikesquares)