During wars of succession in the Low Countries the counts and dukes tended to form alliances with the urban elite and if they were unwilling with the urban corporations and guilds. These corporations did not contain the real urban poor, but they did contain many of the average common man and they could mobilise these men quite efficienly in the fourteenth and fifteenth century.

An alliance between the corporations and the lord would (or should) be advantageous for both. In the case of the corporations this was generally the demand of political participation in urban government. The common man in a corporation would in other words be very interested in these wars of succession and take the opportunity to improve the status and abilities of his social group.

The urban poor who were not members of corporations however had less to gain from such an alliance. They did however have to gain from a corporative revolt, which was often the consequence of these alliances, because of the way those broke the existing oligarchy in favour of the corporations, but up to a certain (albeit much lesser) point also in that of the poor.

I spoke of the highly urbanised Low Countries however, where the cities and its inhabitants had huge authority throughout the fourteenth century. I am not sure how this would work for larger and less urbanised lordships. I take it they still cared however.