Soldiers in the Hundred Years War did not receive rations as such. Commanders were supposed to provide food for their men (whether by taking it with them or by foraging/pillaging for it), but there was no system comparable to the Royal Navy's daily allotments of particular foods. Food might be provided by royal purveyance (where food was gathered by order of the king), but this proved to be politically unpopular and was largely replaced by contracted merchants providing supplies to military forces and garrisons like at Calais. What form did these supplies take? Primarily, various forms of grains: wheat, oat, barley, and malt are mentioned frequently. Beans and peas were also common for English military rations, though not to the same extent as the grains. For meat, pork and beef (presumably salted) were the usual military supplies. When soldiers were in the field, they would also forage for whatever they could find in the area. If they camped near a lake, they might fish. If they came upon a village, they would take bread. If they were passing by vineyards, the soldiers would drink as much as they could get their hands on, much to the irritation of their commanders. Although sometimes commanders attempted to limit the violence and destruction caused by their soldiers for political reasons, they had a limited ability to actually enforce discipline. Civilians caught in the path of medieval armies had very few options for protecting themselves or their livelihoods.