The victors would strip the dead of literally everything they had, take captives, and ransom every man of status who could be found. This was a routine and enormously profitable exercise, and as Roger Turvey notes, a means of balancing out some of the extraordinary expenses of campaigning in the first place. Moreover, poorly equipped arms bearers could outfit themselves with what was found on the field and augment their kit as alternative choices presented themselves.

Matthew Strickland contends that the act of stripping a dead corpse was not only about seizing their goods; it was also a deliberate act of shaming and denigrating a slain enemy. Strickland, Armies, Chivalry And Warfare In Medieval Britain And France: Proceedings of the 1995 Harlaxton Symposium ed. Matthew Strickland (Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1995), 334. The rush to claim booty for oneself could also lead to a breakdown in discipline at the conclusion of an engagement when losses rose sharply among fleeing troops who broke and ran.

For poor arms bearers it was a crucial means of supporting themselves and allowed them to gain a greater share of the booty.