Naturally, the principal characters of medieval historical narration were sovereigns. Medieval authors were certainly quite far from creating "complex" depictions of historical heroes whose characteristic features, deeds and behaviours would all interconnect logically; nevertheless, it is still possible to mark out several key parameters distinguishing a good sovereign from a bad one. Perhaps the most important requirement for each monarch (who occupied the throne by the grace of God and for protection of the people from external danger and lawlessness) was the virtue of justice. In English medieval chroniclers' view, hostile sovereigns lacking in this virtue not only usurped thrones, impiously ignoring the will of God, but also egoistically tyrannised their own subjects. The absence of justice and piety generated hypocrisy, insidiousness, cruelty and other vices. On the contrary, guided by the quest for supreme justice, the pious English kings showed truthfulness, mercy and other positive qualities.

If justice was the central trait in the descriptions of those in power, above all the monarchs, then the defining positive quality of the subjects was, beyond any doubt, fidelity. It is important to note that during the period under discussion, subjects' fidelity was gradually depersonalised, emphasizing devotion less to the person of the king and more to the kingdom as a whole. All other evaluative parameters coincided with characteristic features of sovereigns and were assumed to be positive for one's own countrymen and negative for the "others". Thus, the typical representative of "our" community possessed a certain specific set of virtues, and the typical enemy a corresponding set of vices and weaknesses.

If official royal propaganda appealed first of all to vassal fidelity and patriotism, then "public opinion" was more guided by the private interests and individual expectations of the population. It is reasonable that, for each of participant of any war, there would be various individual motives causing them to take up arms. Representatives of all social strata without exception must have had a personal stake if they were to endure the hardships of war for years. The range of these private motives was wide enough: from aspirations to personal glory or fear of losing one's knightly honour, to materialistic desires to build up wealth by plundering enemy territory. This last circumstance particularly concerned the conflict with France, for during the period of the Hundred Years' War in English society the idea steadily developed that wars in France promised material welfare and prosperity to each Englishman individually and to the English kingdom as a whole. Already during the first stage of the war, the myth of successful commoners who gained not only martial honour and glory, but also titles and wealth through fighting, had arisen in the English society and become rather popular. As chroniclers testified, in the 14lh and 15lh centuries many young people in England dreamed of imitating the careers of glorified mercenaries and famous brigands. Even noble knights seeking fame did not forget about the lucre they could acquire in a successful campaign. Statutes and historical writings demonstrate that all strata of society were interested in ransom for captives, from peasants to kings. According to French sources, soldiers of the English garrison regularly kidnapped men and women and held them captives for the purpose of obtaining ransom. Pillaging and murder tended to be considered as crimes only when towards one's own country and in peacetime. Beyond the borders of the kingdom these actions were interpreted differently, namely as harming the prosperity of the enemy and hence serving the noble mission of re-establishing justice. From time to time the English prepared special military operations for the purpose of pillaging. As a rule, English chroniclers tried to explain such actions as the natural desire of their countrymen to avenge their suffering and losses; even the vengefulness and obvious cruelty of the English troops were described as evidence of the English tirelessly striving for justice.