No less important was the presence of prostitutes. They were the cause of all troubles and soldiers' riots. The English twice, under Neys and in the Lausanne camp, staged completely outrageous brawls, in one of which they almost shot Charles the Bold. (After that, they were chased around the entire camp, beaten, and robbed).
The Germans were more likely to fight over gambling. In the camp of Emperor Frederick in 1475, two bloody clashes broke out over losses in dice games. Both times, there were stabbings, dozens of corpses, and gunfire from arquebuses.
Charles the Bold, in order to curb the soldiers' desire to fight over prostitutes, included a paragraph in the Saint-Maximin ordinance stating that each company (900 men on the roster) could be accompanied by no more than 30 prostitutes, and no soldier or officer could claim any particular woman. In the Lausanne ordinance, prostitutes were completely banned, which, of course, did not prevent them from infiltrating the Burgundian army. When the Swiss defeated the Burgundians near Murten and stormed the camp, numerous women quickly bared their breasts to them, in order to unequivocally assure the victors of their gender. What happened next is well illustrated by miniatures from Swiss chronicles.
True, this is the late Middle Ages; unfortunately, much less information has survived from the early Middle Ages.
I'll try to find more about the early period.
that in any medieval army, camp followers included traveling prostitutes
I am so categorical :( . I should have written "in most cases."
Наше оружие - неожиданность! Неожиданность и страх, страх и неожиданность - это два наших оружия! Плюс безжалостность - три наших оружия: страх, неожиданность и безжалостность! И ещё фанатичная преданность Папе - четвёртое! Наше оружие включает в себя... наше оружие включает в себя... страх, неожиданность... я сейчас!