List of Man at Arms Art of War Weapons Made

Term for skilled soldiers serving as heavy cavalrymen in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

This article is nigh a type of Medieval and Renaissance soldier. For other uses, see Homo at artillery (disambiguation).

German man-at-arms 1498 past Albrecht Dürer. The equipment is that of a demi-lancer.

A homo-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully armoured heavy cavalryman.^[a] A human being-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knight's or nobleman's retinue, or a mercenary in a company serving nether a captain. Such men could serve for pay or through a feudal obligation. The terms knight and man-at-artillery are often used interchangeably, only while all knights equipped for war certainly were men-at-arms, non all men-at-artillery were knights.

Terminology [edit]

Though in English the term human being-at-arms is a fairly straightforward rendering of the French homme d'armes,^[b] in the Middle Ages, there were numerous terms for this blazon of soldier, referring to the type of artillery he would exist expected to provide: In France, he might be known as a lance or glaive, while in Germany, Spieß, Captain or Gleve , and in various places, a bascinet.^[ii] In Italy, the term barbuta was used,^[3] and in England from the late 14th century, men-at-arms were known every bit lances or spears.^[iv]

In the Early Medieval period, any well-equipped horseman could be described as a "knight", or in Latin, miles.^[5] In the course of the 12th century knighthood became a social rank with a distinction existence made between milites gregarii (not-noble cavalrymen) and milites nobiles (true knights).^[6] Every bit a fully armoured cavalryman could be of a bottom social status than a knight, an culling term describing this blazon of soldier came into use which was, in French, homme d'armes or gent d'armes, and in English homo-at-arms. This evolution differed in particular and timeline across Europe simply by 1300, there was a clear stardom betwixt the military function of the man-at-arms and the social rank of knighthood. The term man-at-arms thus primarily denoted a military function, rather than a social rank.^[seven]

Military office [edit]

The military function that a man-at-arms performed was serving as a fully armoured heavy cavalryman; though he could, and in the 14th and 15th centuries often did, also fight on human foot. In the class of the 16th century, the human being-at-artillery was gradually replaced by other cavalry types, the demi-lancer and the cuirassier, characterised by less-extensive armour coverage and the utilise of weapons other than the heavy lance.

Artillery and armour [edit]

Armour of an early 16th-century man-at-artillery

Throughout the Medieval menses and into the Renaissance the armour of the man-at-arms became progressively more effective and expensive. Throughout the 14th century, the armour worn past a man-at-arms was a composite of materials. Over a quilted gambeson, mail armour covered the body, limbs and head. Increasingly during the century, the mail was supplemented by plate armour on the body and limbs.^[eight] In the 15th century, total plate armour was developed, which reduced the mail component to a few points of flexible reinforcement.^[9]

From the 14th to 16th century, the primary weapon of the man at arms on horseback was the lance. The lance of the 14th century was essentially a uncomplicated spear, 12 ft (iii.seven k) in length, normally of ash.^[10] In response to the development of improved armour, withal, heavier lances weighing upwardly to 18 kg were developed and a new method of using them in conjunction with a lance rest (arrête) fixed to the breastplate adult. This combination of heavy lance and arrête enabled the mounted homo-at-arms to enjoy a new effectiveness on the battlefields of the later 15th and 16th centuries.^[11] Not all men-at-artillery in the 15th century carried the heavy lance. A lighter weapon called a "demi-lance" evolved and this gave its name to a new grade of lighter-equipped human-at-arms, the "demi-lancer", towards the end of the 15th century.

When fighting on foot, men-at-artillery initially adapted their ordinary cavalry weapons. English men-at-artillery in Italy in the 1360s are recorded equally advancing in close order with two men holding a cavalry lance.^[12] On other occasions, such as at the Battle of Agincourt, men-at-arms cutting downward their lances to a more manageable size of 5 ft (1.5 m).^[13] In the 15th century, the increased protection of plate armour led to the development of a specialist human foot combat weapon, the poleaxe.

Horses [edit]

The equus caballus was an essential part of a man-at-arm's equipment. The type of horse, however, varied according to wealth and status. Andrew Ayton in an in-depth study of English language warhorses of the 13th and 14th centuries has shown that 3 types predominate: the destrier, the courser and an animal simply known equally a "horse" (L:equus Med Fr : chival). Destriers were both rare and expensive, making up 5% of men-at-arms horses.^[14] Ayton also calculated the value of the boilerplate homo-at-arm'south horse in thirteen campaigns between 1282 and 1364, showing it varied betwixt £7.6 and £16.4.^[xv] In only two campaigns in the mid-14th century did the majority of horses cost more £10.^[16] The horse was, therefore, a major item of expenditure in the equipment of a homo-at-arms. It has been calculated that a French gendarme's equus caballus in the mid-15th century cost the equivalent of six months' wages.^[17] The toll of horses meant that the professional person soldier might not wish to risk his expensive asset in combat. A system evolved in the 13th century for employers to recoup for horses lost in action. In England this was called by the Latin name restauro equorum ^[xviii] and similar systems were in apply in France and Italia.^[19] In order to secure this insurance scheme, the human-at-artillery had the value of his horse assessed and details of its appearance recorded. The cess system also allowed employers to insist on a minimum value (and hence quality) of horse be presented at muster. In 14th-century England, the minimum value appears in nigh cases to be 100 shillings (£5).^[20]

Horse armour [edit]

Every bit early every bit the late 13th century, Edward I decreed that all his men-at-artillery should be mounted on equus coopertus, that is armoured, or barded, horses.^[21] Horse armour was not at that time always fabricated of metallic, with leather and quilted cloth armour also in utilize.^[22] Metal equus caballus armours were fabricated from mail or brigandine, with plate reserved for the head in the class of a chamfron. In the 15th century, plate armour for horses was introduced and was a mutual feature of the equipment of the gendarme into the 16th century.^[23]

In England [edit]

English language human-at-arms, funerary brass c. 1431

[edit]

The social construction of the Anglo-Norman order of England was relatively rigid. Ane of the easiest ways for a homo to improve his social rank was through military service; some other method was through the church building. In the Norman states, dissimilar in many other contemporary societies, the knighting of men of common nascence who had demonstrated ability and courage on the field of battle was possible. Although rare, some not-knightly men-at-arms did advance socially to the status of knights. The knighting of squires and men-at-artillery was sometimes washed in an ignoble mode, simply to increase the number of knights within an army (such do was mutual during the Hundred Years' War). In chivalric theory, whatever knight could bestow knighthood on another, yet, in practise this was normally washed by sovereigns and the higher dignity. Information technology is recorded that the great mercenary captain Sir John Hawkwood knighted a number of his followers, as many every bit twenty on 1 occasion, though he could reasonably be expected to provide the income his created knights required to maintain their new condition.^[24] Attempts to restrict the power of commanders to brand knights would increase during the 16th century and by the end of Elizabeth I'south reign, the practice had all simply ceased.^[25]

Although a knight bachelor, a knight banneret and all grades of nobility usually served as men-at-arms when called to war, the bulk of men-at-arms from the later 13th century came from an evolving social group which became known every bit the gentry. The man-at-artillery could be a wealthy mercenary of whatever social origin, but more frequently he had some level of social rank based on income, normally from state. Some came from the class known as serjeants simply increasingly during the 14th century they were drawn from an evolving form of esquire. Esquires were oft of families of knightly rank, wealthy enough to afford the artillery of a knight but who had thus far not been advanced to knightly condition or maybe had avoided it because they did not want the costs and responsibilities of that rank. Likewise found serving every bit men-at-arms were the lowest social grouping of the gentry, known by the 15th century merely as gentlemen.^[26]

The proportion of knights amidst the men-at-arms varied through fourth dimension. Between the 1280s and 1360s, figures betwixt xx-thirty% were commonplace. Thereafter, in that location was a rapid decline, with the effigy dropping to 6.five% in 1380. A slight rise is recorded to viii% at Agincourt, perhaps because this was a royal ground forces, but thereafter the figure connected to decline and by 1443, the Knuckles of Somerset mustered only 1.three% knights among his men-at-arms.^[27]

Conditions of service [edit]

Social status affected the types of armed services service performed by men-at-arms. Garrison duty was considered unattractive and was frequently carried out by soldiers of bottom status. For case, the English garrison in the Scottish town of Roxburgh in 1301 consisted of merely three knights compared to twenty seven men-at-arms of bottom condition.^[28]

The social stratification of men who served every bit men-at-arms is illustrated by their rates of pay on campaign. In the mid 1340s a knight was paid two shillings a solar day, an ordinary man-at-arms was paid half this amount; for comparison a foot archer received two or three pence (12 pennies to the shilling). A man-at-arms was as well recompensed differentially according to the quality of his main war-equus caballus, if the horse was to dice or was killed in battle. An ordinary esquire might ain a state of war-horse worth only 5 pounds whilst a slap-up nobleman might own a equus caballus worth up to 100 pounds.^[29]

Military office [edit]

English language men-at-arms before the 2d quarter of the 14th century were duplicate from their continental counterparts, serving as heavy cavalry on the field of boxing. The Battle of Dupplin Moor in 1332, against the Scots, signalled a major alter in the battlefield function of the English language human being-at-arms. This boxing was the beginning major see where the tactical combination of dismounted men-at-artillery with longbow-armed archers was deployed; the men-at-arms functioning as heavy close-combat infantry. This combination was later employed very effectively confronting the French in the Hundred Years' State of war. The English man-at-arms remained highly trained in mounted combat, though his use of the warhorse became largely confined to the pursuit of a cleaved enemy, skirmishing and in the chevauchée. In the late 15th century a resurgence in the effectiveness of the heavy lancer in combat took place in Europe. This was reflected to some extent in England, exemplified by Richard III'south mounted charge at the Battle of Bosworth (1485) and the English cavalry charge at the Battle of the Spurs (1513).^{[30] [31] [32]}

The last major battle in which English men-at-arms were prominent was fought against a Scottish army in 1547 at Pinkie Cleugh. The outnumbered Scots cavalry were easily driven off by the English horse (the Scots cavalry having lost heavily in an engagement the day before), the Scots then made a sudden advance with their massed pikemen. To slow their onset and give time for the English infantry to receive them the English heavy horse (men-at-artillery and demi-lancers) were thrown against the pikes. The English cavalry crashed into the pikemen with bully elan only sustained considerable losses. All the same, they halted the Scots assault, buying fourth dimension for the English language infantry and artillery to deploy effectively; the battle resulted in a heavy defeat for the Scots.^[33]

In France [edit]

French men-at-arms were, every bit elsewhere, drawn from the wide course of gentil hommes. Upward to the center of the 14th century, they attended the royal army either in visitor of their feudal lords or as individuals. In 1351, the start in a series of ordonnances was proclaimed, attempting to regularise the system of men-at-arms into units of 25 to eighty combatants. New ordonnances were issued occasionally to either reinforce or reform previous ones. The ordonnance of 1363 attempted to create a standing regular army of 6,000 men-at-arms, although it might not take achieved more than than iii,000 in reality. In 1445, a more radical overhaul was attempted. fifteen companies of the ordonnance were created, each of 100 lances. Each lance contained a human-at-artillery, a coustillier, three mounted archers and a page. In 1446, the scheme was extended to add another five companies, giving a full of 2,000 men-at-arms. Eventually, the number of these gens d'ordonnance du roi raised by Louis XI would reach 15,816 men, including 2,636 men-at-artillery.^[34]

The 16th century [edit]

The number of men-at-arms would continue to fluctuate, dependent on military machine circumstances, into the 16th century. In the beginning quarter of the century, they varied between a peacetime minimum of 1500 lances in 1505 and a wartime maximum of 3847 in 1523. The changes were fabricated both by raising and disbanding whole companies and by varying the number of men in ordonnance companies. In 1559, for case, Francis 2 reduced the number of lances in each company by 20.^[35]

Past the 1580s the traditional French gendarme, equally a lance-armed heavily armoured cavalryman, was in precipitous pass up. The Battle of Coutras (October 20, 1587), between Henry of Navarre, and the Duc de Joyeuse, during the French Wars of Religion, illustrates the demise of the heavy lancer. Navarre's cavalry were 1,300 armoured pistoleers whilst the Royalists under Joyeuse were 2,000 heavy lancers (gendarmes). Within a few minutes of combat the lancers had been routed, many being captured and held for ransom.^[36] All later French cavalry named 'gendarmes' were more lightly armoured, eventually condign unarmoured, and employed firearms and a sword, rather than the heavy lance.

Later history [edit]

Louis 14 on his accession to the throne plant only viii companies of gendarmes surviving out of an original full of more one hundred, just later the victory of Fleurus (1690), which had been decided past their courage, he increased their number to sixteen. The four offset companies were designated by the names of Gendarmes ecossais, Gendarmes anglais, Gendarmes bourguignons and Gendarmes flamands, from the nationality of the soldiers who had originally composed them, just at that fourth dimension they consisted entirely of French soldiers and officers. These four companies had a captain-general, who was the rex. The fifth company was that of the queen and the others bore the name of the princes who respectively allowable them. This arrangement was dissolved in 1788.^[37]

Evolution into a paramilitary constabulary force [edit]

A military corps having such duties was first created in 1337 and was placed under the orders of the Constable of France (connétable), and therefore named connétablie. In 1626 subsequently the abolitionism of the title of connétable, it was put under the command of the Maréchal of France, and renamed Maréchaussée. Its main mission was protecting the roads from highwaymen. In 1720 the maréchaussée was subordinated to the gendarmerie; afterward the French Revolution the maréchaussée was abolished and the gendarmerie took over its duties in 1791.

In Spain [edit]

Armour for human being-at-arms and fully barded equus caballus, Royal Armory of Madrid

Spain had multiple factors contributing to the strong chivalric ethos exemplified by Spanish knights and men-at-arms. One gene leading to the prominence of chivalric orders in Spain, is the Reconquista in which Christian kingdoms attempted to regain land from, and eventually expel from the peninsula, the Muslim states. The greatest foes of the Spanish Christian knight were, above all, Muslims; who were a local and deeply entrenched enemy, not equally distant as the 'infidel' was for the knights of other European regions. However, warfare between the Christian states of the Iberian Peninsula was besides not uncommon.^[38] It can be argued that in Spain the existence of a common enemy had some role in uniting Christian kingdoms in the cause of the Crusades and Reconquista.^[39]

In the 12th–13th century most of the prominent Spanish Chivalry orders were formed. The early history of chivalric orders in the peninsula was unstable. In Calatrava, during the middle of the 12th century Castilian Knights established a fortress, which would later be abased due to the threat of Muslim attack, then once again within fifty years the castle of the Order of Calatrava was and then rebuilt and became a fortified monastic community.^[twoscore]

In the Italian Wars the Spanish human being-at-arms was prominent in the campaigns. One example is at the Boxing of Cerignola, which began with 2 charges past the French heavy cavalry against the center of the Spanish regular army, just these were scattered by Spanish heavy artillery and arquebus fire. The next assault tried to forcefulness the right flank, but many of the French cavalrymen fell into the Spanish trench and the attack was then broken by a storm of fire from the Spanish arquebusiers.

The Castilian leader Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba then chosen for a counterattack against the now disorganized enemy by both the Spanish infantry and the heavy Spanish cavalry waiting in reserve. Mounted arquebusiers surrounded and routed the remaining French gendarmes, simply the Swiss pikeman managed to retreat in a relatively organized fashion.^[41]

In Italia [edit]

Men-at-artillery formed the core troops of the Italian condottiere companies from the 14th to the 16th century. Although the man-at-arms ever remained essentially a mounted soldier, in the 14th century, they often fought on pes, following the example of English mercenaries who, from the 2d half of the century, commonly fought there.^[42] The organisation of condotte or contracts which gave the condottieri their name led to the construction of armies from a number of contract holders, usually grouped nether a master contractor. Maybe the best known of these is the White Company led by Sir John Hawkwood in the 14th century. System of these companies was in lanze of three men, initially two fighting men and a page but later a homo-at-arms, an armed servant (piatto) and a page (ragazzo). 5 lanze were grouped to class a posta and v of these made a bandiera.^[43]

In the 15th century, the structure of the companies inverse. A company would be organised into a number of squadrons. Ane of these would be the household squadron of the captain, known as the casa, which contained both fighting troops and headquarters staff, such as a marshal, clergyman, chancellors, cooks and servants. The size of squadrons varied but would contain well-nigh 25 lanze.^[44]

In the second half of the century, these structures began to be supplemented by the practice of states hiring alongside companies individual men-at-arms, who were and so grouped nether a commander appointed by the state. These were originally recruited from men-at-arms whose company commander had died or retired and and so were known as lanze spezzate or broken lances.^[45] At the same time, changes were seen in the components of the lanze, with the introduction of the corazzo, a larger unit but yet containing just one homo-at-artillery, and the recognition of 2 types of men-at-arms in condotte; truthful men-at-arms known as armigeri veri and lighter-equipped elmetti.^[46] Towards the finish of the 15th century, squadrons of men-at-arms begin to be organised into larger formations known every bit columns led by a senior condottiero called a colonello. A column typically independent viii to ten squadrons.^[47]

Notes [edit]

1. ^ The Old French: gen d'armes, plural gens d'armes or gendarmerie equally a collective noun, was the direct equivalent of the English language 'man-at-arms'.
2. ^ Originally translated in English every bit "homo-of-artillery" but from the 16th century every bit "man-at-arms."^[1]

References [edit]

1. ^ OED etymology of Human being-of-arms
2. ^ Contamine (1984), p. 126.
3. ^ Mallett (1974), pp. 31-two.
4. ^ Bell et al. 2013, pp. 101–2.
5. ^ Church and Harvey (1994), p. 51.
6. ^ Church and Harvey (1994), pp. 48-49.
7. ^ Nicholson (2004), p. 55.
8. ^ Edge & Paddock (1988), pp. 68–83.
9. ^ Edge & Paddock (1988), pp. 99–118.
10. ^ Border & Paddock (1988), p. 88.
11. ^ Vale (1981), pp. 114–ix.
12. ^ Mallett (1974), p. 37.
13. ^ Rogers (2008), pp. 90–1.
14. ^ Ayton (1994), pp. 62–63.
15. ^ Ayton (1994),`p. 195, Tabular array half-dozen.1.
16. ^ Ayton (1994), p. 196, Tabular array 6.ii.
17. ^ Vale (1981), p. 126.
18. ^ Ayton (1994), p. 85.
19. ^ Contamine (1984), pp. 130–31.
20. ^ Ayton (1994), pp. 197–98.
21. ^ Church and Harvey (1994), p. 39.
22. ^ Edge & Paddock (1988), pp. 61–62.
23. ^ Martin (1968), pp. 140–41.
24. ^ Cooper (2008), pp. 119-120.
25. ^ Gravett (2006), p. 14.
26. ^ Coss (1993), pp. 127–133.
27. ^ Prestwich (1996), pp. 51-2.
28. ^ Simpkin (2008), pp. 26-27.
29. ^ Curry (1994), p. 24.
30. ^ Fritze and Robison, p. 236
31. ^ Gravett (1999), p. 69
32. ^ Oman, pp. 293–295
33. ^ Gravett (2006), pp. 46-47.
34. ^ Fowler (1980), pp. 101–2, 134–seven.
35. ^ Potter (2008), pp. 80–3.
36. ^ Oman (1998), p. 475.
37. ^ Chisholm (1911), Gendarmerie.
38. ^ Prestage, pp. 81, 109
39. ^ Ludlow, James M. (1910), Age of the Crusades, Charles Scribner'southward Sons Ltd., p. 74, ISBN9780524027035
40. ^ Barber, p. 147
41. ^ Tafiłowski, Piotr (2007). Wojny włoskie 1494-1559. Zabrze: Inforeditions. ISBN978-83-89943-18-7.
42. ^ Cooper (2008), pp. 76–81.
43. ^ Cooper (2008), pp. 76–77.
44. ^ Mallett (1974), pp. 107–108.
45. ^ Mallet (1974), pp. 112–113.
46. ^ Mallett (1974), pp. 148–149.
47. ^ Mallett (1974), pp. 150–151.

Sources [edit]

• Ayton, Andrew (1994). Knights and Warhorses. Woodbridge: Boydell. ISBN0851157394.
• Bell, Adrian; Curry, Anne; King, Andy; Simpkin, David (2013). The Soldier in Afterward Medieval England. Oxford: OUP. ISBN9780199680825.
• Church, S.; Harvey, R., eds. (1994). Medieval knighthood V: papers from the 6th Strawberry Hill Briefing 1994. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.
• Contamine, Philippe (1984). War in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN0631131426.
• Cooper, Due south. (2008). Sir John Hawkwood. Pen & Sword Books, Barnsley.
• Coss, Peter (1993). The Knight in Medieval England g-1400 . Stroud, Glos: Alan Sutton. ISBN075090996X.
• Curry, A. (ed.) (1994) Arms, armies and fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Boydell & Brewer, Woodbidge.
• Edge, David; Paddock, John Miles (1988). Artillery and Armour of the Medieval Knight. London: Defoe. ISBN1870981006.
• Fowler, Kenneth (1980) [1967]. The Age of Plantagenet and Valois. London: Ferndale Editions. ISBN0905746090.
• Fritze, Ronald H. and Robison, William B. (eds.) (2002) Historical Lexicon of Tardily Medieval England, 1272-1485, Greenwood Publishing, Westport CT ISBN 9780313291241
• Gravett, Christopher (1999). Bosworth 1485: Last Charge of the Plantagenets. Campaign. Vol. 66. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN1-85532-863-1.
• Gravett, C. (2006). Tudor Knight. Osprey, Oxford.
• Mallett, Michael (1974). Mercenaries and their Masters, Bodley Head, London, ISBN 0370105028
• Martin, Paul (1968). Armour and Weapons. London: Herbert Jenkins.
• Nicholson, Helen J. (2004). Medieval warfare: theory and practice of war in Europe, 300–1500. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Sultanate of oman, Sir Charles W. C. (1998). History of the Art of War in the 16th Century, reprinted (ed.), Greenhill Books. ISBN 0-947898-69-7
• Potter, David (2008). Renaissance French republic at War. Woodbridge: Boydell. ISBN9781843834052.
• Prestwich, Michael (1996) Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience, New Oasis: Yale University Press ISBN 0300076630
• Rogers, Clifford J. (2008). "The Battle of Agincourt", in The Hundred Years' War (Role Two): Unlike Vistas, ed. L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, Leiden: Brill: 37-132.
• Simpkin, D, (2008) The English aristocracy at war: from the Welsh wars of Edward I to the Battle of Bannockburn. Boydell Press, Woodbridge.
• Vale, Malcolm (1981). War and Chivalry. London: Duckworth. ISBN0715610422.

Attribution [edit]

• This commodity incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gendarmerie". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge Academy Press. p. 573.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-at-arms

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