Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

KNIGHT
Normans burning an
English house. This may
be a reference to William's
ravaging of Harold's
estates in the south of
England after his landing
at Pevensey. (Bridgeman
Art Library)
108
inhabitants with a company ol no more than twenty-five knights'. During the siege of
Alcncj'on, in William the Conqueror's war against Count Geoffrey Martel of Anjou in
1047, no less a man than William Fitz Osbern, lord of Breteuil and the hereditary
steward of Normandy, was sent ahead of the army on reconnaissance. Individual lords
and their retinues might be moved out to the flanks to offer them protection. The Earl
ol Warwick and Sir Ralph Chobham and their retinues worked the flanks of the main
army on the Crecy campaign, shielding it by watching the towns off the route of march
for signs that their garrisons might sortie out. By the time they reached the Somme and
turned to seek a crossing point, troops from the French army shadowed their movements
whilst the main force gathered itself ahead of them, trying to force a confrontation.
Strategic aims might see an army dispersed to some extent. Records of the Crecy
campaign show after landing in France the English army did not march in a single
column but ranged through Normandy and Picardy in a swathe about a mile wide.
Edward was secure in the knowledge that a French army had not had time to gather
and that the local garrisons were too weak to be in a position to challenge him. Despite
his early edicts against the plundering of the Norman villages, by the time he reached
the region of the Ile-de-France the English army was sacking and burning along the
whole line of march. This act served the aims of the campaign. It seems certain that
Edward was seeking to bring the French king Philippe to battle. The ravaging ot land
under his lordship struck at the heart ol medieval kingship: subjects gave their loyalty
and in return their lord defended them and their interests. That the English could
plunder and burn at will suggested that the French monarchy was weak, increased the
chances of rebellion, and forced Philippe to act. William the Conqueror seems to have
used a similar ploy on the Hastings campaign. Rather than march directly on London
he spent time in and around Harold Godwinson's lands close to Hastings, presumably
to draw the English king into an engagement.
Such ravaging could also be an end in itself. Raids into an enemy's territory have
been a regular element of warfare since time began. Being a low-intensity conflict -
•VSW
HTVR-