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

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

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of Northallerton in 1138 the priests wore white vestments clearly distinguishing them<br />

from the warriors. As the army moved into the fray the priests, including Bishop Ralph<br />

of the Orkneys, stood on the hill above praying for God's intercession against the<br />

Scots. <strong>The</strong>y focused their prayers around a caroccio, a cart on which was fixed a ship's<br />

mast bearing the banners of three local saints: Peter the Apostle (the patron of York<br />

Cathedral), John of Beverley <strong>and</strong> Wilfrid of Ripon. This was an unusual thing in<br />

northern European warfare, so much so that it gave its name to the battle which is also<br />

known as the Battle of the St<strong>and</strong>ard. Such practices were much more common<br />

amongst the town militia of Italian urban armies, where the caroccio was as much a<br />

symbol of town pride as a spiritual powerhouse. Individual saints' banners, <strong>and</strong><br />

sometimes even their relics, were carried onto the battlefield on a regular basis as a<br />

means of obtaining divine aid in the coming conflict. This was vitally important as<br />

battle was often seen as a judicial duel writ large; the outcome being a judgement by<br />

God on the righteousness (or otherwise) of the armies' cause.<br />

At Northallerton one of the comm<strong>and</strong>ers, Walter d'Espec, gave an oration to<br />

the Anglo-Norman troops. It focused, according to Aelred of Rievaulx, on the strength<br />

of the Anglo-Normans under difficult circumstances, the need to protect English<br />

women <strong>and</strong> children from a barbarous enemy <strong>and</strong> the anti-Christian acts of the Scots,<br />

<strong>and</strong> the divine aid of the saints <strong>and</strong> God. Such pre-battle harangues are common in the<br />

records of medieval battles, but, whilst they might be the words of the chronicler rather<br />

than the warrior leaders, the evidence does suggest an attempt to bolster the morale<br />

of their troops by pre-battle orations. <strong>The</strong>y tend to have common themes, generally<br />

making reference to the righteousness of the cause, the support of Christ <strong>and</strong> the<br />

saints, the weaknesses of the enemy. Perhaps more realistic is William of Malmesbury 's<br />

record of the actions of Henry I on the eve of Robert Curthose's expected invasion,<br />

the king offering tactical advice to his footsoldiers.<br />

As we have seen, armies were split into their divisions at the onset of the campaign.<br />

This meant that when the army arrived on the field it was a relatively simple matter<br />

of ranging the divisions across it. Quite where each ward was placed in relation to the<br />

others depended on the circumstances of the field <strong>and</strong> the enemy, of course, but on the<br />

whole the main guard was placed so as to be first to contact the enemy. Far from being<br />

a case of 'line em up <strong>and</strong> let 'era go', as most popular depictions of battle would have<br />

it, battle plans were made. <strong>The</strong>y were generally quite simple, nicely summarized by the<br />

leader of Henry I sfamilia at Bourgtheroulde in 1124: 'the best plan is for one section<br />

of our men to dismount ready for battle <strong>and</strong> fight on foot, while the rest remain<br />

mounted ready for the fray. Let us also place a force of archers in the front line <strong>and</strong><br />

compel the enemy troops to slow down by wounding their horses.' Plans were<br />

important, <strong>and</strong> it was necessary for them to be kept simple for once the armies engaged<br />

CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE •*}*•<br />

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