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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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dislocation From the field as both hearing <strong>and</strong> vision were constrained by helmet <strong>and</strong><br />

visor; the fear <strong>and</strong> apprehension must have been almost palpable.<br />

One of the commentators on Courtrai noted that 'our knights were very much<br />

afraid of these foot-soldiers armed with lances [pikes], whom they had to fight with<br />

their swords <strong>and</strong> short weapons. <strong>The</strong> [pikes] were longer than the swords <strong>and</strong> daggers<br />

<strong>and</strong> their impenetrable ranks ... were as strong as wall.' Such fear is rarely described<br />

openly in the sources <strong>and</strong> certainly not by those who were there. <strong>The</strong> dishonour<br />

attached to cowardice <strong>and</strong> fear was too great for it to be mentioned. Perhaps the closest<br />

Joinville comes to telling of his fear in battle comes when he describes having to guard<br />

the two towers protecting the crusaders' causeway. Joinville <strong>and</strong> his retinue were<br />

tasked with mounting guard on them at night, but the Egyptians used their engines to<br />

throw both Greek fire <strong>and</strong> stones against them in an attempt to burn the towers down.<br />

Joinville tells us that he <strong>and</strong> his men were sick at heart' but that, during the Count<br />

of Anjou's watch of the towers during the day, the Saracens succeeded in destroying<br />

them. 'God showed himself very gracious towards myself <strong>and</strong> my knights in this<br />

matter,' says Joinville, for if they had mounted guard that night they would have been<br />

in great danger of death.<br />

That fear was somewhat offset by the self-confidence <strong>and</strong> sheer arrogance of the<br />

knight. Some of this came from the effectiveness of their armour. Feeling invulnerable<br />

they were encouraged, indeed expected, to fight bravely. <strong>The</strong>re is in the Bishop of the<br />

Orkneys' battlefield oration before Northallerton, at least as it is recorded by Henry of<br />

Huntingdon, a sense of derision in his statement Your head is covered by a helmet,<br />

your breast by a hauberk, your legs by greaves, your whole body by a shield. <strong>The</strong> enemy<br />

cannot find where to strike when he looks closely <strong>and</strong> discovers that you are enclosed<br />

in steel. What is there to doubt as we march forward against the unarmed <strong>and</strong> naked?<br />

Wearing armour also changed the posture of the wearer. It made him st<strong>and</strong> more erect,<br />

square his shoulders <strong>and</strong> lift his head, forcing him into a more aggressive stance. Not<br />

only would all this make him appear more fearsome, it would also make him feel more<br />

confident <strong>and</strong> powerful. <strong>The</strong> Italian chronicler Filippo Villani writes ofthe 14th -century<br />

English condottieri mercenaries 'when they take off their armour, the pages presently<br />

set to polishing, so that when they appear in battle their arms seem like mirrors, <strong>and</strong> they<br />

so much more terrible.' <strong>The</strong> defenders of Montferr<strong>and</strong> Castle, besieged by Louis the Fat<br />

of France in 1 126, 'found themselves in dread of this awesome army of the French,<br />

which was so different from theirs. <strong>The</strong>y marvelled at the splendour of hauberks <strong>and</strong><br />

helmets gleaming in the sun. Taken aback by this sight alone, they gave up the outer<br />

defences <strong>and</strong> took themselves just in time into the tower <strong>and</strong> the area around it.'<br />

<strong>The</strong> knight's arrogance was also based on the knowledge ol his ability <strong>and</strong> power.<br />

Although he might fear a tightly packed wall of spears, he also believed in the ferocity

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