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

of the charters that record 12th-century grants of land include the condition that the
vassal would redeem their lord should he be taken prisoner.
Defaulting on a ransom meant accusations ol a breach ol faith and attempts to sue
the defaulter or his guarantors or challenge them to judicial combat. The captor might
also resort to dedhonnoirement, the public shaming of the defaulter, using the captive's
coat of arms or an image of him armed inverted or reversed in a public place. The
French rentier La Hire rode on campaign with the arms of Robert de Commency,
the guarantor of his defaulting prisoner Monsard d'Aisne, reversed at his horse's tail
(it is interesting to note that the guarantor could share the defaulter's shame). It is a
clear indication of how seriously such an insult was taken that Bertrand du Guesclin
hanged the captain of Moncontour from his own battlements in full armour because
he had slandered him with a breach of faith as a prisoner of the English by displaying
du Guesclin's arms reversed.
Given the time it could take to see payment ol a ransom, and the possibility that it
might be defaulted on, some knights chose to sell their ransoms on. There was a lively
speculation in ransoms, with men buying captives for a fraction of the expected
payment, the idea being that the original captor would prefer a lesser amount up front
to the promise of a larger amount in months' or even years time. A speculator might
make himself very wealthy in this way.
The most prestigious captives might not be paroled. Jean II of France spent four
years in England whilst his ransom was being raised. He returned to England in 1364,
ostensibly because his son Louis (who had been acting as hostage) had escaped from
England and returned to France thus breaking the agreement with the English,
although some have argued that he actually did so to escape the burdens of ruling the
French realm. Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was confined
by his younger brother Henry I after his defeat at Tinchebrai, being held at Devizes
and then Cardiff castles.
Such 'imprisonment' need not be uncomfortable. Indeed, there was an expectation
that a captive would be accommodated in the manner to which he was accustomed.
Rather than occupying the Hollywood dungeon or oubliette the captive would often be
treated more like a guest than a prisoner. Jean II was able to travel England and
retained his regal position. His account books tor the period show that he maintained
a royal court about him as was fitting to his dignity. Similarly, after his defeat at
Lincoln in 1141 King Stephen was kept in honourable confinement at Bristol, but
showed a propensity to wander and so had to be contined in irons.
There were notable exceptions to this comfortable captivity. Sometimes captives
were mistreated in order to speed payment of their ransoms or to encourage the
surrender of towns and castles, but to refuse to ransom a captive taken in lawful war