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

eturned. In 1139, during the war between Stephen and Matilda, it was recorded that
there were so many refugees seeking sanctuary in Worcester Cathedral from an
expected attack by Robert of Gloucester that the monks had no space to perform
divine service. When all of these goods were brought into one place the temptation to
breach sanctuary and collect the booty of war could prove too great.
The sanctuary of the Church was even more at risk when those seeking it were
combatants. When Royalists used the nunnery of St Etheldreda at Wilton as a
sanctuary from the forces of Matilda under Robert of Gloucester in 1 143, the latter
dragged them from the church. The political desire for their capture, and the financial
benefit of their ransom weighed more than his regard
for the sanctity of the Church. The solidity of the
churches also made them useful as makeshift
fortifications and this was often used as a pretext
for sacking them, as was the case for Robert of
Gloucester's attack on Stephen at Lincoln in 1141.
Despite the image portrayed by the romances and
the majority of manuscript illustrations, war did not
occur in a vacuum, and whilst the protection of the
inermed, the defenceless, was a key tenet of both
chivalry and the Peace of God movements on which
it drew for inspiration, it was neither possible nor
desirable to insulate them completely from the effects
of war.
Henry V famously said that war without fire was
like sausages without mustard. As we have seen, the
raiding and devastation of enemy territory was an
inevitable and essential part of the conduct of war.
It provided the raiders with supplies and booty and it
challenged the authority of the lord of the land being
devastated. The Peace of God movements recognized
that the land and holdings of an enemy were fair
game in war, including caveats to that effect. Honore
Bonet might write that 'In these days, all wars are
directed against the poor labouring people and
against their goods and chattels. I do not call that war,
but it seems to me to be pillage and robbery. Further
that way of warfare does not lollow the ordinances of
worthy chivalry' but Bertrand du Born could write
CHIVALRY: THE KNIGHTLY CODE -