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

men had been adopting them without any formal grant or hereditary right to them.
He instructed that:
... all, except those who bore arms with the king at Agincourt, shall on a certain day declare
their arms and by what grant they have them, to the persons named or to be named for
the purpose, under pain of exclusion from the expedition which is about to set out, loss of
their wages, and the defacement of their said arms and tunics called 'cotearmures'.
It is clear from this that whilst Henry had no problem with accepting the service of the
gentry as men-at-arms, this did not immediately entitle them to the privilege of and
symbols of noble rank. That, as the caveat exempting those who had fought beside
the king at Agincourt proves, came from especially distinctive royal service.
In the 15th century, though, things were changing, particularly in England.
Campaigns in France were longer and more extensive. The man-at-arms was no longer
being contracted for a short, sharp chevauchee aimed at causing political and economic
hardship to the French crown and offering him the opportunity for the spoils of raid
and ransom. Instead the campaigns were about seizing and holding territory. Sieges
were more frequent and service entailed signing up for extended periods, sometimes
of years, as part of a garrison, with far less renown or financial reward. As a result the
gentry were less willing to serve, and the captains were no longer seeking amongst
their local affinity for men to join them on campaign. Instead they turned to a more
professionalized soldiery, comprising men who spent a large proportion of their time
on the continent, serving in the French garrisons.
A similar professionalization of the role of the knight took place in France. In 1445
the French established a permanent cavalry force of around 1,800 Lances, a unit
comprising a fully armoured man-at-arms, or gendarmes supported by a more lightly
equipped coustillier (literally 'knifeman'), a page and three archers (who would later
become cavalry similar to the coustillier), a total of 9,000 combatants, since the page
was not expected to fight. These units were not to be disbanded at the end of a
campaign, nor used as garrison troops. Instead they were stationed across the different
provinces of the realm, their upkeep maintained by its inhabitants both in kind and in
cash. In common with the experience of the English at the same period, this type of
service encouraged a different type of soldier and no longer did it serve as a formative
experience for the knight and gentleman.
Nobility came from service, but increasingly that service was not military. As time
went on, service within the domestic household of kings and aristocrats held a similar
dignity to those who served as soldiers. The opportunities for learning, coupled with
the increasing requirements of royal and local bureaucracy, led to a secularization of
THE DEATH OF KNIGHTHOOD? -3*-
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