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

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seem that to attack with hand weapons was a more aggressive act. When Matilda's supporters sallied out of Lincoln and launched their attack against Stephen's forces, the latter were thrown into contusion because their attackers did not joust with them but instead came to close quarters with swords. Not that the sword was unsophisticated. It was a very refined weapon, and going into a sword fight blindly hacking at an opponent would get a warrior quickly killed. Instead fighting with a medieval sword, whether on foot or horseback, was like a modern fencing bout; it was about feints and parries, combinations of cuts and thrusts. The Fechtbiicber demonstrate a bewildering range of moves and counter-moves, utilizing both the sword's point and edge with equal effectiveness. As noted above they also include 'plays' (sets of actions and counter-actions) that are specifically designed for combats between armoured opponents. Here the cut and thrust at distance, the mainstay of the unarmoured techniques, are foregone in favour of closing with the opponent and engaging him at 'half sword' with the left hand grasping the blade about halfway along its length. From this position the sword could be more deftly aimed at the gaps in armour, through the visor or under the rim o( helmets such as the sallet, into the armpit or groin. The sword could also be readily reversed to strike with the pommel or wielded axe-like to strike an opponent with the points ol the guard. Whilst such attacks were unlikely to penetrate an opponent's armour they might render him insensible or at least put him off balance, enabling a more lethal attack to get through. The cross could also be used to hook an opponent's neck or his arm or leg in order to throw him off balance. Some of the Fechtbiicber include instructions for fighting with spears, pollaxes and other hafted weapons. What is striking about these treatises is how similar the plays are to those for the sword. Many of those given for fighting with the longsword, the hand-and-a-half sword typically used on the battlefields of the mid-14th century onwards, are also to be seen in the illustration of pollaxe fighting, for example. On reflection this should not be surprising. Delivering a cut with a longsword and a strike with a pollaxe required the same movement of legs, body and arms, and the most obvious counter to it — a mirror-image move to block the blow followed by a thrust to the face — would be equally effective with either weapon. Whilst the Fechtbiicber show the sophistication of medieval combat techniques, every bit as complex and nuanced as the martial arts of east Asia, they were not, as we shall see later, primarily intended to train the warrior for the battlefield. Some of the more complex plays are far too involved and risky to have been performed in the middle of the mele'e with enemies on all sides. Similarly whilst individual prowess and skill at arms was of great importance to the knight culturally, on the field of battle that skill was insufficient. TACTICS AND TRAINING -}=>• 73
KNIGHT Combat in a 13th-century German tournament. It is clear that the defeated knights have had their helmets torn from their heads, as described in the History of William Marshal, rendering them defenceless. (The Art Archive) 74 SMALL-UNIT TACTICS Joinville tells us of Gautier d'Autreche who, at the battle of Damietta during Louis IX's crusade, rode out alone from his pavilion into the midst of the Muslim enemy, and was unhorsed and mortally wounded. Hearing of his death King Louis remarked that 'he would not care to have a thousand men like Gautier, for they would
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The Warrior and World of Chivalry R
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iCS.
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First published in Great Britain in
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8 THERE CAN BE NO WARRIOR QUITE SO
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KNIGHT The lists at the Eglinton To
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12 KNIGHT THE AGE OF THE MEDIEVAL K
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14 KNIGHT CHRONOLOGY What follows i
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1202-04 The Fourth Crusade. Origina
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France. There are several key campa
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KNIGHT Opposite: The top left corne
Page 23 and 24: Given these apparent similarities i
Page 25 and 26: KNIGHT Opposite: Carolingian soldie
Page 27 and 28: 26 KNIGHT the incomes to afford to
Page 30 and 31: CHAPTER ONE ARMS AND ARMOUR
Page 32 and 33: iblical subjects in contemporary cl
Page 34 and 35: terms (after all the compiler of th
Page 36 and 37: padding being used to protect the t
Page 38 and 39: which had been developing along the
Page 40 and 41: Greek Corinthian helmet. Sallets co
Page 42 and 43: stopped the wearer's head from bein
Page 44 and 45: decorating. The shield was held by
Page 46 and 47: there may be others which cannot be
Page 48: made stronger without a huge increa
Page 51 and 52: normal sharp points. Some tournamen
Page 53 and 54: hen in March of 1095 Pope Urban II
Page 55 and 56: loricati and armati, mail-clad' or
Page 57 and 58: KNIGHT The fluting on this gothic a
Page 59 and 60: skirt, the underlying mail chausses
Page 61 and 62: 60 KNIGHT weapon impacts on real ar
Page 63 and 64: The knight would have different hor
Page 66: Windsor Park in 1278. In the 1322 i
Page 69 and 70: CONTRARY TO THE POPULAR IMAGE KNIGH
Page 71 and 72: KNIGHT The high pommel and cantle o
Page 73: eins. It is clear that it is intend
Page 77 and 78: it seems clear that retinues would
Page 79 and 80: ... teams of equal numbers first ru
Page 81 and 82: earlier, Wace writes that the Norma
Page 83 and 84: KNIGHT Knights awaiting the start o
Page 86 and 87: A similar device, but for mounted c
Page 88 and 89: hedgerows, barns, hills and the tow
Page 90 and 91: English knights at a disadvantage a
Page 92: imit^S^VWSEqVES'BRrrANNLVSWXAElATK
Page 96 and 97: CHAPTER THREE CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE
Page 98 and 99: the raising of a royal field army t
Page 100 and 101: separate organizations drawn from s
Page 102 and 103: not that behind; presumably the sti
Page 104 and 105: With its snub nose and double chin,
Page 106 and 107: supported by Geoffrey de Brabant. T
Page 108 and 109: THE ARMY ON THE MARCH Many of the i
Page 110 and 111: with limited objectives, if any, be
Page 112 and 113: • * / h M / Images of the battle
Page 114 and 115: of wine, dozens of herds of live ca
Page 116 and 117: have seen, were self contained, wit
Page 118 and 119: made this a practical proposition.
Page 120 and 121: crusaders even threw the heads of c
Page 122 and 123: BATTLE In comparison to sieges and
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of Northallerton in 1138 the priest
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A 15th-century depiction of Agincou
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dttrnutir.'Xaefatrami r^Wuutrma era
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himself as a scholar. Similarly, th
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numerous nobles, gleaming with gold
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of his charge, the savagery and pow
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fought in 1461, showed a blade woun
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and facing a renewed attack in thei
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(as opposed to rebellion) was consi
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the survival of a number of great h
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THE MODERN USE OF THE WORD CHIVALRY
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shame, striving with the skill of y
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KNIGHT The Song of Roland is the ea
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KNIGHT Roger Mortimer, one of the f
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hen the theologians Augustine of Hi
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Hastings a set of penances was impo
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KNIGHT In a treaty on virtue and vi
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exposing his body to execute and ac
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160 KNIGHT A royal crusader, marked
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'WMItwm^.i CHIVALRY: THE KNIGHTLY C
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Indeed similar conversations were p
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marriage, such quarterings could be
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These were not individual symbols i
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Ulrich von Lichtenstein, depicted i
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were believed to be culturally infe
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eturned. In 1139, during the war be
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from sacking the town for much the
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THE KNIGHT WAS DEFINED BY HIS MARTI
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182 KNIGHT The seal of Henry II of
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squire was closer to the knight tha
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KNIGHT The royal court was a curiou
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ill-educated and uncultured individ
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0younger son of a minor nobleman wh
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KNIGHT Devotional works were not al
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KNIGHT Games like chess and backgam
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the tips of their toes where the bo
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he Black Prince's reputation as a c
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KNIGHT The secular orders each had
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BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT
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BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT
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would become over-tired. The quarry
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CHAPTER SIX THE DEATH OF KNIGHTHOOD
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men had been adopting them without
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KNIGHT By the time the Landsknecht
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e struggles between the Italian cit
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only for the tournament and pageant
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JtoimP^
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224 aketon arret de la cuiradde ave
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226 KNIGHT pell poleyn quintain rer
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228 KNIGHT The Rule of the Templars
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Liddiard, R. (ed.), Anglo-Norman Ca
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Cuhna, E. and Silva, Ana Maria, 'Wa
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Sherborne, J. W., 'Indentured retin
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KNIGHT champions 82 Chandos, Sir Jo
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KNIGHT Knights Templar, Order of 13
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KNIGHT sumptuary law (1363) 183-4,
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Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

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