Knight: The Warrior and World of Chivalry

242 Pages·2011·54.367 MB·English

by  Robert Jones

The Warrior
and World of
Chivalry
ROBERT JONES
K N I G HT
OSPREY
PUBLISHING
iCS.
K N I G HT
The Warrior and World of Chivalry
ROBERT JONES
First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Osprey Publishing,
Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford, OX2 OPH, UK
44-02 23rd Street, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
OSPREY PUBLISHING IS PART OF THE OSPREY GROUP
© 2011 Robert Jones
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research,
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part
of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be
addressed to the Publishers.
Everv attempt has been made by the Publisher to secure the appropriate permissions for
material reproduced in this book. If there has been any oversight we will be happy to rectify
the situation and written submission should be made to the Publishers.
Robert Jones has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Print ISBN 978 1 84908 312 6
Cover and page design by: Myriam Bell Design, France
Index by Mark Parkin
Typeset in Cochin
Originated by PDQ Digital Media Solutions, Suffolk, UK
Printed in China through Worldprint
11 12 13 14 15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Osprey Publishing is supporting the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation
charity, by funding the dedication of trees.
www.ospreypublishing.com
Front cover: Spanish armour from Toledo, (istock images)
Chapter openers: pp.6-7Armour for field and tournament of King Henry VIII, dated 1540
(© Board of Trustees of the Armouries, 11.8). pp.28-29 Foot combat armour, English,
Southwark, 1520 (© Board of Trustees of the Armouries, 11.6). pp.66—67 (istock images),
pp.94-95 Armour for the field and tilt. South German, probably Augsburg, about 1550-60
(© Board of Trustees of the Armouries, 11.87). pp.142—143 Field and tournament armour
of Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. German, Augsburg, t'.1590 (© Board ol
Trustees of the Armouries, 11.359). pp.178—179 Tonlet armour. English, Southwark, 1520.
(© Board of Trustees of the Armouries, 11.7). pp.210—211 Jousting armour. (Bridgeman Art
Libraiy)
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 6
CHAPTER ONE: ARMS AND ARMOUR 28
CHAPTER TWO: TACTICS AND TRAINING 66
CHAPTER THREE: CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE 94
CHAPTER FOUR: CHIVALRY 142
CHAPTER FIVE: BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD 178
CHAPTER SIX: THE DEATH OF KNIGHTHOOD? 210
GLOSSARY 224
BIBLIOGRAPHY 227
INDEX 235
j

T
HERE CAN BE NO WARRIOR QUITE SO ICONIC AND IMMEDIATELY
recognizable as the medieval knight. More than any other he
remains a part ol contemporary culture. Not only does he ride
his charger, resplendent in his shining armour and colourful heraldry,
through novels and movies, but his armour still decorates museums,
castles and stately homes, and his image in brass or stone adorns our
churches. Every summer crowds gather to watch the sight of costumed
interpreters bringing him back to life in jousting matches and
re-enactments.
But this image of the knight - the mounted warrior armoured head to toe, bedecked
with brightly painted heraldry and mounted on a great charger — is only a snapshot of
what the real knight was. The full picture is much more complex. His outward
appearance changed over the 500 years of his dominance, as armourers responded
to the developments in weapons technology and took advantage of the changes
in metallurgy and smithing techniques. The figure he cut in the 11th century — clad in
unadorned mail with a nasal helm on his head - was vastly different from that of the
14th, where the mixture of plate and mail was hidden beneath a flowing surcoat and
his face was covered by a full helm or the beaked visor of the more lightweight luwcinet;
which was as different again from the way he looked as his time on the battlefield
came to an end in the 16th century — massively armoured in full plate under a sleeved
tabard, with his visored helmet topped with plumes of ostrich feathers.
Nor did knights charge hell-for-leather into combat. Whilst the evidence for the
tactics used on the battlefield can be frustratingly vague it is clear that, when executed
correctly, charges were carefully timed and structured using small-unit tactics to
maximize their impact and allow for reforming and the use of reserves. The importance
of being ordinate — in good order — and the dangers of being inordinate are regular
themes in battle narratives. Knightly commanders could be rash and arrogant, it is
true, but they could equally be cunning and careful.
The knight's skill was not limited to mounted combat and the knight was as
effective a warrior on foot as he was on horseback. The Anglo-Norman knights of the
12th century and the English men-at-arms of the 14th and 15th fought their pitched
battles on foot more often than they did on horseback, and other nations' warriors
might do the same. Contrary to the traditional view, a knight knocked out of the saddle
did not necessarily become as helpless as a turtle on its back, although in certain
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INTRODUCTION -<}>
circumstances he might be at a disadvantage. The armour he wore was purpose built
and represented the finest in medieval engineering and craftsmanship. The knight had
to be fit, to be sure, but his armour by no means rendered him immobile. The knight
was the complete warrior of the middle ages.
Not surprisingly, the popular image of the knight is an almost wholly martial
one, but the knight was far more than just a warrior. The knight was a part of a martial
elite largely because he and his companions formed the social and political elite too.
This gave him not only the finances and resources to equip himself with the armour,
weapons and mounts that made him so formidable, but also the leisure to be able to
train and hone his skills in the hunt and on the battlefield. It also gave him a sense of
his own superiority; the arrogance of the knight could lead him to achieve tremendous
things but also to make tremendous errors.
Understanding the knight's place in society and politics is a more difficult
proposition than understanding his military function, but it is no less important. Not
only could he be a landowner administering his own estates, he might also serve as a
royal officer, acting as juror or judge or a commissioner performing administrative
tasks that seem far removed from his martial background. Just as his martial
appearance evolved so too did his social status. In the 1 1th century knights were little
more than armed servants, their status low. By the 12th century they had risen up the
ranks and every lord was a knight (even if every knight was not a lord). By the end
of the 13th century the ordinary knight was being called upon to advise monarchs in
parliaments. By the 14th century the distinction of the knightly class was already being
eroded as lesser men - the esquires and gentry' — began to live, serve and behave as
the knight did. By the 16th century these lesser men were being knighted, whilst others
achieved the same status by service within royal households that now prized
courtliness and political acumen over martial ability.
The knight had a rich and vrbrant culture. He was both literate and intellectual.
Many knights were writers, and have left us with tales of great deeds or chronicles of
the events they had witnessed and people they knew. Others produced legal and
religious discourses which show a contemplative and sensitive nature that belies the
brutality of their vocation. Their money was spent on fine clothing, music and gardens
as much as on fine arms, armour and horses. Of course there was a link between their
cultural tastes and martial background. Many of the tales that they listened to were
about the deeds of mythical heroes and champions performing great deeds of valour in
battle. But these characters were lovers as well as fighters. The stories are often as much
about the ladies they loved as about the battles they fought. They can have a religious
element too. The Church increasingly sought to redirect and limit the violence and
vanity of the warrior by shaping knightly culture in an image more pleasing to itself.
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