1471 Ordonnance of Charles the Bold wrote: |
L’archer sera monté sur un cheval de 10 écus au moins, habillé d’une jaque à haut collet tenant lieu de gorgerin, avec bonnes manches; il portera une cotte de mailles ou paletot de haubergerie dessous cette jaque qui sera de 12 toiles au moins dont 3 de toile cirée et 9 de toile commune.
The archer shall be mounted on a horse worth at least 10 écus, wearing a jack with high collar in place of a gorget, with good sleeves; he will wear a coat of mail or paletot of mail-work below this jack which will be of 12 cloths, at least 3 of which will be waxed cloth and 9 of common cloth. |
A Later Ordonnance of Charles the Bold wrote: |
La jaque qui couvre le paletot de haubergerie sera de 10 toiles (au lieu de 12), ils joindront à leur armure, demi avant-bras à petites gardes et manches d’acier pendant jusqu’au coude, assez larges pour ne point les gêner lorsqu’ils tireront. The jack which covers the paletot of mail-work will be of 10 cloths (instead of 12), it's joined with their armor, half vambraces with small guards and steel (mail) sleeves hanging to the elbow, wide enough not to disturb the draw. |
When a foot soldier isn't wearing the required equipment of the ordinances, whether heavier or lighter, do you think he's actually a levied feudal soldier or a mercenary that isn't related to the Standing Army? Or that would be the case for lighter armor only, as if soldiers of the standing army could wear heavier armor than what was prescribed?
The soldier behind the archers are surely men-at-arms, but they aren't using the equipment that wasn't prescribed in the Ordinances (the fauchard and the infantry spear). The archers aren't either using the two-handed swords they were required too.
Ian Heath also says that there were armored billmen (with both arms unprotected except for gauntlets) represented in Diebold Schilling's pictures of the Battle of Grandson. Knowing the Ordinances didn't prescribe such category of billmen, why there are in the manuscript? Perhaps billmen were put in the same category of the pikemen in the documents?
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I found contradictory information in George Gush's Renassaince Armies and Osprey's Armies of Medieval Burgundy. The former saying he says the culveriniers, crossbowmen and pikemen were only added to the lance by Charles' late campaigns (myArmoury Article) and the latter saying they were added already by Abbeville's Ordinance of 1471 (pp. 11). Which one is correct?
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There is evidence (artistic one, at least) for crossbowmen on horses. However, in the Ordinances, the crossbowmen were foot soldier without the mount. Were they put in the category of the mounted archers? That means they would fight on foot, right? Charles didn't have literal cavalry crossbowmen by that time, like the Swiss?
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Before the Ordinance, man-at-arms were paid differently. The categories included knights bannerets, knight bachelor and squires. But those were all of nobility-ranked caracter. A man-at-arms of non-noble origins would be simply put in the category of squires? When the ordinances were created, the knights entered en masse in the Standing Army or continued to be feudal troops who were paid differently?
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Armies of Medieval Burgundy wrote: |
From then on, we find Sir John
Middleton captain of an entirely English company of ordinance in Duke Charles's army, and in 1476 there were 780 mounted English archers in the ducal household guard. [...] At the same time he transformed the household troops, increasing them in 1474 to an elite force of about 40 mounted chamberlains and gentlemen, and a personal bodyguard of 126 men-at-arms and 126 archers . In 1476 the household troops consisted of 400 infantry,and the guard included four 100-strong companies of mounted English archers. On the eve of the battle of Morat the household troops alone numbered over 2,000 combatants. (pp. 9-10) |
Charles dropped the men-at-arms from his ducal househould? Besides archers, what kind of foot there was in the household troops?
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Burgundian Foot of 1480 [ Download ]