Jonathan Dean
Location: Australia Joined: 16 Feb 2019
Posts: 81
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Posted: Sat 25 Apr, 2020 2:12 am Post subject: |
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Dan Howard wrote: | Jonathan Dean wrote: | And the answer as to why the Carolingians would want to wear the shiny armour worn by the elite descendants of the Roman Empire. |
The preferred armour in the Western and Eastern Roman Empire was mail. Their idealized stereotyped classical armour was musculata. |
I'm just going off Dawson's Armour Never Wearies. I haven't been able to dig up images of the manuscripts he references, so I'm not going to push the idea beyond what I've said.
Pedro Paulo Gaião wrote: | But it was acceptable in Carolingian Military statutes for unarmoured horsemen like the later normans? |
So far as I can tell, yes. The only capitulary that specifically requires armour sets the minimum wealth at twelve manses, while several others set the minimum wealth to perform service at 5 or 6 manses. To me, this strongly suggests that large numbers of minor landowners served without armour, while the core of the army consisted of the professional warriors serving the higher nobility and ecclesiastical lords.
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