Knight: The Medieval Warrior’s (Unofficial) Manual

This indenture is made between the noble men Sir Thomas de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, on the one hand, and Sir Robert Herle on the other, and it is to be known that Robert will stay with the earl for life, with four men-at-arms for war, to go wherever the earl goes, overseas or at home.

A knight is a member of the elite in any army. You will find that no more than one in four of the cavalry forces are knights, and of course the cavalry are usually greatly outnumbered by the ordinary soldiers who fight on foot.

You will probably hold land in return for performing military service, but by the early 14th century the traditional feudal service, owed for a period of 40 days, had become largely obsolete. In France many nobles and knights were not even sure how much service the king could count on. Many of those who owed service failed to carry it out. In England the quotas of knights that lords were supposed to produce had been radically reduced in the 13th century. The reality is that knights, like other soldiers, expect to be paid, though in times of real emergency voluntary service can be expected. In 1355, for example, when faced with an English invasion, the French nobles offered to serve at their own cost for a month. What you should look for is a fair deal with decent wages and, if you are lucky, lucrative bonuses.

These various small units are combined into larger retinues. The rank above that of knight is banneret; someone of this standing will have a following of perhaps 20 or more. The ideal organization suggested by the French has the cavalry divided into hundreds, each hundred consisting of four bannerets, 16 knights and 80 squires. A royal ordinance of 1374 issued by Charles V specified that the men-at-arms were to be in routes of a hundred men, each with a captain. It is very difficult to achieve such regularity in practice, and in reality there is little attempt to standardize the size of retinues; the more important and wealthy a lord is, the larger his following will be. For example:

In Italy, there was a standard unit, the barbuta, which consisted of a knight and his page. By the later 14th century this structure was superseded by the lance, which is formed by three men: the knight, squire and page. The first two would fight, with the third looking after the horses and equipment. The lances would be combined into banners, each consisting of about 20 knights.

In addition to the knights, squires, men-at-arms and perhaps archers listed in muster rolls or account books, there are also pages, servants and other non-combatants. This is demonstrated by details of a contingent sent from Ponthieu to the French army that was defeated at the battle of Courtrai in 1302. The overall total was 5 knights, 20 squires, 1 chaplain, 2 clerks, 6 chamberlains, 61 pages and 1 washerwoman. In all they had 84 horses. So, only about one in four of this total retinue was an active soldier.

These retinues are not solely for war. Many contracts specify service in tournaments as well as war, while a life contract involves attendance on a lord in peacetime.

It may be obvious which retinue to join when you go to war. Retinues normally have a core of family members, permanent officials and perhaps tenants, who will campaign regularly with a particular lord. On this basis, your choice may be virtually automatic. However, the composition of a retinue can vary, even from one campaign to the next. If we look at Bertrand du Guesclin’s following in 1370–71 we can see that 83 knights served with him at some time during that period. There were ten separate musters held; only one knight was present at all of them, and ten knights at only one. Most served on five or six occasions.

Some lords are much more popular than others. In 1300 a poet praised Robert Clifford in The Song of Caerlaverock.

I well know there is no degree of praise of which he is not worthy, as he exhibits as many proofs of wisdom and prudence as any of those who accompany his good lord the king… If I were a young maiden, I would give him my heart and person, so great is his fame.

Men served in Clifford’s retinue year after year; that of his contemporary, Henry Percy, on the other hand, showed less continuity in its composition. There are people it might be as well to avoid serving. Marshal Boucicaut may have a great reputation, but would you really want to accompany a man who waters his wine, hears mass twice a day, spends hours in prayer, and insists on reading either pious works or histories of classical heroes? What you should do is to look for someone successful in the business of war, with a good record of generosity towards his men. You should also check the wage rates on offer; it is far from unknown for people when subcontracting to pay less to their men than they are receiving for them from the government.

A knight holding a standard. Standard-bearers are an obvious target in battle, so it’s a dangerous task to take on. You will probably want to ask yourself whether it is worth risking your life for the sake of a banner. (British Library, London)

Contracts for service

It is best to make a written agreement when you decide to enter the service of a particular lord. In England, this is done by means of an indenture, a document made in two copies, with each party keeping one. You may make an agreement for a single campaign, or for life. In 1318 Peter de Uvedale contracted by means of an indenture to serve the earl of Hereford for life with four followers in time of peace, and eight for war and tournaments.

It is agreed between the noble Humfrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, on the one side, and Sir Peter de Uvedale, knight, on the other, that is to say that the said Sir Peter will remain with the said earl for life, taking robes and saddles, like his other knight bachelors, and food at court, hay, and oats for four horses, and wages for four lads in time of peace, when he comes to court at the earl’s order. And in time of war and for tournaments, hay and oats for eight horses, and wages for eight lads. And compensation for horses of arms lost in war in the earl’s service.

The English are keen to have as much detail as possible of the terms and conditions of service set out in this way. Elsewhere, agreements are normally rather simpler. In France, letters of retainer usually promise pay ‘in the customary manner’, and are often vague about such matters as the length of service. A French knight agreed to serve the king of Navarre in 1378 in florid language, but without the precision characteristic of English agreements.

I promise and swear by these present letters to the excellent and puissant prince, the king of Navarre, my redoubtable lord, that I will serve him and his children well and loyally, in his kingdom and in all of Spain, as long as I am of the said kingdom and Spain, against all and whatsoever persons, of whatever dignity, estate or condition they are and may be, and I will guard his body and his honour from all evil and villainy, and if I know anyone who wishes to commit these, I will prevent them with all my power and will inform the king, my said lord, immediately and without delay, and I will keep and hold his secrets without revealing them in any way, and will continue in his war as long as it lasts.

The condotta was the form of contract used in Italy; the term condottieri often used for those who fight there simply means ‘contract men’. These contracts were often for relatively short periods of four or six months, but John Hawkwood had four year-long contracts from Florence and one of eight months, in addition to several six-month ones.

If you make a contract with a lord, you have certain expectations:

•If the contract is for life, then it is likely that you will be given land, or the income from an estate, as a regular fee.

•If you just enter into a contract for a year, then the fee will be a straightforward cash payment.

•As a retainer, you will be given robes; it is obviously impressive if you have all of your retinue dressed in the same colours.

•Badges may also be provided; in England a particularly notable insignia is the collar of linked S shapes, which is distributed to members of the duke of Lancaster’s following.

OF PAY AND RECRUITMENT

In 1346 Edward III issued 1,800 pardons to criminals in return for military service. William Lovel, a knight, was pardoned ‘all manner of homicides, felonies, robberies, trespasses, and outlawries’.

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The legal theorist Honoré Bouvet argues that if a knight departs from the army after three months, having agreed to serve for a year, he should not receive any wages.

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The English knight Thomas Ughtred’s military career lasted an impressive 46 years, from 1314 to 1360.

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Charles V of France recruited about 15,000 knights and men-at-arms in 1386.

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In 1339 John Charnels was due £350 13s. 4d. as compensation for the loss of 15 horses.

A clash of mounted knights, fighting with spear and sword. (From A. Parmentier, Album Historique, Paris 1895)

Pay

The pay you will receive is usually intended not so much as a reward, but more as a subsistence allowance. At the start of the war with France in 1337, however, Edward III offered double wages to those prepared to go overseas to fight, but he could not afford that for long, and soon reverted to the standard two shillings a day for a knight, with half that for a squire.

In France, from the middle of the 14th century wages stabilized at 20 sous tournois a day for a knight, with 10 sous for a squire.

If you’re strapped for cash, you might be better off in Italy where the laws of demand and supply mean that mercenary troops can sometimes negotiate particularly good deals. If you served there with the German mercenary Haneken Bongard in 1358, you would have received 6 florins a month. English soldiers are in higher demand than Germans, and five years later they were receiving 10 florins a month from Florence. In 1384 the authorities in Siena, in a state of panic, recruited lances at the extraordinary rate of 18 florins a month. Hawkwood’s salary in 1382 was the highest the city paid to anyone, soldier or official, in the city’s service.

Money is needed to fight wars. There are many different coins, both silver and gold. Those below were all minted by the French monarchy. (From A. Parmentier, Album Historique, Paris 1895)

In addition to wages, you can hope to receive a bonus. In England, this is known as the ‘regard’, and is paid on a quarterly basis. In Italy your bonus may be disguised in the city’s accounts as a loan; if mercenaries are in great demand, you may be able to negotiate a good agreement.

Compensation for lost horses

In 1343 Pedro IV of Aragon was faced by angry troops at Barcelona. They demanded their wages, as well as compensation for horses lost on campaign. Pedro told them that he could meet the request for pay, but that he had not agreed to pay for lost horses. There was ‘much discussion and many words’ about this, and the men were told that they could leave the army if they wished.

Your horse is a major investment, and it is hardly surprising that knights want to have some form of insurance in case it is killed in battle, or dies on campaign. The battle of Crécy resulted in a huge bill for lost horses for the French government to meet. It is not only expensive to provide compensation, but also bureaucratically complex. The horses need to be valued, and checks are needed to prevent fraud. Not surprisingly, in the 1370s the French and English governments gave up making these payments. So, by the late 14th century you would be lucky if you succeeded in negotiating compensation for lost horses.