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These facts are born out in epic poems. In the German Heldenlieder there are constant references to magen und mannen, the family members and the vassals. The thousand liegemen of duke Bégue in Garin leLorrain all belonged to a single clan. They were the best warriors, and formed one of the most solid bases of a lord's power, together with his liegemen, his castles and his revenues. In the epics the clans had many members:
And there were more than a thousand comrades together
All of one lineage and one nation.
The whole group of chansons de geste about Aymeri de Narbonne and his sons is devoted to his clan. 'There is neither rivalry nor jealousy among the members, as soon as one of them is threatened they all rush to help. No one esteems himself more highly than his brothers: they make no boast of their own feats of arms, but about those of their clan, and each one is proud to be able to behold his own image in others, many times reflected as in mirrors. As the clan grows, the braver they feel.'
This is well expressed in another poem Le siége de Barbastre:
'…And I tell you, Sire, by fine truth
That the heroic deeds of Aymeri are kept in heredity.
Not one will die in a castle or a city,
but in hard battle against infidel heathen.
That fee will I keep as my best inheritance.
Well, let us go to strike the infidel heathen
So that nobody can sing a bad song about it,
So that Aimeri's family will not be criticised,
So that no cowardice will be done in his age.
Let us go to fight so that nothing can be changed.'
At these words they have pricked their horses
All together once, with good will.
The text shows that the clan cannot be permitted to be dishonoured by the cowardice of one of his sons. Even when other members of the clan were not on the battlefield, the thought of the family has its effect, and helps to overcome fear in terrible danger. 'Come and help me, that I may not be guilty of cowardice, which would be a reproach to my family!' Thus Guillaume d'Orange invoked the help of the Holy Virgin in order to be saved in extremity. And why did not Roland summon the aid of Charlemagne's army by sounding the Oliphant?
'Now Roland, my companion, sound your horn,
If Charlemagne hears it, he will send the army back,
The king will save us with his great power.'
Roland answers: 'May it please God
Never to let me bring disgrace on my family,
Nor bring sweet France into disrepute.'
The honour of the clan would thereby be jeopardised, even the honour of the country; the shame would be general because the poets would make mockery in a song.
But the clan system alone did not bring cohesion in the knightly units. As we saw in the case of private wars, feudal bonds between the lord and his vassals must also be taken into account, and particularly those with the liegemen, who lived at court or in the castle of a lord, and who constituted part of the family itself. The maintenance of a retinue or band of warriors by a powerful lord followed a very old custom dating from the time of the Teutons.
In those days prominent leaders surrounded themselves with brave young men and tried to keep the greatest possible number of close companions in their following. In time of peace these warriors increased their prestige, their social position and their power, in time of war they formed their lord's bodyguard. On the battlefield it was a disgrace for the leader to be outdone by his companions in courage or bravery, and for them it was a disgrace not to equal their lord in these qualities. They were dishonoured for life if they survived their commander after his death in battle. As members of his bodyguard they had to protect him, rescue him and even ascribe their own heroic deeds to him. This was their most important duty. The commander fought for victory, his men fought for their leader. He maintained them out of the booty and the profits that flowed in from war, and he provided them with their costly charger, their arms and their board at his table instead of paying them a fixed salary. Centuries later the same custom is found in Beowulf and in the Norse sagas.
In the tenth century the Normans knew such old German customs which they had doubtless brought with them from their northern fatherland. Three hundred men were ready to fight and die at the side of William Longsword. With one accord they came to him, swore their oath of fealty and promised to be true and faithful. In accordance with Danish custom they all touched lances together, this was called wapentake, and served to strengthen comradeship in arms ceremoniously in a special circumstances. In the eleventh century it appears again among the Anglo-Saxons and Normans.
Among the Franks private retinues also existed up to the sixth and seventh centuries. The royal trustis corresponds to the comitatus described by Tacitus. The bodyguard was a sort of permanent little army which had to protect the king, but which could also be set to other tasks. Its members were called antrustiones and enjoyed a special protection. When a member was killed, the murderer had to pay his family three times the normal wergeld. The member of a royal retinue was thus a person of considerable importance in society, even if he had risen from the lower classes. He enjoyed this special status because of the oath of fealty, sworn with his hand in the king's, and because he lived in the royal entourage. The chief lords of the Merovingians also had their personal retinues, which formed the cadre of professional soldiers. They were fed, clothed and protected in exchange for services rendered.
The Carolingians had the scara, a corps of young and strong warriors, living at the court, who could be sent where they were needed. Young squires were trained for the profession of arms and were maintained at the court. There are many examples of young squires and knights who were given bed and board by their lord in his court or castle. These were the tirones, the milites de sua familia, de sua domo, the domestici milites, the commilitones, the knights of the mesnie or the hus. In 1108 Louis the Fat was thus able to raise a small army made up exclusively of knights belonging to his household.
In the Third Crusade Richard I had a personal retinue, which formed one of the main units in the battle with his bodyguard. During the war in Wales Edward I's household consisted sometimes of more than a hundred bannerets and knights, and thirty or more sergeants-at-arms. During his campaign in Flanders in 1297 his household consisted first of 475 and later of 550 armoured cavalrymen. Some of these men were only temporarily incorporated into the royal retinue, which numbered at least 400–420 permanent members at that time, i.e. between August and 1 November 1297. The hostel of the king of France in 1317 included 235 armoured cavalrymen. The prince-bishop of Liége had a familia episcopalis which among other duties was charged with the defence of the castles. Sometimes he recruited a special retinue to deal with rebellious liegemen.
