Author Topic: The Psychology of Knights on the Battlefield part 2 (multipart )  (Read 8327 times)

Longmane

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Rulers always wanted to surround themselves with specially brave liegemen who would protect them in battle as faithful body guards. Young Henry of England sought out the most courageous knights and tried to recruit them for high pay and lavish maintenance. Philip of Alsace made a similar offer to William the Marshal.  Baldwin IV and Baldwin V of Hainault chose the most courageous knights of the county as commilitones. There were about forty noblemen in the entourage of Baldwin V, who, like vassals completely supported by a prince, received horses, arms, clothes and money, and the fiefs of several of them were increased. 

All the members of the court of the count, the socially prominent knights as well as the lower servants, had to protect the count in the army, and in return their expenses were borne by him. If one of them became needy through sickness or age, he had a right to some assistance with food and clothing.  Jan van Heelu described how solid the bonds were between such humble servants and their prince. The sergeants who had received clothing from the duke fought particularly well in the battle of Worringen in John I's unit:

There were from Brabant
Many courageous sergeants,
Certainly the equals of knights,
That seemed so in the unit
Of the duke, their master,
Where they, with the most honour,
Did the best acts of fighting,
That anyone saw in the army.
And most of all those
Who received from the duke
Clothes, and were his servants,
They showed always, without stinting,
That they preferred to die
Than to abandon their master.

The harsh reality of the battlefield provides plenty of examples. Although the old German custom that members of a retinue should not survive their dead master no longer applied, it seems that this sort of thing did actually happen. It was the case at Courtrai in 1302.  At Mons-en-Pévéle the members of the royal retinue unhesitatingly offered themselves to rescue Philip the Fair, and many sacrificed their lives.  At Bouvines, both commanders, Otto and Philip Augustus, were rescued from certain death by the devotion of their followers.  At Steppes in 1213 Henry of Huldenberg wore the armorial devices of his master, duke Henry 1 of Brabant, and perished on that account.

It was one of the primary obligations of a vassal to defend and protect his lord. In an assembly of peers at the castle of Lille the lord spoke thus to his liegeman: 'You shall protect and defend my body, my honour, my estate and my possessions, as befits a vassal for his lord. I promise to protect you and the fief for which you do me homage, to give you counsel and support you as a lord must do for his liegeman.'

As time went on, feudal obligations assumed priority, although the influence of families was still felt. This can be seen in family relations themselves: the father was regarded as the lord, the sons as his vassals. Family bonds had to give way to obligations to the liege lord, for example in the punishment of the Erembalds after the murder of Charles the Good, and their resistance in the castle at Bruges, clan solidarity could not prevail against the lord. Anyone who fought with his family in such a case was mercilessly punished.

In the chanson de geste Raoul de Cambrai, the writer deals with this conflict between family bonds and feudal obligations. Raoul made war on the sons of Herbert de Vermandois. One of his squires, Bernier, who had belonged to Raoul's retinue from the age of fifteen, was descended through his father from the same clan as Herbert. Bernier's mother was a nun in the abbey of Origni. She implored her son to forsake Raoul, but Bernier refused, because his lord had given him horses and clothes, and the boy wanted to serve him until he had the right to leave him.

Lord Raoul is more felonious than Judas.
He is my lord; he gives me horses and cloth,
And garment and rich cloth of Baudas.
I will not abandon him for the honour of Damas,
Till the moment that everybody says: 'Bernier, you are right.'

His mother admits that he is right:

'Son,' said the mother, 'by my faith, you are right.
Work for your master, God will win by it.

But Raoul ordered an attack on Origni. The nunnery was set on fire, and Bernier's mother was burnt to death before the eyes of her son. After this attack Raoul returned to his camp. Under the influence of drink he insulted Bernier and even struck him in the face with the shaft of his lance. Other knights of the retinue came between the two men: now Bernier had the right to avenge himself if Raoul made no reparation. Raoul proposed that he should go on foot from Origni to Nesle (27 miles) with Bernier's saddle on his back as a punishment. The latter refused, and left Raoul's army with his men, despite the fact that the other knights considered that his lord had made him a fair proposal.  Bernier was absolutely loyal, although he had good grounds to abandon his lord, and when he finally left his master, he had right on his side. If the lord struck the vassal with a stick, the vassal could break the agreement; this had been laid down in a capitulary of Charlemagne.



I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.  "Albert Einstein"