Knights of the Hundred Years War: First Uniform
"Battle of Thirty in 1351". Octave Pengyi L'Haridon (1811-1872). 1857 The battle, which eventually became legendary, which took place on March 27, 1351, and entered all the annals of the Hundred Years War, is depicted. And it so happened that the captain of the castle, Sir Richard Bamborough, agreed with the captain of the castle Josselin Robert de Bomanoir about a duel "at the Mi-Voy oak between Josselin and Ploermel near the broom field." We decided that each side can put up to 30 fighters. On the English side, there were only seven Englishmen - Hugh Calvely, Robert Knolles, Thomas Walton and Richard de la Land, Esq. John Pessington, as well as the men at arms Dagworth and John Russell, and all the others turned out to be mercenaries from Flanders, German lands and other places. The French fought nine knights and 21 squires. The first part of the battle ended like this: the British killed two people, including Richard Bamborough, and the French four. Having rested, the warriors continued the battle. And here the French knight Guillaume de Montauban, getting out of the battle, jumped on his horse and rushed at the British, who huddled together in a tight heap, and so successfully that he knocked seven of them to the ground. The other French decided to take advantage of the situation and ended up killing nine more Englishmen, while the rest were taken prisoner. Jean Froissard later wrote that “the warriors on both sides behaved as valiantly as if they were all Rolands and Oliviers". Well, apart from de Montauban, of course!
When did the first elements of the uniform appear? You can argue for a long time, but the fact that they began to be used in large quantities during the Hundred Years War is undoubtedly.
"Nearly all were dressed in Sir Daniel's colors — dark red and blue — and that gave them a smart look. Those who were better armed were lined up in front, and behind everyone, at the end of the column, were the pitiful reinforcements that had arrived the night before."
Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
"Nearly all were dressed in Sir Daniel's colors — dark red and blue — and that gave them a smart look. Those who were better armed were lined up in front, and behind everyone, at the end of the column, were the pitiful reinforcements that had arrived the night before."
Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
Military story countries and peoples. The knights faced the problem of identification back in the era of the Crusades, when there were a lot of them, and they were all armed and dressed about the same. At that time, identification by nationality was of great importance, since knights from different countries of Europe took part in the campaigns, and they all looked approximately the same, approximately as shown in the miniature from Gerrada Landsberg's manuscript "Gortus Deliciarum" in 1195.
Knights of the XII century. Miniature from Gerrada Landsberg's manuscript "Gortus Deliciarum". 1195 Alsatian Library of the Bank Credit Mutuelle, Strasbourg, France
But only after the first two campaigns, starting in 1189, the red cross became exclusively a sign of the French, the British began to use the white cross, the Germans chose the traditionally black one, the Italians - the yellow cross, but the Belgians - the green cross. But this only concerned the emblems sewn on clothes. In general, the system of identifying knights on the battlefield at the beginning of the Hundred Years War remained traditionally feudal. That is, it was a coat of arms on a shield, a coat of arms (or coats of arms) on a horse blanket and decorations on a helmet corresponding to the coat of arms.
"Battle of the Thirty" (1351). Miniature from "Collection of Chronicles from the History of Brittany" by Pierre le Bou, 1480 National Library of France, Paris
But the retinue of the feudal lord has already begun to gradually dress in something uniform in cut and color. And since he came to war surrounded by servants, then ... a new problem arose: how to distinguish his servants from strangers? Green, blue, red and blue short jackets-jupons have become the mass clothing of the "auxiliary contingents", not to mention the mercenaries, well, let's say, all the same crossbowmen from Genoa.
Therefore, before the battle, it was necessary to strengthen bundles of straw on helmets, to wind bandages of white fabric, which did not at all harmonize with the wealth of the same knightly clothes, and the knight's servants too.
Battle of Agincourt. Thumbnail from The Chronicles of St Albans by Thomas Walsingham. XV century Lambeth Palace Library, London / Bridgeman Art Library
And then, as the art of war developed, the role of the infantry began to grow, and they also needed their own means of identification. And how was it possible to recognize the French supporters of the British, from the French supporters ... the French? Jean Count d'Armagnac solved this question very simply. He ordered all his nobles, as well as simple supporters, and servants to wear straight white crosses on their clothes. The white cross, as a symbol of France, has been mentioned since the XIV century. It was also worn by the French royalists who fought with bourguignons in 1414. In the middle of the XNUMXth century, it began to be used more and more often. So over time, it became a kind of counterweight to the red crosses of the British and the black crosses of the Bretons.
Thus, the issue of identification was solved very simply. When a white cross of any size was sewn onto a blue, red, or even tailored jacket, it was clear that in front of you was a Frenchman. If on the contrary - exactly the same cross was made of red fabric, then - an Englishman.
The Battle of Montiel, 1369, between the Franco-Castilian troops supporting Henry II and the army of the ruling Pedro of Castile, in which he died. "Chronicle ..." by Jean Froissard, 1470 National Library of France, Paris
Burgundians were distinguished by an oblique red cross. The latter has been used on standards in the armies of the Dukes of Burgundy since the time of Jean Sans Pera (1371-1419). And then, already in the Civil War between Armagnacs and Burgundians, where the fighters also had to face the English and French crosses, it came in handy, since it was completely unlike a straight cross, and there were no problems with its recognition. The use of the oblique cross (the cross of St. Andrew) was recognized by the Treaty of Arras in 1435 and spread throughout the Burgundian state.
A battle between the British and the Amiens. The latter are in blue jackets with red crosses. "Chronicle ..." by Jean Froissard, 1470 National Library of France, Paris
In 1370, the coat of arms of France itself changed, on which the number of lilies - the old emblem of the French royal house - was reduced to only three. Before that, lilies were literally strewn with a knight's shield or banner.
Another very important emblem for identification was the oriflamma - the monochromatic flag of France, consecrated by a long tradition, in a blood-red color. Together with other royal banners, it was kept in the Reims Cathedral and was taken out of it only when it was necessary to protect the kingdom, or to protect the Christian faith.
Battle of Neville Cross. It happened during the Second War of Independence of Scotland on October 17, 1346, 800 m west of Durham, in England. The Scottish army of 12, led by King David II, was defeated by an English army of approximately 000–6, led by Ralph Neville, Lord Neville. The battle was named after the Anglo-Saxon stone cross that stood on the hill where the Scots were stationed. "Chronicle ..." by Jean Froissard, 000 National Library of France, Paris
On the French side, the means of identification on the battlefield included 4200 banners made of black cloth, with the word Justice embroidered in silver or gold letters. Dauphin Karl in 1411, during the war with the Duke of Burgundy, presented such banners to the commanders of his detachments. However, the matter was by no means exhausted by them. It is known that in the army of the Dauphin there was, for example, a flag with the image of a dolphin, and flags with the image of saints: St. Michael, in full knightly armor killing the serpent, and St. Michael - also fully armed and with a drawn sword in his hand.
The British had their characteristic long-tailed standards, and each of them had a white rectangle with a red cross of St. Georg. In addition, the royal banner was used: a red-blue cloth divided into four fields in pairs, with three golden leopards in red fields and golden lilies (a hint of the English French throne!) In blue.
English standards of the 1th century: 1415 - King Henry V from 2; 1440 - Lord Robert Willoughby from 3; 1470 - Ser Robert Wallace from 4; 1460 - Count Edmund Roos from 5; 1474 - Ser Ralph Hastings from 6; XNUMX - Ser Meister Guildford
It was during the years of the Hundred Years War that something like a uniform uniform began to emerge, which, for example, was introduced at the royal court and among large feudal lords, where they began to use clothes of certain colors and styles in order to distinguish individual groups of servants or courtiers. Thus, sergeants at arms during the reign of Charles V often wore blue and black clothes. In 1382 Charles VI decided to develop a "feeling of sympathy" among his supporters, and came up with that every member of the King's Company, from himself to the lowest servant, and even women, wear special costumes and use only certain colors for clothing. and emblems. Moreover, only the king and his advisers could decide at what point these costumes could be changed.
Joan of Arc at the siege of Paris (1429). Miniature from "Vigilius on the Death of King Charles VII". Around 1483 National Library of France, Paris
Moreover, most of the emblems for them reflected the current political situation of that day. So, one of the emblems was the winged deer, which Charles VI used until 1388, and the broom, the symbol of the "Marmousette" group (marmousette - a figurine, a man), which appeared at the end of his reign, and then inherited by Charles VII. Emblems for low-ranking courtiers were made of simple metals, but emblems for the highest nobility were real works of art and were made of silver or gold, covered with enamel. Usually they were sewn onto clothes in such a way that they were visible. Such is not too cheap a sign of loyalty to a crowned person.
Battle of Agincourt. Miniature from "Vigilius on the Death of King Charles VII". Around 1483 National Library of France, Paris
But special emblems to demonstrate their devotion or loyalty were used not only at court, but also townspeople, merchants, artisans, just burghers, when they wanted to emphasize their attitude to some political group or a popular idea. For example, in 1375 in Paris, many wore hoods of red and blue fabric as a sign of solidarity with the city politician Etienne Marcel. In 1411, all members of the Parisian group, which bore the name of the Caboschiens, wore blue caps on their heads, and two years later, their opponents were distinguished by their white caps. Those who were sympathetic to the bourguignon had cornet hats, which they wore, twisting them to the right, while the Armagnacs littered them to the left.
Capture of Charles of Blues, Duke of Breton, at the Battle of La Roche-Derienne. "Chronicle ..." by Jean Froissard, 1470 National Library of France, Paris
Well, the monotonous clothes were also a kind of uniform. After all, the same jackets-jackets, brigandines and jupons were bought in bulk, and therefore, for greater cheapness, they were sewn from the same fabric, which they also bought thousands of yards. Therefore, some had archers in white jackets, so that all they had to do was sew a red cross on them, and for some, white jackets were simply contraindicated, because they had to sew a white cross on it. And it is clear that the suppliers of clothing for the royal army of France chose either blue or red, in a word - any color on which a white cross would look distinct.
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