Beaufort Herald
B e a u fo r t C o m p a n y e
N e w s l e t te r
May 2010
Volume 4, Issue 5
Avoncroft next
next—
—wonder what will happen this time?
Bosworth an alter-
2
medieval re-enactment?
native view
Logistics
(a short
3
Thomas Findherne
4
Kenilworth 2010
5
How many times are I going to hear “oooh
look its Maid Marian, where’s Robin?” But
as they say any publicity is good publicity
and may bring even more public to watch
us. So brush up on your mumming plays
history)
Skirmish Article
JAYNE E ..
More Pictures
Did French pikes
5
PS I wonder if the opening line is “G’Day sport,
strewth that Sheriff ain’t wearing any strides”
6 –7
kill Richard III (Part
Letter from EH
8
Caption Competi-
8
tion
Cookery Corner
In the next issuer:
♦
Sir Thomas Harrington
♦
Battle of Verneuil
♦
Ricardian tomb
♦
Skirmish article
♦
Social hierarchy
8
Just in case you haven’t heard, there is a
new Robin Hood film out soon starring
Russell Crow. I wonder whether this will
have a positive or negative effect on
Your Grace—Bosworth is this way
But know this isn’t true for
everyone. What would you
like to see more of? If you
don’t tell Jayne what that
is how does she know?
Images and articles
You will see that a lot of the
excellent images in this newsletter are from Ellie. Its always
good to get stuff from different
members as everyone has a
different point of view
Do you want more on
clothing patterns, for example, or are we too ex-
Personally always interested
in the military side of events
Holy water sprinkler
perienced to need this?
1
A
Battle of Bosworth 1485 an alternative
The Battle of Bosworth is one of those events in history which strikes a
chord with nearly every person. It is like a full stop that ends one chapter
and allows another to begin, This year is the 525th anniversary of the
battle and below is the provisional script for this years event—see what
you think
Yorkist forces form up on the field, Richard will be stationed on the
ridge line with a handful of his personal troops and any large guns.
Main Yorkist force position below this on the flat with archers nearest to
the crowd line and on ridge. [BASED ON THE LATEST FINDINGS
Richard brought the Tower of London guns to Bosworth, and positioned
them on the ridge line overlooking the Old Roman Road. This meant that
he had to take a static defensive position if he was not to mask his own
artillery A few Yorkist scouts will be stationed at the far end of the field.
Stanley troops move onto the field met by Yorkist heralds after some
discussion (not too heated) Stanley's move to one side. [Probable that
Stanley brother’s troops shadowed Tudor onto the field (hadn’t made
their minds up yet). Possibly William Stanley went to right of Richards
position, and Thomas Stanley left, near Crown Hill]
Tudor’s troops move onto the field covered by a screen of handgonners. Drive back Yorkist scouts (they retire quickly) Tudor’s move to
centre of field and deploy in large block facing Yorkists and begin to
advance. Yorkist Artillery and archers (if loose
[29 cannon shot have
been found, the largest extant number of medieval shot for any European
battlefield. Tudors forces may have encountered similar artillery parks
before (whilst facing the Burgundians) and would have angled their attack at speed away from the guns Tudor’s forces retire in some disarray.
Reform into a column (heaviest troops to the point). Angle of attack is
now to the lower part of Yorkist line so that guns and archers are masked
by own Yorkist infantry
Assault Yorkist line moves forward slowly and Tudors come on at pace.
Yorkist forced back and have to be strengthened (transfer troops for far
end of line) Yorkists start to try to lap around the side of Tudor line.
loose [Likely that Oxfords deployed his men at arms and those recruited
on the march to strengthen the flanks of the attacking column and to prevent it from being overwhelmed ]
Stalemate combat continues with neither side able to exert a real advantage. But numbers favour York, Tudor is increasingly worried and
moves clear of the blocks and tries to influence Stanley to join him.
Howard falls Leading a furious assault on Tudor troops Thomas Howard and a few men are isolated and cut up, he personally is wounded.
Duke of Norfolk himself leads a counter charge to rescue his son, and
sends him to the rear with an escort but this is seen as the start of a retreat more Yorkist forces give ground. Tudors troops gain fresh heart
[The Duke of Norfolk was reputedly slain near the windmill (to the rear
of the expected Yorkist position, this is only going to occur during the
rout/retirement at the end of the battle. But the wounding of his son
would have had serious and detrimental affect on morale if he had withdrawn with his bodyguard to get Thomas Howard to safety
2
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
Richard notices that Henry has separated from
most of his troops and Commits himself and his
remaining household to one final throw of the
die. They charge down the hill, Henry throws
his bodyguard forward to sacrifice them and
give him time to run to the safety of the
Stanley/Tudor block – now forming a square
with him in the centre. [Richard could have
mounted his personal guard and whatever other
troops he had left and charged down the Roman
road at pace and into Henry’s bodyguard killing
his champion and standard bearer the suicidal
stand of his men whilst Henry runs off is in
character for the man. Henry doesn't come
across as a heroic figure, rather more a careful
one, which is why he lived to be King and Richard didn't. It also fits with Henry's behaviour at
Stoke where he stayed well back from the fighting
Richard now leads his household against this
square. He is scenting victory if he can just kill
Henry. Suddenly remaining Stanley’s pour into
the rear of his formation and start to decimate
his men. Richard is surrounded – crying
“treason” he is cut down. . [If Henry had retired
to an intact” square” of formed and trained
pike/spear infantry Richard would know a
mounted assault was doomed to fail, but heavily
armoured knight s on foot could break a formed
unit apart allowing other to pour in and finish
the job. Possibly Richard dismounted to lead
this assault himself. If not for Stanley’s intervention ???
Howard’s Death with the rearguard – with
the cry “Gloucester is dead” remains of Richards forces flee the field Duke of Norfolk falls
trying to hold some form of rearguard together
(near a windmill actually) [This battle was over
as soon as either Richard or Henry was dead,
therefore all that was left was surrender or flee
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
Medieval Logistics - A SHORT HISTORY
Supply trains are as much a feature of Medieval warfare as for any other
period.
There are three main methods of acquiring supplies on the move:
(a) baggage train which travels with the army;
(b) local supplies which are "purchased (or taxed) from the population near or
along the army's route of march";
(c) stockpiles of supplies which are pre-positioned "at fixed bases along the
route of march [... and are] brought forward by wagon to the army as required, or
alternatively the soldiers [... could] pick the supplies up as they marched by these fixed
bases."
However, a supply source moving with the army was necessary for any large-scale
army to operate. Medieval supply trains are often found in illuminations and even
poems of the period.
River and sea travel proved to be the easiest ways to transport supplies, armies
would frequently follow rivers while their supplies were being carried by barges.
The baggage train provided an alternative supply method that was not dependent
on access to a water-way. However, it was often a tactical liability. Supply chains
forced armies to travel more slowly than a light skirmishing force and were
typically centrally placed in the army, protected by the infantry and outriders.
Attacks on an enemy's baggage when it was unprotected — as for instance the
French attacks on the English train at battle of the Herrings was an attempt to
cripple a forces ability to continue a campaign. This was particularly true in the
case of sieges, when large amounts of supplies had to be provided for the besieging
army. To refill its supply train, an army would forage extensively as well as
resupply itself in cities or supply points - border castles were frequently stocked with
supplies for this purpose.
During the HYW, there were two broad strategies that an invading army might
adopt, namely raiding strategies lasting some 50 days and persisting strategies in
which the intent was to permanently occupy the territories the invader passed
through and generally lasting 6 months or more. The supply methods appropriate
to each were clearly different.
There were always a large number of non-combatants who accompanied a
medieval army especially during persisting invasions. But even on a raid, as much
as 50% of the army was non-combatant - carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors, armorers,
fletchers, cooks, bakers, whores and the like. The non-combatants in a persisting
force might be double that. Hence the supply problem for an army of 10,000
combatants might be as much as 20,000 people.
A combatant at that time normally subsisted for a day on 0.106 gallons of wine,
107 grams of meat and 1.04 kilograms of bread. The caloric value of this ration
was about 3950 calories.
Many forces were entirely mounted. A force of 10,000 combatants might have
20,000 horses and it is estimated that each horse would consume 25 kilograms of
green fodder in one day and hence collectively they would consume 500 tons of
green fodder (or 200 tons of dry fodder) in a day.
3
And so the magnitude of the supply and
transportation problem inwas clear! For
an Army of 10,000 combatants, the
supply problem was the care and feeding
of up to 20,000 people and 20,000 horses
plus the stores of ammunition and other
non-perishable items.
Personalities of the Wars of the Roses
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
Sir Thomas Findherne
Born in 1420, Sir Thomas Findherne of Carlton, Cambridgeshire first appears in the records in 1447 as MP for Essex. He was knighted in 1448
and between 1449 and 1451 was returned as MP for Cambridgeshire.
On 20 February 1452 he was made Captain of Guisnes, an office that
he held until at least May 1458, and headed the commission of array
for Cambridgeshire in Sept 1457 and Dec 1459. By Feb 1460 he held
the office of Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire and he appears to have received a pardon in November 1460, presumably by
the pro-Yorkist government following in power at the time.
In 1461 Findherne fought on the Lancastrian side at Wakefield, St Albans and Towton and fled with the Lancastrian exiles to Scotland, a result of which he was included in Edward IV’s Act of Attainder. In May
1462 he accompanied Queen Margaret to France and was signatory on
the Treaty of Tours but in November he was with the Duke of Somerset’s
small Lancastrian army that captured Alnwick and Dunstanburgh Castles.
Soon after Somerset and Findherne found themselves besieged with
Dunstaburgh by the Earl of Warwick, who had been sent to recapture
the castles. By Christmas Eve 1462 the small garrison of 120 men had
eaten all the horses and Somerset reluctantly began negotiating surrender. Conscious of the approach of a Lancastrian relief force Warwick
offered generous terms including safe conduct for all. As a result Bamburgh surrendered on Boxing Day and Dunstanburgh the following day.
However, despite Warwick also recapturing Alnwick, by 1 May all three
castles had once again declared for Lancaster with Bamburgh once
again the home of the Lancastrian court in exile. Findherne subsequently
fought with Somerset at Hedgeley Moor in April 1464 and at Hexham
on 14 May 1464 where he was captured. He was executed at Newcastle on 17 May along with John Gosse, the Duke of Somerset’s carver.
Findherne was survived by a son, William, from his marriage to Catherine Berners. William fought on the Lancastrian side at Barnet but subsequently made his peace with the Yorkist Regime and by 1478 he had
obtained the reversal of his father’s attainder, a pardon for himself with
his lands restored and a knighthood. He appears to have avoided involvement in the turbulent years of 1483 to 1487 and as MP and Commissioner of the Peace for Cambridgeshire appears to have transferred
his allegiance for Edward IV to Richard II and finally to Henry VI without
the need to bear arms. He died in 1517.
Ian Brandt
4
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
Beaufort Companye
in Skirmish again!
Group Website http://www.beaufort-companye.org.uk/
Further updates have been added to our website courtesy of Mark
(thank you for taking on this task)
•
Events page updated
•
Hire Us page updated
•
Beaufort Companye Power Point Presentation
download added to bottom of Hire Us page.
The Kenilworth 2010 photos and
article will be in the June edition
of Skirmish magazine on sale 27th
May. And its advertised in this
months issue with a picture of
Allan and Ghost
www.skirmishmagazine.co.uk
Check the website out and if you have
any comments or feel something is
missing let us know
From 2009 events
5
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
Bosworth - Did French Pikemen kill Richard III? (Part 2)
What of the evidence ?
Jones cites two pieces of stained glass window now broken that used to exist in Merevale Abbey, which shows a
“wall” of pikemen, the other appears to show St Armel a favourite of Henry’s and a patron of seafarers and safe sea
travel. Henry commissioned a window at Merevale in 1503 to commemorate his victory, but it is not clear what the
original window represented, was it purely related to Bosworth or a series of episodes from Henry’s life, the Pikemen
could also refer to the Battle of Stoke in (1487) and the defeat of Martin Schwartz’s pikemen. The glass of St Armel
may represent the Saint’s perceived protection in the storms that delayed and inadvertently saved him in 1483.
The others are fragments of a letter from a French mercenary (cited in a work compiled in 1897, the original letter
may now be lost), which Jones takes to describe describes Richard III’s final charge, however the fragments are also
open to other interpretations. “He came with all his division which was estimated at more than 15,000men, crying
“These French traitors are the cause of our nations ruin” could refer to Richards anger at the French support, which
made Tudors invasion possible, rather than specifically their protection of Tudor and the 15,000 men could refer to
the whole royal army rather than Richard’s battle. The other states “he [Henry} wanted to be on foot in the midst of
us and in part we were the reason the battle was won” again given the size of the French contingent they were fundamental to the victory and probably in the defeat of Norfolk’s battle, not merely for protecting Henry Tudor, its difficult
to judge without the broader context of the fragment. 2
Strangely no other accounts or chronicles make any reference to pikes being present whatsoever at Bosworth,3,4,5
this seems surprising if they were as “novel” in England as Jones suggests (i.e. that Richard was unfamiliar with
them) and that they played such a decisive part in the battle, causing the death of the King. Assuming that the letter is
genuine, one wonders if the letter was “sexed up” to over emphasise the glory of the sender and the French contingent.
We also have to ask was Richard III, sufficiently stupid to charge a Pike Phalanx ?
Jones suggests that Richard III planned a grand cavalry charge from the start, but such a move was totally contrary
to the English tactics of the time
Cavalry attacks on Pike Phalanx’s at this time were unsuccessful unless the phalanx had been broken by earlier infantry attack, cannon, or archery fire such as at Brusthem (1467) or had been encouraged into a rash attack where
they could be encircled Rupelmonde (1452) and Montenaken (1465). The Burgundian cavalry launched attacks on
Swiss phalanxes at Grandson (1476), Morat (1476) and Nancy where Charles the Bold was killed (1477). In all cases
they were defeated with heavy casualties. French infantry Franc Archiers and cavalry had been unable to break the
Burgundian Pike Phalanx at Enguinnegate (1479)
Jones argues that Richard was ignorant of the strength of pikes as a troop type or the ability of well trained pikemen
to redeploy rapidly.2 Although Richard had not fought against pikemen he was an experienced soldier and had fought
against the Scots who had a predilection for long spears (albeit the 1480-1482 border war included no major engagements). Furthermore amongst his retainers and entourage were men who had seen service against or with pikes
(including the Swiss) in Burgundian service, notably Sir John Middleton of Belsay (d 1483) and Sir Thomas Everingham (both men had fought at Nancy (1477) and Everingham had commanded the English contingent at Enguinnegate (1479). They had served him intermittently from 1481 and Everingham was probably present at Bosworth.
How much advice he received from these men we cannot know.
If Henry Tudor had been protected by a Pike Phalanx could Richard III have penetrated it to attack Tudor’s
entourage ?
As discussed above Cavalry attacks on unbroken Pike at this time were universally unsuccessful, so Richard’s defeat
by the pike is likely. Well armoured men on foot could penetrate a pike block but even so it would have been a considerable feat, particularly given that as they had been mounted they would not have been armed with polearms.
(Burgundian infantry only defeated the Flemish pike at Brusthem after it had been weakened by cannon and archery
fire and disordered by an over exuberant counterattack, Burgundian infantry completely failed before the Swiss).
6
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
To then bring down Sir John Cheyney a 6’6” “Man Mountain” and kill
Henry’s Standard bearer would have been truly impressive feat.
However other accounts state that Richards charge fell on Henry’s entourage and mention no initial attack being repulsed.5 It would seem
more, likely that Richards attack hit Henry’s entourage first and they
gained Henry VII sufficient time to flee to the safety of the nearest
friendly troops (the pike block), who subsequently protected him until the
arrival of Stanley’s forces. He would have dismounted to hide himself
within the mass. Richard may have been in the process of preparing an
attack on foot, but probably didn’t have time to implement it before
Stanley’s assault. Richard III is also described as being killed by a Welsh
halberdier,5 which seems unlikely if he’d penetrated into the heart of the
French pike bande.
To conclude
From the above I would conclude that
•
French troops including former professional soldiers were present.
•
A significant proportion of them probably were armed with pikes.
•
They may have contributed to the defeat of Norfolk’s battle.
• They may have sheltered Henry following the assault on his entourage.
However they probably didn’t directly cause Richard’s death, but may
have saved prevented Tudor’s.
The Myth of 1485, Michael K Jones (from The English Experience in France 1450-1552, War,
Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange, Ed D Grummitt, 2003)
Bosworth - Psychology of a Battle, Michael K Jones, 2002
Bosworth Battlefield – A Re-assessment, Glenn Foard, Battlefields Trust, 2004
The Memoirs of Phillipe De Commynes, Seigneur D’Argenton.
The Battle of Bosworth, Michael Bennett, 2000.
The French Army of the Early Italian Wars, Curt Johnson (Early Modern Warfare Society).
Mark Hinsley
7
B ea u f o r t C o m p a n y e N ew s l et t er
Caption Competition
Pumpes
“You put your right leg in...”
Replies to: captioncomp @ jayan-
Received after Wrest—I think she sums
it up very well
Sent: 28 April 2010 18:24
To: Harley, Allan
Subject: St George's Day Festival
Hi Allan,
I hope that you got back safely on Sunday and have recovered from what was an exhausting weekend.
I just wanted to drop you a quick email to thank you for all
your hard work over the weekend and ask if you could
pass on my sincerest thanks to all of those who attended
under the Fed.
I thought your arena shows were fantastic as was your professionalism, enthusiasm and flexible attitude to all that
was thrown at you throughout the weekend, we really
couldn't have done it without you all.
I look forward to working with you all again in the very
near future... same time next year?
Cookery Corner, Part 21
Source These "Medieval Meatballs" are a perfect buffet or party dish. The
meat and sauce both have just enough spice to notice, but not so much as to
be overpowering. They're also very easy to make
Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup currants
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. cubebs
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch saffron
4 cups beef broth (approx.)
1/4 cup wine (approx.)
Sauce
2 cups almond milk
1 Tbsp. rice flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. mace
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
Mix ground beef, egg yolks, currants, sugar, and spices. Form into small
balls, about an inch in diameter. Place in boiling broth along with wine and
cook until done - about 15 minutes. Remove from broth and place in serving
dish. In a separate pan mix almond milk, rice flour, sugar, and mace. Bring
to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer over medium head until thick. Pour sauce
over the pumpes to thoroughly coat them and serve.
Thanks again,
Lucy
Lucy Hutchings Event Manager, London & East
Serve Hot
English Heritage Wrest Park
8
Freezer Safe