The Welsh Wars of Edward I; A Contribution to Mediaeval Military History, Based on Original Documents - Softcover
Synopsis
Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1901. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II AN EDWARDIAN ARMY IN examining a typical thirteenth-century army we must begin with the cavalry. To raise cavalry Edward had at first no choice but to call on his feudal tenants. Magna Carta had so decidedly condemned the employment of mercenaries that the feudal was the only system remaining. In 1277 an<3 1282, again in 1298 and onwards, the crown tenants were summoned in the most formal manner. Yet military needs compelled the king to supplement the quite inadequate feudal array by paid troops. Magna Carta could not be disregarded, so the only alternative was to enlist Englishmen for pay, the funds being provided by legal votes. Gascons were at intervals brought over, a large corps of 1,500 in the winter of 1282-3, and a smaller number in 1298, but as they were subjects of Edward as Duke of Aquitaine, and as they were paid J>Jr money voted by Parliament, no protests were made. What was the nominal maximum strength of the feudal host of England? If every tenant-in-chief brought the exact number of knights which the conditions of his tenure demanded, what would be the total of mailed cavalry forthcoming? The question has more than an antiquarian interest. It is only by knowing the details that we can appreciate the inherent weakness of the feudal system, a weakness so pronounced that Edward I took a very important step towards substituting a paid national army for the feudal. Without knowledge of his preliminary innovations we cannot understand the constitution of the army of Crecy and Calais, which was paid from Black Prince and bishop and earl down to the humblest knife-armed Welshman. Edward III did not suddenly introduce such a system of payments. The tendency to substitute paid for feudal service begins with Edward I, just because the formal fe...
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