Soldiers such as the figure portrayed
here were the hand to hand infantry of the fifteenth century fighting
alongside the heavily armoured men at arms. Armed with a variety of pole
arms generically known as bills and relatively well armoured for their
combat role.
The billman portrayed
here wears the livery coat and badge of the Stafford family, Dukes of
Buckingham. Beneath this ‘uniform’ coat he wears a mail shirt and
brigandine, a descendent of the coat of plates, his limbs are protected by
plate armour and he wears gauntlets. His helmet is a broad brimmed ‘kettle
hat’ although closer fitting sallet helmets either with or without visor
were frequently worn. The soldier’s particular pole arm is a halberd with
axe blade, hook and spike and he also carries a sword, dagger and an iron
buckler shield. Blocks of billmen were a major feature on both sides in
the internecine struggle of the Wars of the Roses
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