Warriors For The Working Day
Military Art
By
Paul Hitchin
145 Walsall Road
Pelsall
Walsall
WS3 4BP
UK
Telephone
07967630942
Welsh
Spearman – 1340/50
The
English Medieval armies of the early Hundred Years War were made up of
several different elements. The heavily armed nobles, knights and men at
arms, bowmen to provide the
missile element and infantry such as the man shown here.
Many Welsh spearmen provided an infantry
force for the armies ofEdward III and the
Black Prince, relatively lightly armed they served as support for the
other arms. This man may be better armed than many of his fellows since he
has obtained a padded body armour and a simpleiron skull to protect his head.
His principal weapon is a spear and he has a hatchet tucked in his belt
although many carried long knives, which brought an untimely end to many
French knights fallen wounded atCrecy and Poitiers.
The man has removed one shoe as is shown in contemporary illustrations
supposedly to get a better grip with his ‘leading’ leg on the potentially
slippery ground of a battlefield.
