Udi teed a Ts fe] Europe 1066-1300 by lan Heath Andalusia, Bulgaria, England, Estonia, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, the Ordensstaat of the Teutonic Knights, the Earldom of Orkney, the Papal State, Poland, Prussia, Lithuania, the Low Countties, Kievan Russia, Scandinavia, Scotland, Serbia, Sicily, Spain, Venice, Wales and Wendland. A WARGAMES RESEARCH GROUP PUBLICATION FULLY REVISED SECOND EDITIONArmies of Feudal Europe 1066 to 1300 2nd Edition Organisation, tactics, dress and weapons 147 illustrations and 149 coats-of-arms. by Ian Heath Andalusia, Bulgaria, England, Estonia, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, ‘Morocco, the Ordensstaat of the Teutonic Knights, the Earldom of Orkney, the Papal State, Poland, Prussia, Lithuania, the Low Countries, Kievan Russia, Scandinavia, Scotiand, Serbia, Sicily, Spain, Venice, Wales and Wendland. A WARGAMES RESEARCH GROUP PUBLICATIONINTRODUCTION Following on where I left off in Armies of the Dark Ages, this book really requires little introduction, though it should be noted that it is not a book about the armics of feudalised Europe (which would hardly include Ireland or Russia, yet alone Andalusia and Prussia) but rather it is about the armies of mediaeval Europe during the period in which feudalism flourished and subsequently waned. From its very beginning the feudal system had possessed within it the seeds of its own demise, in the form of inherent limitations — length of service, definition of and constant dispute over obligations, and military power in the hands of a potentially hostile nobility, to name but a few — which led in time to its gradual decline during the latter part of this. era until, by the end of the 13th century, feudalism had ceased to be all-important from the military point of view. Hence the choice of 1300 as my closing date. ‘The story of feudatism’s rise and fall has been told many times before and from many different viewpoints. ‘The difference of skis book from the many others available is that in it I have not only attempted to explain, simply, the origins and institutions of military feudalism, and the diverse forms of its evolution throughout 11th-13th century Europe, but also I have set out to describe and illustrate not just how knights were equipped, but how the ordinary soldier was dressed and armed too, from Ireland in the west to Russia in the east, and from Scandinavia in the north to Sicily in the south. When the first edition was published back in 1978 it was my earnest hope that I had thereby plugged an over-large gap in the literature of mediaeval warfare. On reflection that was an overly bold ambition, and time has proved that in certain areas my research was not as comprehensive, nor my coverage as broad, as I would have wished it to be. Ten years later, the opportunity has arisen to rectify many — though not all, I suspect — of the first edition’s errors, while at the same time expanding its scope to include less well-known countries from the fringes of mediaeval Europe, such as the earldom of the Orkneys, Prussia, Wendland and Serbia. Wales too is included this time round, a thoughtless omission from the earlier edition. Hopefully this will at least bring me slightly closer to plugging that nebulous gap. ‘My debts of gratitude remain unchanged since the first edition: to Phil Barker and Bob O’Brien, for their faith in a complete stranger; to the late Bruce Galloway, for his assistance during the early stages of my research for not just Feudal Europe, but Dark Ages and Armies and Enemies of the Crusades too; to Richard Nelson, for permission to reproduce certain material which had appeared in Slingshot, the Journal of the Society of Ancients; to the staff of the St Ives Library, for proving that the Inter-Library Loan system does work; and to the Cambridge University Library, for the continued use of its excellent facilities. Finally, owe special thanks to wo people: to Roman Olejniczak, who provided practically all of the information on Poland that is giver: here, plus much additional data on Russia in particular (I hope that my interpretation does it justice); and to the late Alan Nickels, for providing much of the material for three of the appendices, on heraldry, standards and banners, and the ranks of nobility. Tan Heath ‘May 1989 Copyright © Ian Heath, 1989 Photoset and printed in England by Flexiprint Ltd., Lancing, Sussex 2