I haven't posted much recently, for one reason or another, but I have been busy.
Reading up on some local history stuff after my last foray into the Wars of the Roses, I discovered that in 1462, John Kingscote was appointed Bishop of Carlisle. His tenure was only just over a year, and that made me wonder what sort of a chap he was. In reality, he was probably quite old when appointed, and died or was replaced at a political whim.
But that's no fun.
I thought, what if this nobleman from southern England didn't really want to go North with all those ruffians about, and so brought along a small army of his own to make sure he could do God's work in peace? The idea of an ecclesiastical bodyguard made up of mercenary scum appealed to me, so I would like to present His Grace John Kingscote, Bishop of Carlisle and his retinue of cut-throat bastards:
The main bodyguard is made up of a block of pike
supported by two smaller flank companies of crossbows
and since the Kingscotes were a fairly wealthy family, they could afford a ribaudequin as well.
In the background we can see Kingscote's younger brother, Hugh, leading a group of mounted men-at-arms and flying his own banner
While His Grace looks on, accompanied by his personal page.
Some individual shots of figures:
Swiss mercenary captain, Hans Zupp
A couple of his pikemen (the second being an old Foundry casting to make up numbers)
The gun captain, converted from bits in the plastic mercs box:
I tried to make it look like he was giving orders about sighting the gun. Not sure if it worked, but I'm fairly happy with it.
The banner from the pike block, showing the coat of arms of the Diocese of Carlisle
Another shot of His Grace
His page, Soft Allan, who displays Kingscotes own coat of arms on his bugle.
And finally another shot of brother Hugh's standard, also showing the Kingscote arms, but with a tabbed border reflecting his being the younger son.
I'm quite exhausted now.
Pictures could be better, I admit, but I'm eager to hear all comments and criticisms, and happy to answer any questions.
Cheers for looking.
JB