Perry Tudor Conversions, Mounted Archers, page 54

[Stuart]

Some great conversions and paint jobs. Not my period really - just dabble - but I like the creativity and research you have done.

On the Pete's flags, they look nice, where can these be found?

There’s a link in the paragraph that mentions the flags toward the bottom of the article

[Arlequín]

Wonderful as always and an excellent blog post. 

One of the suggestions I've come across for the origins of the term 'demi-lance', is that the archetypes of that class came alone to muster, i.e. without custrel and page, as would be the case with a 'lance' (or 'spear') or man at arms proper. So 'part-lance/half-lance' may be the root of the term.

The man at arms at 12d a day disappeared from around 1492, the 'man at arms' proper now got the old 24d 'knight rate' (to help finance his mini-retinue and spare mounts), while the demi-lance just got the 9d rate formerly paid to 'foot men at arms' (who did have a horse) and 'scowrers' etc.

Back in the days of English armies fighting largely on foot, there was no need to distinguish between 'lesser men at arms' and their betters.

[Stuart]

Thanks Jim

I wasn’t aware of the etymology in that respect as I thought it was just that they carried a short lance. But that (as always from your good self) makes perfect sense !

I’ll add it to the post if you don’t mind

[Arlequín]

Hi Stuart, by all means do. 

It shouldn't be read that demi-lancers didn't become associated with their lighter or shorter spears over time, nor that a chronicler coming across the term for the first time did not just make an assumption that demi-lance referred to their weapon of choice. In a chicken and egg thing infantry 'staves' (spears) became known as 'half-pikes' when used on foot, not that many years on from this.

Certainly references to mounted 'staves' from the Mid-15th Century might indicate a competing term to 'demi-lance' that appeared a little later, by virtue of the weapon used and ultimately the two seem to become almost by-words for heavy lancer and heavier lancer in your era. 

Here's to the wonderously vague terminology of the 15th-16th Centuries! 

[Metternich]

Jim, thanks for the scholarly explanation for the etymology of the term demilance.
 I think another distinction is that while the gendarmes (or true "man at arms") of the early Tudor period in full plate rode a barded horse, the demilances rode unbarded horses.

[Jeff965]

Great stuff Stuart, good to see you back at the brushes

[Stuart]

Thanks Jeff

It’s a tonic

[Arlequín]

Jim, thanks for the scholarly explanation for the etymology of the term demilance.
 I think another distinction is that while the gendarmes (or true "man at arms") of the early Tudor period in full plate rode a barded horse, the demilances rode unbarded horses.

Thanks, glad it struck a chord. I would say that you are almost certainly correct that all demi-lances rode unbarded horses. Whether all men at arms had them by the early years of the 16th Century, I'll leave Stuart to ponder and discuss.

 

We had a discussion a while ago on it as regards the 15th Century and despite most of us thinking the French and Burgundians led the way, it turned out there was very little evidence, other than Charles the Bold suggesting to his men at arms that it would be a good idea to bard their horses if they could. It was a bit like the government with motorcyclists today; "You have to wear a helmet, but we're not going to stop you riding around in your shorts if you can't run to a set of leathers".

In my mind there was probably a process that saw the 'true' men at arms get fewer due to the cost, but those that didn't descend into the demi-lances were the type of folk who could bear the expense regardless. So fewer men at arms = higher incidence of barded horses, until all men at arms had barded horses by default.

This process wasn't confined to England either. By the end of the 15th Century, France's Ordonnance 'Archers' were predominantly younger sons of chivalrous families. Some were there because age entry into the gendarmes was a year older than required for the archers, but many simply didn't have the money (or credit) to fund the equipment, horses and lifestyle. I doubt there were many 'low-born' professionals in the corps after the end of the HYW and a few of the famous gendarmes of the 16th Century started their careers as 'teen archers' for a year or so.

[Metternich]

The peerless Bayard started his career as an "archer."

[Stuart]

Early Tudor field artillery piece is the latest on the blog, here’s the crew and the based up piece and ramblings can be found here;

https://stuartsworkbench.blogspot.com/2018/12/tudor-culverin.html?m=1

[Codsticker]

Outstanding... I love how you managed to get all those figures on what looks like a pretty small base for artillery and yet they all look very natural and not crowded.

[Romark]

Excellent!

[painterman]

Stonking, just utterly stonking...
that is all..

[Jeff965]

Great work, gets better and better

[Wellington Bonaparte]

Beautiful painting, real works of art in 28mm!