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Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: brasidas19004 on January 02, 2025, 09:48:45 PM
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I'm continuing work on my Welsh v. Marcher Lord armies.
These have stood in for many periods and situations, but I'm getting around to making some specific banners and leaders.
Does anyone know what banner a Marcher Lord might bear into battle in Wales, especially if he was acting in the official capacity of an agent of the English King?
I was thinking perhaps some sort of Marshal flag, or perhaps one of the King's banners / symbols.
While I'm at it, happy to hear about the more famous Welsh lords / kings / princes, et al.
I like the work done by wargames designs, but no English
https://www.wargamesdesigns.com/medieval-welsh.html
Thanks in advance for any guidance! Alex
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He would have carried a banner with his coat of arms on it.
And his wealthy bannerets would have had their coat of arms on their banners.
So you could either look up the coat of arms of a specific named individual or just use a generic, made up, coat of arms if you want it non-specific.
When you say 'medieval', what period are you thinking of?
'Medieval' is very broad and in the early medieval period coats of arms didn't really exist. They didn't start to be used (as we think of them) until into the 12th century.
Famous marcher lords include the Earl of Chester, the Despenser family, the De Braose family, and the Mortimers. Plus many others. Do a Google search for their coats of arms, but make sure you search for earlier incarnations or it'll just turn up later medieval coats of arms when they start getting quartered due to marriages etc.
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Sorry, meant to say 1100s, i.e. 12th C.
Was there a "Constable" flag?
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No, not covering the whole of Welsh marches. There was no single marshal, lord, or constable of the marches. This was done on purpose.
When one of the nobles went elsewhere then they would have appointed a constable to take care of any military matters on the estate whilst the lord was away.
The constable's flag would depend on his background - if he was a knighted then he would have his coat of arms, though it's likely the lord of the demense's flag would have flown (really not sure, to be honest). But not all constable's would have been knighted, probably very few of them.
The Welsh marches were carved up into various manors and demenses on purpose, so that no one lord had too much control and the king of England could still rule. That said, many of the marcher lords were in effect petty monarchs themselves (in action, NOT in name) who had free rein to impose laws and punishments as they saw fit. Which is pretty much what the monarch wanted because it kept the borders peaceful and gave the monarch plausible deniability should someone wish to make a claim about injustice.
The most powerful, and notorious, of the Marcher lords was Roger Mortimer (based in Hereford and controlling the southern borders) and the various Earls of Chester (controlling the northern borders). Though Mortimer is slightly out of your period - 13th century.
So I would say that if you are looking for a single big, bad, enemy, I would make him the Earl of Chester. Choose your year to find out who the earl was during that year and then do a Google to find out what his coat of arms were.
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Each lord of note would have a banner, this is from Lance and longbow society
Duke 1.25x1.25m in 28mm that is 22.5 x22.5mm
Earl 1.10m x 1.1m in 28mm 20x20mm
Viscount and Baron 1m x 1m in 28mm 18x18mm
Feudal Baron 0.9m x 0.9m in 28mm 16x16mm
Knight Banneret 0.7m wide x 0.85m fly in 28mm 12.5 x 15mm
Cheers
Matt
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wow, I thought they were all the same size, as in "youre a knight, youre a knight".
Didn't know they had a rule - was it prescribed by the king or something?
Each lord of note would have a banner, this is from Lance and longbow society
Duke 1.25x1.25m in 28mm that is 22.5 x22.5mm
Earl 1.10m x 1.1m in 28mm 20x20mm
Viscount and Baron 1m x 1m in 28mm 18x18mm
Feudal Baron 0.9m x 0.9m in 28mm 16x16mm
Knight Banneret 0.7m wide x 0.85m fly in 28mm 12.5 x 15mm
Cheers
Matt
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wow, I thought they were all the same size, as in "youre a knight, youre a knight".
Didn't know they had a rule - was it prescribed by the king or something?
It was prescribed by the College of Arms. At least in England.