Medieval News

[Paul]

Oops some one beat me to it.

[Arlequín]

It was very common, for the typical medieval 'knight', death on the battlefield was far less likely than for the average soldier. It is believed that one of the factors which persuaded Henry V to fight at Agincourt, was that if he lost, the ransoms would bankrupt England... he'd already virtually emptied the coffers to finance the campaign in the first place.

[Paul]

That the kniggits would be spared is known but it appears that nearly everyone had some sort of insurance in case they got caught.
I´ve got a picture now of the run of the mill battles being less hack and slash and a bit more "don´t damage the goods" or "don´t bash me head in..I´m worth at least 20 quid alive!!" 

[Patrice]

Medieval practice of Prisoner taking and ransoms, something to be consider in wargames rules?

We often do this in our games when a player thinks that a situation is desperate. It is not precisely described in our rules but it's an option, we do a simple morale test for it.

[Little Odo]

That and the tourneys is how William Marshall made his fortune - there was a heck of a lot of this going on. Most knights were after one of two things - land or money.

[Arlequín]

Both I should imagine, they didn't tend to do things by halves..

[Paul]

Richard the Lionheart wasn´t killed by a poisoned arrow...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21609783

[Franz_Josef]

I had never heard that the arrow was poisoned - only that the wound had turned septicm

[commissarmoody]

I had never heard that the arrow was poisoned - only that the wound had turned septicm

Yeah same here.

[Paul]

Yeah same here.

It probably came from the belief that they (archers etc) used to smear the arrow/bolt heads in human excrement

[Arlequín]

Well the practice of sticking arrows in the ground for ease of use wouldn't have been much different, not withstanding that clothing fibres driven into the wound and lack of basic hygiene in general, could all contribute to making most projectiles a death sentence of one form or another. If that wasn't enough, having some surgeon's grubby hands and tools poking around wouldn't help either.

[janner]

Yeah same here.

I've come across it in secondary sources, but cannot recall ever seeing it in a primary account. Also it is a crossbow bolt that is cited, rather than an arrow, and was loosed from behind battlements.

[Paul]

500-year-old arrest warrant for Machiavelli discovered
http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/machiavelli-the-prince-still-relevant-after-all-these-years/

[Paul]

oldest conserved human dissection  - 13th century
http://www.termedia.pl/A-glimpse-into-the-early-origins-of-medieval-anatomy-through-the-oldest-conserved-human-dissection-Western-Europe-13th-c-A-D-,19,20265,1,1.html

[Hildred Castaigne]

500-year-old arrest warrant for Machiavelli discovered
http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/machiavelli-the-prince-still-relevant-after-all-these-years/

Eh? That has nought to do with an arrest warrant.
It is just some people talking about The Prince.