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łthousands in any war or mere troop movement.

These wcrc thc miners, carpenters, stonemasons M(for cutting cannon balls), blacksmiths, farricrs, 'brigandiniers (for repairing brigandines), clerks,

Iwaggoners, barrel makers (barrels were often uscd for constructing tcmporary bridges), ropemakcrs (who were also responsible for providing bow and

Icrossbow strings), saddlers, cooks, priests and' surgeons.

■ Transport, Food, Medical and Finance

Manoeuvrability, important to any army, was provided by a vast team of waggoners and carters.

IOHvier dc la Marche, writing about an expedition in 1474, mentions 2,000 .waggons carrying the artillery and 400 waggons to transport 2,000 tents. BThis may be an exaggeration, but it cannot have ™been rare in the r 5th century to see between 500

I and 1,000 waggons accompanying an army. Transport had to be organized for everything from the dukes’ gold piąte to dozens of leathcr boats, and

Iaccording to a document of 1468 a bombard alone required a minimum of 24 horses. Apart from pikes and swords, which were usually carried in bundles,

I most other items carried by an army on the march were transported in barrels, doubtless thc com-monest Container of the middle ages. Anything from ■ herring to winę barrels were usecl for carrying ®armour, crossbows, ammunition, gunpowder, mal-

Ilets, axes and bowstrings; some were even fitted with locks.

Provisions for the army were mostly obtained

Ilocally, and men were expccted to buy and pay for their own food. Following the baggage train would be numerous merchants, travelling along with the

I army and selling their wares on the way. However, in spite of strict orders to the contrary, soldiers commonly pillaged for food, creating great ■ unpopularity and antagonism among the civilian ■ population. Most combatants were expected to

Icook for themselves, but the nobility brought their own cooks with them, together with utensils and tents. Provisions for horses always presented a

I problem, and we often find servants going far afield to buy fodder, sometimes under the protection of men-at-arms.

IAlthough no elear texts have been discovered proving the existence of medical lacjlities, therc was probably some sort of organisation. Two surgeons

John the Fearless, perhaps the most astute of the Valois dukes, and certainly the best militarist. The antagonism between Burgundy and France started during John’s reign, and reached a peak when he was murdered by the French while talking to the Dauphin on the bridge at Montereau. It is ironie that Duke John is wearing a mail shirt under his clothing in this anonymous portrait. (Musee de Besanęon)

were present during the siege of Vellexon (1409), and occasional mentions are found in the lists of personnel of contemporary French armies on campaign; there are one or two illustrations in Burgundian manuscripts of doctors looking after wounded soldiers, and there exists a list of the medicines and instruments that a surgeon required in the field.

Typically, the financial aspect was meticulously organised, so much so that Charles the Bold has been accused of being the precursor of modern bureaucracy—though unjustly, for his predecessors were equally meticulous. The ducal accounts preserved at Dijon mention every detail ofexpendi-ture, from the manufacture of bombards to the number of loayes eaten by a smali contingent travelling to join the main army. Ali the ducal accounts, whether military or civil, were centralised at the two chambres des cotnpłes, in Dijon for the two Burgundies, and in Lille for the northern pos-