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(Left and ccntrc) An Italian armour of c.1450, from a Milanesc workshop. It has bccn rcputcd that this armour was captured from the Burgundians by the Swiss at the battlc of Grandson in 1476. Field armour was not as heavy as is usually thought: an armour very similar to this weighs 57lbs., and a lit man could tura a somersault when wearing it. (Right) A great bascinet, c.1450, found at Bourg en Bresse and probably of Burgundian manufacturc. The rounded skuli and snout supersedcd the earlier conical style. (Bern Historical Museum, and Musee de ' 1’Armec, Paris)

(a)    a detachment of forerunners: seven or eight lances.

(b)    the main vanguard: up to about 30 lances and

motinted archers commanded by a high-ranking officer, and. accompanied by civil officials and heralds who would take messąges to towns ahead, or demand the surrender of castles and fortified cities.    '.

(c}?workmen .under. the orders of the Master of Artillery, whose task was to cut down fences and gates, level d.itches, and facilitate the passage of the main army.

(3)    The main army,’divided into between one and eight ‘battles’, each of 1,500-2,000 men. In each battle the archers, mounted or on foot, together with the infantry, preceded the men-at-arms. Interspersed among the ‘battles’, or sometimes with the vanguard, were the ligfit field guns, mostly serpentines: one of the first reactions in case of attack* would be to assemble and mount these guns.-

(4)    The artillery and. waggon train—though these would sometimes travel along with the main army, protected in enemy territory by infantry in front and horsemen on either.side. In rough terrain, or on narrow paths these waggons, normally followed behind, as a broken axle or wheel would have hindered the army’s progress.

The usual order was: (a) the heavy artillery waggons; (b) waggons transporting the equipment of the vanguard; (c) waggons transporting. the equipment of the duke and his household; (d) merchants’ waggons.

The duke (or the Marshal of Burgundy in his ' absence) comrftanded and led the ińain army. The Marshal of Burgundy led the vanguard, while the Master of Artillery commanded the artillery, waggon train and workforce. The merchants’ waggons were under the orders of an official called the prevost des marechaux.

Due to the naturę of the terrain that Burgundian armies usually encountered, the Crossing of river.s was a most important and sometimes perilous operation. Existing bridges were of course used wherever possiblej and sometimes the army madę long detours searching for bridges, which had often been demolishecł by the enemy. Where no bridges were available, it was necessary to construct one. A good example is the Crossing of the River Seine at Moret on 4 August 1465. The local bridges had been destroyed on the orders of the king of France, and a crossing-place was chosen at a point where there was a smali island. The enemy flanked the