m75)

The sergeant illustrated is wearing the long-sleeved hauberk with mittens and coif of the late I2th century, and a simple helmet known as a cemlliere, first introduced c. 1200. The cewelliere was a most popular form of helmet with all ranks from about 1220 onwards, and from mid-century many knights wore it under their coif—sometimes with no other form of head defence. The sergeant is also wearing cuisses, ąuilted leg-defences which were introduced c. 1220. They were secured to a belt under the hauberk. He is armed with the great two-handed axe adopted from the Anglo-Saxons by the Normans after 1066; in the I2th century many Norman knights favoured this weapon when fighting on foot.

By, By Foot soldiers c. 1200-iyoo Unlike the professional infantry, such as the mercenary crossbowmen and spearmen, most foot soldiers could not afford mail armour and were eąuipped instead with fabric body armours. These were used throughout the i2th and I3th centuries, although the earliest known references datę from the second half of the I2th century, by which datę the armours were in generał use.

Broadly speaking there were two types of fabric body armour, the aketon and th e gambeson, although no hard linę can now be drawn between the various types, which are known collectively as pourpoint. The aketon, illustrated on Bi, B3 and B4, was of buckram, stuffed with cotton and ąuilted vertically. Some had tight-fitting full-length sleeves, oc-casionally ending in mittens: others had wide sleeves ending at the elbow. Most had a high collar, sometimes reinforced with some kind of solid lining.

The gambeson consisted of two layers of coarse linen stuffed with flax or rags and ąuilted either in sąuares or diamonds. It reached only to the groin and was either sleeveless or had wide, short sleeves. Again there was a wide collar, probably lined with some form of piąte. The gambeson was used by some infantry but was worn mainly by sergeants and poor knights.

The soldier illustrated by B3 wears a chapel-de-fer or kettle hat, introduced at the end of the i2th century and popular throughout the i3th century with all ranks.

By Slinger 1100 iyoo

Although rarely mentioncd, the humble slinger was a valuable missile man in medieval armies, capable of discharging a hail of bullets or Stones with considerable accuracy and in rapid volleys. A four-foot staff sling was sometimes used to hurl larger projectiles.

A high degree of skill was needed with the sling, and such men had usually been accustomed to their weapon sińce childhood (peasants who needed to protect their livestock against wild animals but could not afford any other type of weapon). Pilgrims and camp followers would have yieldcd