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army drawn up in two lines. The Norman horse and foot attacked in spearhead formation—presumably a kind of wedge—and drove the first linę in on the second, causing confusion and ultimate defeat. In 1053 the battle of Civitate again saw Norman knights, this time from Apulia, ąuickly routing a larger Papai force of Italo-Lombard cavalry and infantry in the first charge. However, the Norman knights under Humphrey de Hauteville and their reserve under Robert Guiscard were held up by a group of about 700 Swabian mercenaries until Richard’s horsemen returned from the pursuit and forced them into sąuares which were gradually dissipated.

Hard pounding was used far morę at Hastings in 1066. According to William of Poitiers, the lines of the Normans and their allies consisted of archers in front, infantry behind and knights in rear. This strongly suggests an initial softening up with missiles, followed with an assault by the foot. The cavalry were to be used to break open the gaps so formed and to pursue the routed enemy. Such tactics madę sense. For one thing, the Normans probably had fewer horsemen than they would have liked and were confronted by a solid dismounted phalanx. Secondly, warhorses were expensive and were morę likely to be killed by footsoldiers than by other mounted knights. Moreover, as we shall see, this combination of elements in Norman armies was usual. In reality, the

Norman foot at Hastings was unable to effect breaches and the cavalry were committed in a desperate attempt to break the English linę, madę morę secure by being positioned on a ridge which denied flank attack. Victory was only achieved towards evening when a combination of mixed cavalry and infantry assaults and arrow showers finally saw King Harold killed. The English position had shrunk so much that the ends of the ridge were seized by cavalry who then rolled up the linę.

The ferocity of English resistance was not lost on the Normans. It must have reinforced their belief, shared by other feudal commanders in Europę, that dismounted knights were often tactically desirable. Indeed, Norman forces often appear to have dismounted a part of their cavalry while keeping others as a mounted reserve. Moreover, archers were usually placed in front so that the resulting army consisted of similar elements to those at Hastings, although the shortage of cavalry here meant that the infantry consisted of footsoldiers, knights only joining them when their horses had been killed.

The tactic of dismounting some of his knights to form a solid defence supported by horsemen won the day for Henry I on several occasions. In 1106 he was besieging Tinchebrai when his brother arrived with a relief force. Instead of backing off, Henry chose to fight. He placed his infantry in the front linę and

The two knights on the right in this frieze from the south door at Bari appear to wear coats oflamclla, slightly obscured by their kitc-shaped shields. (By kind permission ofDr Da vid Nicollc)

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