DBA Armies

This list covers English armies from the completion of the Norman conquest until Henry II’s assize of arms in 1181. The wagon standard is the banner of St. Cuthbert of Durham or St. Peter of York. It cannot be used if the king is present but is especially appropriate if defending against the “breechless and barbarous Scots”. Knights now wore a longer-sleeved mail hauberk coming down to the wrist and by 1085 the mail leg protection worn by some wealthy knights on the Bayeux tapestry was standard for the well-armed knights in the front rank. Crossbowmen were rare in England at this time, but an archer element can include a crossbow figure for variety. Welshry were tenants of marcher lords, as opposed to independent Welsh. References: Armies of Feudal Europe 1. Heath, Warfare under the Anglo-Norman Kings 1066-1135 S. Morillo, Anglo- Norman Warfare M. Strickland (Ed), Normans and Plantagenets - An Alternative History of Britain T. Venning,