The Armour Archive

Here's what I've got, can anyone add to this?

Barbuta- Term used in Italy in the 13th Century. Refers to the barbute helmet worn by the many German mercenaries. A unit composed of a warrior and his servant (apparently nominally a non-combatant)

Lancia- The lance. In Germany gleve, in France lance. Apparently refers to the actual lance used by a horseman in a charge. It is common, in the SCA, to estimate forces by counting the number of spear points in the air. A unit organized around a horseman and his retainers. Size varies from time to place. English lances in later 14th century Italy had two combatants and a servant.

Capo Lancia- Italian term describing the leader of a lance. Capo means 'head, chief'.

Caporale- Italian term describing the leader of a unit. Etymology of the word is capo + rale. Capo is the leader. Rale is problematic. It is related to the term rally and appears to mean a group (with connotations of a mounted group). I have not found a clear indication of exactly what size unit a caporale commanded.

Posta- Italian term describing a grouping of several lances. This appears to be yet another horse-related term with the archaic meaning of 'an assigned stable space'. I conjecture then that a posta was literally a group of men who stabled their horses together while on campaign. It might also mean 'position' as in an assigned location.

Bandiera- Italian term for banner. Literally a group of poste identified by a single banner. In battle they would be expected to rally round their banner.

Compagnia- Italian term for company. The term company literally means 'those that share bread'. Companies could be made up of routes (with the concept being that a company might split up to travel along several routes to a destination to make foraging easier), bandiere, or even other companies. This was particularly true of the Great Companies (at least one of which had more than 50 leaders who had to sign a contract) from 1360 onward.

Conroi- French term literally meaning 'with a leader'. A group of men, apparently of almost any size, led by a single leader. The connotation appears to be the sworn retainers of a single lord. It is unclear if multiple conrois can form a single conroi. The term is used to describe feudal forces rather than mercenary forces.

Route- French term used to refer to a group of soldiers travelling together. Literally 'those who travel the roads'. Generally used in conjunction with mercernary forces rather than feudal forces.

Battle- A wave of troops. Generally composed of many conrois. French term.

Marshal- English term derived from French term Mareschal akin to Old High German Marahscalc. Marah = horse + scalc = servant -> One who serves on horseback. The usage I have seen for this indicates a military retainer given a specific task to perform (i.e. the Marshal of the Camp).

Constable- French and English term. Derived from the latin Comes Stabili. Literally the person in charge of the stables. This appears to be a military subordinate who commands a mounted force. There are overtones of logistical responsibility as well.

Captain- French (Capitain) and English (Capitane) term. From the latin Capitaneus and the root capo. The commander of a body of troops. The connotation seems to include the idea that the body of troops is an independent/discrete command rather than a body of troops integrated into another maneuver command.

Sergeant- Also Serjent, Serjant, and other spellings. Found in English and French descriptions. A non-noble military retainer settled on a parcel of land. From the latin serviente, 'a servant'. (NOTE: Modern sergeants do not like to be reminded of this for some reason.)

Lieutenant- From the Latin Locotenums, literally 'place holder'. One who stands in the place of, and acts with the authority of, another.

The important thing to understand is that rank in the Middle Ages does not equate to rank in the current era. Rank in the Middle Ages is descriptive of a job position. A captain, for instance, does not necessarily outrank a lieutenant. The King's Lieutenant might be sent to assume command of a campaign while the a Baron's Lieutenant might simply take care of all the details of actually running a small military command. The Constable of France is very different from the constable of a compagnia. Some of the terms are interchangeable depending on circumstances and points of view. A bandiera or even a compagnia might be described as a route by another observer (and might acutally be a route if they are travelling at the time).

I'd appreciate any additional information or constructive criticisms y'all might have. I am continuing to compile and refine information.

Don't forget the Byzantines. They had the most sophisticated military organisation in mediaeval Europe, and a myriad of ranks and titles to go with it. Read Maurices Stategikon to get a good look at it, or if you can get it, Leo's Tactica.

A lot of stuff on how to run an army on campaign, drill, logistics, tactics, strategy, the lot.

------------------
Egfroth

"I can hear the word money from a distance of fifty miles, if the wind's in the right direction"

Major Dennis Bloodnok, Queen's Forty-Third Deserters (retd.)

see my webpage at www.geocities.com/egfrothos

Updating this. Changes in red. Additions in blue.

Barbuta- Term used in Italy in the 13th and 14th Century. Refers to the barbute helmet worn by the many German mercenaries. A unit composed of a warrior and his servant (apparently nominally a non-combatant)

Lancia- The lance. In Germany gleve, in France lance. Apparently refers to the actual lance used by a horseman in a charge. It is common, in the SCA, to estimate forces by counting the number of spear points in the air. A unit organized around a horseman and his retainers. Size varies from time to place. English lances in later 14th century Italy had two combatants and a servant.

Capo Lancia- Italian term describing the leader of a lance. Capo means 'head, chief'.

Caporale- Italian term describing the leader of a unit. Etymology of the word is capo + rale. Capo is the leader. Rale is problematic. It is related to the term rally and appears to mean a group (with connotations of a mounted group). I have not found a clear indication of exactly what size unit a caporale commanded.

Posta- Italian term describing a grouping of several lances. This appears to be yet another horse-related term with the archaic meaning of 'an assigned stable space'. I conjecture then that a posta was literally a group of men who stabled their horses together while on campaign. It might also mean 'position' as in an assigned location.

Bandiera- Italian term for banner. Literally a group of poste identified by a single banner. In battle they would be expected to rally round their banner.

Compagnia- Italian term for company. The term company literally means 'those that share bread'. Companies could be made up of routes (with the concept being that a company might split up to travel along several routes to a destination to make foraging easier), bandiere, or even other companies. This was particularly true of the Great Companies (at least one of which had more than 50 leaders who had to sign a contract) from 1360 onward.

Societas- Almost synonomous with company. The great companies of the 13th and 14th centuries were also refered to as a society of societies. This particular term I have only seen applied to the independent mercenary groups.

Conroi- French term literally meaning 'with a leader'. A group of men, apparently of almost any size, led by a single leader. The connotation appears to be the sworn retainers of a single lord. It is unclear if multiple conrois can form a single conroi. The term is used to describe feudal forces rather than mercenary forces.

Route- French term used to refer to a group of soldiers travelling together. Literally 'those who travel the roads'. Generally used in conjunction with mercernary forces rather than feudal forces. An alternate etymology of this term traces it to the latin rumpere, to break, from which we get the term rump. A division of a whole less than a majority. So rather than referring to people travelling the roads, it refers to a sub-group of a larger group (as in a company).

Battle- A wave of troops. Generally composed of many conrois. French term.

Marshal- English term derived from French term Mareschal akin to Old High German Marahscalc. Marah = horse + scalc = servant -> One who serves on horseback. The usage I have seen for this indicates a military retainer given a specific task to perform (i.e. the Marshal of the Camp). Further reading leads me to believe that the origin of the term marshal is far closer in meaning to 'stable boy' or 'groom'. In other words, someone who would be subordinate to the comes stabili.

Constable- French and English term. Derived from the latin Comes Stabili. Literally the person in charge of the stables. This appears to be a military subordinate who commands a mounted force. There are overtones of logistical responsibility as well.

Captain- French (Capitain) and English (Capitane) term. From the latin Capitaneus and the root capo. The commander of a body of troops. The connotation seems to include the idea that the body of troops is an independent/discrete command rather than a body of troops integrated into another maneuver command.

Sergeant- Also Serjent, Serjant, and other spellings. Found in English and French descriptions. A non-noble military retainer settled on a parcel of land. From the latin serviente, 'a servant'. (NOTE: Modern sergeants do not like to be reminded of this for some reason.) The serjeant appears to be a mounted man-at-arms who is free but not noble. Additionally, we find references to Serjeants-at-Arms in legal documents which seem to refer to someone who is not a soldier but can use physical force in the service of, for instance, a court.

Lieutenant- From the Latin Locotenums, literally 'place holder'. One who stands in the place of, and acts with the authority of, another. This deserves some additional commentary. A lieutenant could be a very exalted person, such as the King's Lieutenant for a region (such as Aquitance) who was analgous to the Governor of a province. At the same time one might be the lieutenant of a captain who was a corporal commanding three lances.

Vintener- Literally a twentier. A person commanding twenty infantrymen (archers). Used in England during the reign of Edward I and possibly thereafter. Almost certainly a non-noble.

Centurione- A centurion. Someone who commanded 100 infantry (crossbow archers). Used in Siena during the 14th Century when the Sienese were apparently in the habit of forming archery units of 300 men.

Constable, Marshal, and Corporal continue to be particularly vexing terms. The Constable appears to have been a person who organized logistics and commanded Marshals who were charged with specific tasks. It seems that these individuals were responsible for mundane tasks like building/recruiting, training, manuevering, and supplying an army. Once they got the army to where it needed to be it was turned over to field commanders. Since someone with the experience of warfare needed to do a good job of organizing logistics also had command experience, it seems that there was considerable overlap.

Corporal is hard to figure out. They sometimes signed contracts as if they were leaders of independent groups (which made up a larger group) but I don't find any references to Corporals who were clearly members of the nobility. I wonder if they were non-noble subordinate commanders, what we would today think of as sergeants.

"At the same time one might be the lieutenant of a captain who was a corporal commanding three lances. "

as in 'in lieu' of the captain?

a very interesting list, thanks.

made me get my Eric Partridge - Origins of words!! bingo

L Locus becomes OF-F Lieu adopted by English in the phrase 'in lieu of'. Derivative MF-F Lieutenant adopted by English is lit Lieu-tenant, one who is place holding.

That was a lucky guess on my part. We use the term 'time off in lieu' or 'in lieu of..' in the UK a fair bit.

had you not posted this list with your deriv I would not have thought about it. Thanks again, I learned something new today.

I can recommend Partridge - the demi-god of etymology, forget I go tthe book at times.

GB

jester wrote:Updating this. Changes in red. Additions in blue.

Barbuta- Term used in Italy in the 13th and 14th Century. Refers to the barbute helmet worn by the many German mercenaries. A unit composed of a warrior and his servant (apparently nominally a non-combatant)

Minor correction - it is not a reference to a helmet, it is a reference to a beard, and obliquely an open helmet or visored helmet open so the mans beard shows. They weren't wearing what readers will think of as barbute helmets (going by modern classifications) during the dates you list.

Centenar--the English version of the centurion. Leader of a hundred.

Arrayer--a person charged with arraying troops for marching to a port of embarkation or a place of assembly with a larger body of troops.

Lance--a man at arms.

Esquire--a man at arms of the gentry.

John
Jehan de Pelham, esquire and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org

in Period

Jester, what does this mean?
As Egfroth stated, there is a very easily identifiable military structure set forth by the Later Roman Empire. You could also include those of the Western Roman Empire and doubble your list.

Do you have set dates? Set geographic area?
You seem to, but " in Period" illudes to the contrarry.

Could you please clarify your meaning behind " in Period"?
Thanks!

The Eastern Roman Empire is well documented, so I leave that alone. I've got several copies of some of those sources as well as the beginnings of a paper examining their organization and tactics (really broad material, not particularly scholarly). My focus is on Western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD for the rule of thumb date) and the Renaissance. Thank you for pointing out my lack of clarity on that point.

I also dip into earlier and later times to look for information related to this.

Jehan de Pelham wrote:Centenar--the English version of the centurion. Leader of a hundred.

Arrayer--a person charged with arraying troops for marching to a port of embarkation or a place of assembly with a larger body of troops.

Lance--a man at arms.

Esquire--a man at arms of the gentry.

John
Jehan de Pelham, esquire and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org

I thought the Commissioners of Array were referred to as commissioners.

Oddly, I always thought that the Vintenar, Centenar, and their equivalents were failed attempts to create an ordered army based on Roman models (such as those documented in Vegetius). Now I believe that the terms were inspired by such, but the lack of mention in battle records is indicative of the Myth of the Cavalry that people subscribed to.

Jester,

Vintenier and Centenier certainly weren't mythical positions, and they certainly weren't cavalry titles. They were units of orginization used in England by shire commissions of array, and from the 13th century at least forward - people were paid for the post in armies of Edwards I and III at least. They are infantry 'officer' ranks, although a vintenier or disenier would more appropriately be NCO's. Disenier as a title existed in Burgundy, as a commander of 10 lances, up until 1473, but it is the only cavalry application of the term I am aware of.

As a postscript, what on earth do you mean by "myth of cavalry"?

chef de chambre wrote:Jester,

Vintenier and Centenier certainly weren't mythical positions, and they certainly weren't cavalry titles. They were units of orginization used in England by shire commissions of array, and from the 13th century at least forward - people were paid for the post in armies of Edwards I and III at least. They are infantry 'officer' ranks, although a vintenier or disenier would more appropriately be NCO's. Disenier as a title existed in Burgundy, as a commander of 10 lances, up until 1473, but it is the only cavalry application of the term I am aware of.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But the relative scarcity of references, when compared to the cavalry related terms: constable, marshal, corporal, sergeant, etc... led me to the erroneous conclusion that someone reading Vegetius, for example, was trying to set up a Roman style organization. It was only when I realized that the terms applied to infantry positions that I began to understand why I saw so few references. I.E. In my foolishness I was looking for a unified command/rank structure and trying to fit a vintenier, for example, in the cavalry structure I knew. It was only after I realized that the infantry and cavalry were organized seperately (and that the cavalry got all the period press) that I started to understand a little.

I agree with your characterization of the positions as being equivalent to modern day NCO positions, by the way.

Thanks,

That will save me the hours I was going to spend looking up and scribing all those military structures (units/officers) for you.

jester wrote:The Eastern Roman Empire is well documented, so I leave that alone. I've got several copies of some of those sources as well as the beginnings of a paper examining their organization and tactics (really broad material, not particularly scholarly). My focus is on Western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD for the rule of thumb date) and the Renaissance. Thank you for pointing out my lack of clarity on that point.

I also dip into earlier and later times to look for information related to this.

Especially once southern and eastern europe are taken out of it. That's a LOT less work.

chef de chambre wrote:As a postscript, what on earth do you mean by "myth of cavalry"?

To avoid thread derailment I replied to your questions here:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... 132#726132

Jester, I believe you're correct about the Commissioners of Array being called such. Thanks for the catch!

I am reading The Organization of War Under Edward III, and one of the important offices in the "army" is the "Receiver." These are the people who are charged with obtaining the goods, the taxes, from the Shires which builds the sinews of war.

The Vintener and Centenar are interesting titles and their existence implies much, because we have records of men of cote (esquires and knights) leading groups of men at arms and archers of less than twenty, and yet they are noble. But do they "outrank" a centenar or a vintenar? Of course, socially, because the centenars and vintenars are themselves non-noble, veterans perhaps or trusty men who can be relied on to apply the whip to the rank and file. This begs the question...what kinds of men were given the title and office of centenar and vintener? Were even some nobles or gentry assigned these titles?

This discussion can only yield good fruit, because we find in it the warp and weave of the medieval military tapestry. From this understanding we can better appreciate the many differing roles existing in the military bodies of different places and times.

John
Jehan de Pelham, esquire and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org