Bedding on campaign for the common soldier

Red Simon · Post by **Red Simon** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:02 am

A question on the day-to-day toils of the medieval soldier, specifically a mercenary in France in 1363. How common would it have been for him to have a straw mattress to sleep on? Or more generally, what kind of personal baggage would he have been able to bring along? Would he have access to a baggage train to store kit while on the march? Would he have to have carried everything himself? I am having trouble finding sources, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Marc.

Templar Bob/De Tyre · Post by **Templar Bob/De Tyre** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:08 am

The most common article would likely be either a cloak or a blanket--particularly for infantry.

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:40 am

For an average soldier? wrap yourself in your cloak or blanket, and snuggle next to the fire.Knights and officers brought along portable beds in their carts - those that had carts, and ranged from having straw tickings to 'fodder beddes'. No cart, no bed, although possibly a ticking to fill with straw.

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Bob R.

Red Simon · Post by **Red Simon** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 7:23 am

For the last couple of events, I've been sleeping on my gambeson with a wool blanket and cloak to wrap myself in when it gets cold. Works for me, though comfortable it ain't.

So when on the march, would a soldier be carrying all his armour, weapons, assorted gear and a blanket, at most? Would he have, for instance, regular clothes to walk around in or spend all day in his gambeson? I'm trying to put together a suitable 'marching kit' for my interpretation, so weight is obviously an issue...

Marc.

Steve S. · Post by **Steve S.** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:38 am

I have made a linen bedroll that can be stuffed with straw, when available:

You can just see the edge of it at the upper-right of this picture:

http://www.novae-militiae.com/Events/MTA2001/nm_tent2.JPG

It's mostly under my blanket.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Red Simon · Post by **Red Simon** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 2:27 am

Looks good Steve! Nice and comfortable, too.

Another question: have any of you found any sources pertaining to these sorts of things? Camplife for the common soldier, I mean? Any titles you can recommend or articles I should look at?

Thanks,

Marc.

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:19 pm

That strikes me as eminently practical.

Jehan

Bob H · Post by **Bob H** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 6:16 am

We may be looking for something that did not exist, or at least, was not used as we think.

I've found some late 17th - early 18thC bedding arrangements; there are references to both the French and English using a "paillase" for the men's beds. There's some often heated debate whether the French knapsack was of a size to be used as a sleeping bag, and there's at least one contemporary drawing showing it used as such.

In our modern minds, the way to confine the mess of straw is to put it in a bag. That may not be the medieval mindset - they may have put themselves in a bag, and slept on loose straw. This method is easier, I think, as straw in a bag tends to lump up and pack itself into the ends and corners, requiring some effort to beat it back loose and into a suitable distribution; whereas, loose straw can be quickly pushed back into a soft pile with little effort. Also, I think the concept of each man having his own bed and personal "space" is a modern idea, and it is likely that medieval field camp arrangements would have men being packed into tents like sardines in a can.

Is the bag to contain the straw, or to keep the mess off the sleeper and his clothing?

adamstjohn · Post by **adamstjohn** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 6:21 am

I know some Viking reanactors who show up at events in their gear, ask for tent space and then sleep on their armour. AND they look good in the morning.

Hard b*astards.

Adam L
/aethstan /sca drachenwald

Glen K · Post by **Glen K** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 12:54 pm

Bob, et. al.

I know the Templar rule refers to each brother as having (and I'm paraphrasing) a blanket of wool, a bolster, and a bag to put straw in.

Now, the list for bedding was included in the part of the rule referring to conventual life. Who's to say if they took the same bedding with them on campaign? It does seem to indicate a cloth bag stuffed with straw as a mattress was used in period. I'll get the actual quote posted when I get home this evening...

Reinhard · Post by **Reinhard** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 5:24 pm

I think you could probably add to the methods above about a litre of local wine before retiring, experiments undertaken by my dedicated self show that it is possible to sleep on almost any surface with the correct amount of alcoholic preperation.
Unfortunately, this could possibly account for a large amount of those astronomical campaign 'fever' deaths we read about.

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"Pas d' argent, pas de Suisses"

Steve S. · Post by **Steve S.** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 5:38 pm

Yes, what Glen said:

From the Templar Rule:

http://www.templarhistory.com/ruleorder.html
"On Bed Linen
21. We command by common consent that each man shall have clothes and bed linen according to the discretion of the Master. It is our intention that apart from a mattress, one bolster and one blanket should be sufficient for each; and he who lacks one of these may have a rug, and he may use a linen blanket at all times, that is to say with a soft pile. And they will at all times sleep dressed in shirt and breeches and shoes and belts, and where they sleep shall be lit until morning."

As Glen points out, it is not certain whether this applied on the road as well as at home, but since the rule says a brother can have a matress, I have, by speculation, made one out of linen. It's basically a bag that can be stuffed with straw, and the end tied shut.

I have found it to be very comfortable to sleep on, and have not had any problems with it yet.

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

Egfroth · Post by **Egfroth** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 5:53 pm

And they will at all times sleep dressed in shirt and breeches and shoes and belts, and where they sleep shall be lit until morning."

This last bit was to keep them always ready for combat, but also prevent sin which (and I paraphrase) "brothers can commit together in private"

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Egfroth

"I hope all your chooks turn to Emus and kick your dunny down."

see my webpage at www.geocities.com/egfrothos

Glen K · Post by **Glen K** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 8:55 pm

In the heirarchical statues (which is the specific one I was thinking of), there is a reference directly to stuffing mattresses:

139: "...three pieces of bed linen: that is to say a bag in which to put straw, a sheet and a light blanket or whatever the Draper wishes to give him..." J.M. Upton-Ward, The Rule of the Templars, p 54.

This is from the section detailing ALL the possesions a knight brother was to have, including weapons, clothing, etc. I would argue they did indeed take these matresses on campaign with them, as this was the only bedding they were allowed. The same passage goes on to talk about bags used for carrying other things, such as clothing and the hauberk.

Regardless, they stuffed their cloth bag with straw.

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 10:15 pm

Regarding the rug.

I of late have discovered and purchased an item called a "Flokati Rug," a long-yarn wool rug made in Greece, which has been made for many centuries. Such an item is very warm and would provide a rather nice bit of warmth.

Is there any indication that this might be an item that would be brought back from travels to the Mediterranean? Or imitated from memory?

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Jehan de Pelham

Brotherhood of the Gauntlet
"Ultima Ratio Regem"
http://www.brotherhoodofthegauntlet.org/index.html

Egfroth · Post by **Egfroth** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 11:58 pm

Well, the Byzantines could well have used them.

I've slept on a palliasse (or pallet) for quite a few years (not altogether, you understand!) while camping, and though it's not as comfy as an inflatable mattress, it doesn't go flat overnight, either.

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Egfroth

"I hope all your chooks turn to Emus and kick your dunny down."

see my webpage at www.geocities.com/egfrothos

Marshal · Post by **Marshal** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 6:36 pm

I use a flokati as a bed covering in the wintertime to this day, have done for many years. It's warm, but also bulky and quite heavy. Not something I'd want to hump along on a campaign, unless there were carts provided...

I made a "discovery" a long time ago, while in the Army. My issue air mattress split a seam while we were in the field on an FTX, rendering it useless. So instead I tore up armfuls of long grass and weeds and piled them into a cushion, over which I laid my sleeping bag. Within the hour the vegetation was composting nicely and giving off a surprising amount of heat, as well as making for welcome padding. I barely needed the sleeping bag, in fact. Admittedly, this was a cold, wet November in Louisiana, not December in Germany, but still---a possible solution...

montecristo · Post by **montecristo** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 2:05 am

Marshal,
thats really neat! and truly deserves more testing. For you brave souls who would try it mind the following:
In order to assure proper composting of your "bedpile" it must be made up mostly by fresh green leaves or grass [to assure a proper mix of nitrogen and carbon] and the pile must be moist and well ventilated.
Dry leaves, Straw, sawdust, small branches wont compost well [they lack nitrogen]. And if the pile is dry or too wet (drenched as opposed to moist as Marshal putted it) it also wont compost.
If its made of greenery and is moist but doesnt start giving heat, ruffle, shuffle or turn it over a bit to get air into it. I imagine it would help to place it on level ground, and not on a small hole to help air get to it.

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'Brevity is the soul of wit'

jester · Post by **jester** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 1:51 pm

Post-1600 references speak of soldiers building huts (probably lean-to style affairs) to sleep in (and complain about people peeing right at the entrance) while lazy soldiers prefer to freeze under hedges. There are pictures and references, from pre-1600 showing/describing a similar affair, but these are during sieges. Interestingly, some of the illustrations seem to show the huts constructed using pole-arms as the vertical support members.

Albanian Stradiots (light cavalry) hobbled and staked their horses, spread a large blanket that reached to the ground over the back of the horse (when folded it became a saddle blanket) and slept beneath the horse in an impromptu 'tent'. Smelly and potentially wet but warm. No references, but a wagon might also provide similar cover.

Rohan · Post by **Rohan** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 12:00 am

I am not sure where I read it but I remember reading that soldiers even up to Napoleonic wars were often expected to rough it. They were not issued tents. Does anyone have any thoughts/sources on this in regards to medieval period? Personally I think it would be pretty common for soldiers to sleep without a tent, perhaps another reason for not campaigning in winter?

Michael B · Post by **Michael B** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 2:38 am

Re: Flokaris (or "Fekari Rugs" as some of us in Australia call them, in honour of an old comedy sketch featuring two dodgy carpet salesmen) ... For what it's worth, a previous authenticity officer from Regia Anglorum (Roland Williamson) recommended them to me ... There are apparently Viking finds of and references to a material used for cloaks made of wool with loose long strands woven through in a similar manner to the Fek - I mean, flokaris. In their common form, however, they strike me as a little heavy for a practical cloak.

Egfroth · Post by **Egfroth** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 2:58 am

The Strategikon of Emperor Maurice (I think - or maybe it was Leo's Tactica) recommended that the practice of officers bringing their tents with them on campaign be discouraged, as making the baggage train too unwieldy.

This would seem to indicate that tents were not supplied to the troops, though there is an episode in the story of Harald Hardrada where as part of the Byzantine army invading Crete, he tricks the General into allowing Harald to pitch his tents on dry ground while the rest of the army has to pitch theirs in a swamp. I believe this is from the Harald Saga.

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Egfroth

"I hope all your chooks turn to Emus and kick your dunny down."

see my webpage at www.geocities.com/egfrothos

guthrothr · Post by **guthrothr** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 4:37 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Michael B:
Re: Flokaris: For what it's worth, a previous authenticity officer from Regia Anglorum (Roland Williamson) recommended them to me ... There are apparently Viking finds of and references to a material used for cloaks made of wool with loose long strands woven through in a similar manner.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi

Iceland make a considerable fortune exporting a style of woollen cloth that was woven with small loops of carded but unspun fleece incorperated in loops into the body of the material. This stuff was deliberatly designed to mimic lambskin, but without the weight, smell, and shedding problem. It was
exported all around Europe, and was used as trimmings, cloaks, and coats (for example, a coat found at Hedderby was edged with this material).

A very well-known and well-used type of cloth, which both I think Egil and also Grettir do well out of trading in in the sagas (I can't be bothered to go check, but I think that it's them...) This stuff has been found surviving as trimming and cloak lining, skin has not - implying that people
used the cloth alternative, rather than the skin itself... indeed, the fact that people went to the trouble of producing a cloth alternative does rather suggest in itself that they didn't use actual sheepskin and
lambskin.

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GuÃ°roÃ° of Colanhomm

Literature stops in 1100.
After that it's just books.
J.R.R. Tolkien

Red Simon · Post by **Red Simon** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 4:40 am

In what little research I have done of tentage for my period (14th century), I have only come across pictoral evidence of pavilion tents and a small number of pictures of these 'thatched' huts used by those without tents. So a tent for a common soldier/mercenary/non-noble would have been unlikely.

It's looking more and more like the common troops had to carry what they wanted to bring along, as even the officers were apparently 'rationed' in regards to their baggage train space. Taking all the weaponry and armour into account, this leaves little in the ways of luxury items. Still, a straw mattress can double as an armour bag, I suppose.

Marc.

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 10:15 am

For what it's worth, old Samkin Aylward from The White Company has as one of his treasured bits of booty from France a featherbed. I'm sure that sleeping arrangements were treasured by the common soldier--it doesn't strike me as unlikely that a soldier would bring a cloth bag to shove some leaves in or something.

But don't anyone get the impression that I'm using The White Company as research material. : )

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Jehan de Pelham

Brotherhood of the Gauntlet
"Ultima Ratio Regem"
http://www.brotherhoodofthegauntlet.org/index.html

Buran · Post by **Buran** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 10:36 am

Hi all,

At a recent event, I tried sleeping in my cloak next to the fire. I slept on a sheepskin. I did pretty well until someone woke me up to tell me I had dew collecting outside my cloak. I wouldn't have known.

I think straw was commonly available when horses were around, they wouldn't miss a couple handfuls...

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Baldurstrand - Regia Anglorum in California

Free Companions - live-action roleplaying in the Hyborian Age

Bertus Brokamp · Post by **Bertus Brokamp** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 6:45 pm

Put some leaves in a bag to sleep on...
Straw for horses that wouldn't be missed...

Is everybody forgetting the scale of things? If an army is on the march, and you are camping down every night with at least a few hundred buddies of yours, how then would you come by stuffing for the sleeping bag? I can not imagine leaves and straw and equivalents being locally that ubiquitous to serve a whole army. Next to that it would take precious time every evening and morning to stuff and unload the sleeping bags, especially the stuffing.
If I were a simple soldier I'd rather tow around some tightwoven cloth & sticks to fabricate a sleeping shelter from instead of a sleeping bag. A gambeson sleeps pretty good and I'd rather sleep out of the rain (and keep my armour free of rust!) rather than on a stuffed matrass any day.

Marshal · Post by **Marshal** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:29 pm

It'd depend on the area, to be sure. But a few fields of long grass can provide enough hay to winter a herd of livestock. It's an awful lot of grass...

Then too, a lot of the needed material was probably "acquired" by foragers looting the countryside and its residents. Bedding for the troops tonight, fodder for the horses in the morning...

Jehan de Pelham · Post by **Jehan de Pelham** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:50 pm

Sure Herman, you could go the Conan the Barbarian route with the stout blanket and stick. Finding some good turves to sleep on with that might not be too bad.

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Jehan de Pelham

Brotherhood of the Gauntlet
"Ultima Ratio Regem"
http://www.brotherhoodofthegauntlet.org/index.html

chef de chambre · Post by **chef de chambre** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:50 pm

...As a genral rule, horses get taken care of before men - not to mention the beef on the hoof being driven along the army was dependant on for fresh meat.

I think too much is being given to the common soldier, considering billeting in farms and barns, nevermind towns was the common practise in Northern Europe. An army was a plauge of locusts to whatever locality it lit on, and garrison twns like Maastricht, for instance, are full of legal complaints leveled against soldiers for their ruining of private property, as well as extorting food and wine they weren't entitled to by the unfortunate families housing them.

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Bob R.

Trull · Post by **Trull** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 1:11 am

I do american civil war re-enactment, and a lot of guys sleep "campaign style" meaning that they sleep how they believe soldiers in the the war slept when actively marching.

The whole premise of sleeping campaign style is to keep your gear as light as possibble. If I were to put together a marching kit for, say, the 14th century (the other period I'm interested in re-enacting) These are things that I wouldn't leave without on a march:

1. a large, thick wool blanket (preferably undyed, to keep the lanolin in it and keep it water repellent.)

2. A piece of hemp canvas large enough to use as a ground cloth. It should help keep a little more heat on your side of the ground.

3. A large canvas shoulder bag for holding whatever food you can "forage" from the nearby village.

4. "other useful stuff" A whetstone, knife for eating, perhaps a wooden bowl, firesteel and dry tinder, and handkercheif or napkin of some sort.

From what I've read, most armies in the middle ages didn't have extensive wagontrains for baggage, but they did have one for beer and some sort of other preserved foodstuff. Salted meat, dried fish, that sort of thing. The rest of a soldiers diet was probably looted from the surrounding countryside, friendly or enemy.

Trull

Agincourt · Post by **Agincourt** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:46 pm

I have been weighing this subject in my head, wanting to bed down and camp as Period as possible.

That said I was an infantryman in the US Army for 8 years, and certain aspects of infantry craft have remained much the same since the hoplites headed out on the march.

Here are a few observations.

In Kosovo, we would pitch camp as a last resort. Comandeering shelter was a much quicker and easier way to spend the night. This looks fairly common to all armies.

Continental Europe is a rainy rainy place, you have to expect your are getting rained on. Considering Fever and Pneumonia were pretty sure killers, and that your armor/weapons cost a fortune, keeping the rain off would be a premium.

Thatched Lean-to's, especially in Pine tree country, can be constructed by just about anyone in less then 15 minutes. Pine boughs are Gods gift to the man stuck outside, They make a good bed, they keep out water, they are great.

A bedroll consisting of a blanket, some rope, and a canvas tarp could weigh less then 10 pounds, not much of an investment considering.

The best available source of warmth on the march is your foxhole buddy. Sleeping in a pile of other guys is way warmer then trying to get the warmth off of a fire. It works for sheep, it works for dogs, it works for people.

Those are just some thoughts from someone who has spent alot of time outdoors in the rain. I doubt there is much information out there on the subject. The sleeping arangements of the common soldier not being terribly interesting to the medieval mind.

Red Simon · Post by **Red Simon** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 4:17 am

Going by several facts (such as almost no imagery of smaller tents in pictures of medieval camps - all pavilions) and the advice given on here, I think I'll explore the idea of a simple, light bedroll. I've also heard of a couple of vikings who would march to an event, then use their spears, some rope and their large wool cloaks to make a rough 'n ready tent. I also heard they were quite comfortable (and dry!), so that sounds attractive enough to give a try.

Thanks to everyone that replied, I dare say you've helped me along on the road to authenticity.

Marc.