The Unknown Warrior (16 page)

Mail was an effective form of protection: ‘Experiments undertaken by the Royal Armouries have shown that when chain armour is outfitted on a free-flowing dummy, effectively mimicking the human body in motion, as it would be in a military engagement, it is almost impossible to penetrate using any conventional weapon. Sword slashes are deflected, with spear, sword, and arrow thrusts effectively stopped by the ring defences. Even bodkin arrows are unable to penetrate the chain armour in these experiments. When layers of leather, felt, or even cloth undergarments are added to chain armour, the protection is even better' (de Vries, 2003: 25).

Elements of mail have been found by Professor Barry Cunliffe's excavations at Portchester Castle. Here a strip of mail that is now corroded into a solid piece of iron oxide was retrieved. Hinton postulated that this was either a piece that had been used to form the collar of the padded body protection, known as a ‘brigandine', or a cut from a mail shirt that had been altered to provide a better fit for its wearer (Russell Robinson, 1977: 195).

Among the plate armour excavated from the burial pits at Visby, the excavators believed that they could identify some six types of lamellar coats, with iron plates attached to the inside of a padded coat. In the majority of these coats, the rectangular plates were attached vertically. Such coats were closed at the back or sides with buckles, many of which were also recovered. The men did not have arm protection, although some had a protective skirt to cover the upper thigh and groin (Thordeman, 2001: 210–20). Plate protection for the shoulders, hands, elbows, armpits and knees was also discovered, and two groups of iron strips with rivet heads were recovered from Grave 2. It seems probable that the latter grouping of overlapping plates would have constituted armoured foot protection (
ibid.
: 112–16).

All this armour was worn on the same day even though its form differed considerably; not one coat was the same. This could illustrate the ad hoc nature of the force defending the Gotland town, which used any armour available, including heirlooms. It was the excavators' opinion that the lamellar plate armour was worn by Gotlanders (
ibid.
: 227) as the armour, although of different construction periods, was quite similar and the islanders would have had the resources to have funded its manufacture. Despite being a town force of irregulars, the infantry of Gotland was far from a standard ‘peasant' force. Brigandines – the padded woven coats into which iron plates were sewn – were also seemingly in use at Portchester Castle in southern England in the fifteenth century where several fragments have been excavated (
ibid
., 1977: 194–6).

It should not be assumed that everybody at Visby was protected by armour – only 25 lamellar coats and two mail coats were found. Even allowing for the stripping of the dead, it is more than likely that some went into battle with very little protection, perhaps only leather or padded clothing. We have seen that the absence of head protection at Towton might explain the quantity of head wounds. The authors in the report on the skeletons found on the site of the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota, Portugal, also concluded that the large numbers of cuts on the crania of the deceased indicated that these soldiers here had not been provided with strong head protection (Cunha and Silva, 1997: 598).

One further find illustrates a form of protection used by Medieval infantrymen, in this case by the archer. Many bowmen would have worn wristguards to prevent the bowstring damaging their arm. A leather bracer from the Wars of the Roses period has recently been recovered by excavation work. It bears the inscription
Armilla
and was found in the bilges of the Newport Ship, laid up on the banks of the Usk at Newport, south Wales,
c.
1467 (Strickland and Hardy, 2005: 380).

By finding the protection itself, and through an examination of body wounds, the archaeologist can build up a picture of the armour used in battle – of the functional pieces rather than display items discarded in combat. This information is not obtainable from documents, such as military manuals, which proclaim the optimum kit, not what is available or practical to the soldier in action.

PRACTICE AND DISCIPLINE

Practice was vital for the Medieval archer if he was to be capable of delivering the lethal rain of arrows that would win battles such as Agincourt. The long-term effect of such practice could leave traces on the skeletons of those for whom archery was a way of life. The maxillary incisors of the individual known as ‘Towton 8', from the Wars of the Roses battle burial pit, display grooves consistent with frequent bow stringing (Holst and Coughlan, 2000: 79). Dr Chris Knüsel's examination of the infantrymen from this site has also revealed interesting physical traits. In many cases, the constant archery practice has resulted in skeletal stress – the left arm (that is to say the bow arm of the right-handed archer) can display hypertrophy of the left elbow, while the right arm (the draw arm of the right-handed archer) can display hypertrophy of the shoulder.

THE LIFE OF THE SOLDIER

The life of the Medieval infantryman was far from easy. A vast number of those on campaign with the English army in 1415 contracted dysentery, greatly reducing the ranks that faced the French at Agincourt (Hibbert, 1998: 73).

The Wars of the Roses soldier also suffered a hard physical life if the pathology of the Towton burials is anything to go by. In addition to conditions such as minor spina bifida occulta, several of the warriors suffered spondylitis which might have led to back pain. Schmorl's nodes were also present on the bones, indicating a physical lifestyle (Coughlan and Holst, 2000).

Eating

Analysis of skeletal material also hints at some of the dietary traits of the Medieval soldier. Iron deficiencies were detected in bone samples from the infantrymen in the mass grave at Towton (Boylston
et al.
, 2000: 62–3). Looking at their teeth, wear was not extensive and there was very little gradation in the younger individuals, which would ‘suggest that the diet was neither fibrous nor adulterated by particulate matter such as sand or ash' (
ibid.
: 50).

There are a series of animal bones in the grave pits at Visby, which, although probably residual and not connected to the peasant army, might just hint at food provisions carried by troops on their way to battle, including the femur and humerus of a cow, and lower maxillae of a goat (Ingelmark, 2001: 197).

Excavations of the field of the Wars of the Roses Battle of Barnet (1471) revealed part of a ‘tiny, flattened, copper-alloy band … possibly the reinforcement around the handle of an eating knife, the part that stops the blade shaft splitting the handle into which it has been inserted' (Pollard and Oliver, 2002: 113). This may have been a fragment of the standard kit of the Medieval infantryman, for eating on campaign.

Fragments of copper alloy cooking pots or cauldrons, which appeared to be of fifteenth-century date, and thus possibly connected to the battle, were found on the field of Towton. They could have been part of the logistical back-up of one of the two armies (Sutherland, 2000b: 160).

Within castles, excavations provide evidence for some of the food consumed, although it must be said that it is next to impossible to prove that this was eaten by the footsoldier rather than by anyone else inside the fortification. Cunliffe's work at Portchester Castle seems to indicate that, although cattle bones were present, these animals had greater use for traction than for consumption. The analysis of the bones also suggested that pigs were slaughtered for food within the second to third year of their lives (Cunliffe, 1977: 231).

Gaming

As with soldiers down the ages, the Medieval warrior would have gambled and played games in his free time while on campaign or while performing garrison duty. A bone gaming counter with ring-and-dot motif, for example, was recovered from twelfth- to thirteenth-century layers within Portchester Castle (
ibid.
: 83).

Accommodation

On campaign, the Medieval soldier would be lucky to sleep under cover – if he slept in a tent, as with the Roman period, the chances of archaeological evidence having survived are minimal; if he slept under the stars, the chances are nil.

Much work has been undertaken on the main place of static residence of troops of this period: the castle. These are found throughout the British Isles, in mainland Europe and, with European influences, as far away as Syria and Jordan where crusader castles were built. Their study has fascinated archaeologists and soldiers for centuries with some, such as T.E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia'), falling into both camps. A study of castles would be far too large for the scope of this book.

Religion

Within the context of the Medieval period, religion was of great importance to the soldiers who fought. It was the main motivation for many who took part in the crusades. It was, of course, possible for both sides in war to invoke God with the victors deeming their cause had been approved. Agincourt is a case in point (Hibbert, 1998: 95–6). This was the period of Joan of Arc – burned, lest we should forget, as a witch in 1431. Memorial effigies of knights in their battle armour are found in many European churches of the Medieval period, but the common soldier is rarely commemorated.

In terms of traces of religion on battlefields, crucifixes and suchlike would be the best evidence for personal devotion. Archaeological excavations on battlefields have revealed traces of churches. At Shrewsbury, Pollard and Oliver discovered the remains of the Medieval chapel that stood by the 1403 battlefield, ‘Now represented by nothing more than a few stones, these walls must have echoed to more than a few prayers both before and after the battle' (Pollard and Oliver, 2002: 72).

In one further quasi-religious link, several stories emerged from 1915 about the miraculous halting of the German armies at Mons in Belgium. Despite being almost overrun, Allied forces had held up the German advances and with it ended the chances of the Schlieffen plan's success. These stories claimed that the ghosts of soldiers from Agincourt and Crécy had appeared in the sky, showering the German troops with arrows and thus saving the beleaguered British in an act of God. Although fictitious, the story of the so-called Angels of Mons has endured.

Medicine

It is a common belief that Medieval soldiers had no recourse to medical treatment and that if a wound was serious, the soldier would have had a low level of life expectancy. A series of excavated results point instead to extensive treatment for troops and that, on occasion, medical practitioners were successful. Excavations at Lewes, Sussex, for example, took place on the site of a cemetery for inmates of the hospital. A number of the burials displayed weapon injuries, while one had lost a hand in a previous incident, an injury that had healed before death (Brown, 2003: 57).

Several of the soldiers whose remains were found at Towton displayed successful wound healing, in some cases of severe injuries. Nine individuals had well-healed head wounds – probably from previous engagements – with sixteen separate wounds; seven of sharp force, and nine blunt force wounds. ‘Towton 16' had suffered a major blade wound to his jaw, which had sliced out an element of bone, fractured the jaw and which would have left the individual severely scarred. Yet there was no evidence for infection and he lived (Novak, 2000a: 95). As we shall see below, ‘Towton 41' was another veteran with well-healed wounds. These are some early indicators that medical treatment of the age might not have been as inept as traditionally portrayed.

As with Towton, some of the men at Visby had survived previous attacks – perhaps helped by medical treatment; one cranium had a healed cut injury to the frontal bone of the skull (Ingelmark, 2001: 196). The site of the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota, Portugal, also featured the remains of soldiers who had survived earlier wounds with well-healed lesions of various kinds (Cunha and Silva, 1997: 598).

At the Fishergate cemetery, York, a number of the burials appear to relate to the Battle of Fulford in 1066. Seventeen burials connected to the twelfth to fourteenth centuries also displayed weapon injuries – and these to individual events. In addition to the possibility that this was the final resting place of men killed during ‘trial by combat' (see page 96), there is the possibility that Fishergate, as at Gilbertine Priory, may have acted as a specialist hospital with people who had suffered severe weapon trauma being brought here for treatment. That there were a number of men who had died from these wounds in the cemetery may suggest that cases with very little hope were also attended. ‘Evidence was discovered of an experimental technique undertaken at the priory, for skeleton number 10266 had two copper-alloy plates attached to an injured knee' (Daniell, 2001: 225).

Archaeological work at the site of another hospital connected to a religious house, the twelfth- to seventeenth-century Augustinian Soutra hospital, near Edinburgh, also appears to have yielded results that point to extensive use of medicinal plants to ease the wounds of Medieval soldiers (Moffat, 1992). Dr Brian Moffat's examinations of the hospital drains for medical waste from operations produced bone evidence for amputations, such as an amputated heel (Moffat, 1995: fig. 5a), and soil with a high concentration of ancient blood trace, thankfully mixed with quicklime to act as a deodorant. The archaeobotanical evidence recovered seems to indicate that ‘battle-scarred soldiers facing amputation were anesthetised with a cocktail of black henbane, opium and hemlock – several hundred years before the age of anesthetics [
sic
] is understood to have begun with the discovery of ether and chloroform in the 1830s' (Laurance, 1997). This site was one at which Edward I stayed in 1303 (Moffat, 1988a: 85).

In addition to the discovery of the medicinal plants that would have been used for anaesthetics, remains of fruit fragments of box and several fragments of burnt boxwood were excavated. This plant, probably not native, was not only decorative – in the Medieval period its medicinal usage included the treatment of leprosy and venereal diseases (Moffat, 1992: 3–4). It could have been used for the treatment of the local populace at large, but it may give further hints of illnesses suffered by soldiers passing through.