pp.18 39.hastings legnano

8/13/2019 Pp.18 39.Hastings Legnano

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BATTLES OF THE MEDIEVAL WOR.LD

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WHY DID IT HAPPENWHO A Norman army under

William the Conqueror (1028-87)invaded England and fought abattle against an Anglo-Saxon forceled by King Harold II Godwinson(c. 1022-66).

WHAT The battle was fought largelybetween Norman cavalry whocharged several times up a hill intoa shield wall formed by AngloSaxon infantry.

WHERE At Senlac Hill, 11.2km7 miles) north of Hastings, now

called Battle.WHEN 14 October 1066.WHY William the Conqueror fought

the battle in an effort to press hisclaim to the throne of England.

OUTCOME In a lengthy battle,after numerous Norman cavalrycharges up Senlac Hill against theAnglo-Saxon shield wall, and twofeigned retreats, many of theAnglo-Saxon infantry broke fromtheir formation and ran down thehill into defeat.

A romantic portrayal o William the Conqueror froma nineteenth-century illustration. Born an illegitimateson o Duke Robert o Normandy, he bec me one o hegreatest military leaders in history, not only fightingo rebels in his own duchy, but lso conquering Maine,parts o EI ittany, and England.

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MEDIEVAL WARFARE HAD VERY FEW DECISIVE MILITARY ENGAGEMENBUT ONE CERTAINLY W S THE B TTLE OF HASTINGS, FOUGHT BETWDUKE WILLlAM THE CONQl)EROR S INVADING NORMAN TROOPS AKING HAROLD II GODWINSON S ANGLO-SAXON ARMY. THE BATWOULD LEAD TO A NEW ER IN ENGLlSH HISTORY.

I t would still take Duke William time tocomplete his conquest of the rest ofEngland; however, his victory gave himalmost decisive control over the country,especially as not only Harold Godwinson,but also his two brothers, Gyrth andLeofwine, were slain. Duke William ofNormandy s conquest of England in 1066was instigated by the political chaos of tlle

kingdom of the prevlOus 50 years. fending off more than two centurieViking invasions, in 1013 England fifell to the Danish king, Svein Forkbwho defeated and slew King EthelreEthelred s reign had never been securein order to preserve power in his kingin 1002 he married Emma, daughtDuke Richard I of Normandy. This


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had not worked, as Svein Forkbeard sconquest proved. Yet Emma s marriage toEthelred, and then to Svein s successor,Cnut, introduced Normandy in a significantway into the political future of England.

Cnut ruled England until 1035, but oncehe died a succession crisis beset thekingdom. Two of Cnut s sons claimed theEnglish throne: one, Harold I Harefoot,although an illegitimate son by Cnut smistress, JElfgifu, was in England at thetime of the death of his father and thusbecame king. The other claimant,Harthacnut, was Cnut s legitimate son, byEmma, but he was ruling Denmark.However, in 1039 or 1040, Harold died, andHarthacnut returned to England andascended the throne. However, his reignalso was short, and he died in 1042.EDWARD THE CONFESSORNeither of these kings had children, andwith Cnut s line ended, the throne passed toEthelred s remaining son, Edward theConfessor, who had been living in exile inNormandy. Edward s succession waswelcomed. He further shored up his rule bymarrying Edith, the only daughter ofGodwin, the most powerful earl in England,and appointing two of her brothers toearldoms. The second of these, Harold,would succeed his father as Earl of Wessexin 1053, serving for the remaining years ofEdward s reign as the chief counsellor tothe king. This was when William theConqueror appeared on the scene. He hadbecome Duke of Normandy in 1035, but hewas the illegitimate son of Duke Robert ofNormandy, who had died on pilgrimage tothe Holy Land. He was also young and wasmet immediately by rebellions among hisnobles, but these were put down ratherquickly, at first by barons loyal to Williamand later by the duke himself. William theConqueror began to gain militaryexperience and to develop expertise ingeneralship, especially when it came towaging cavalry warfare. By 1066, he hadwon not only Normandy, but also thecounty of Maine and parts of the counties ofBrittany and Ponthieu.

Before 1052, William had littleinteraction with England. During that year,while Earl Godwin and his family were in

ENGLISH HUSC RLc.l066)The huscarls were an oath wo rn bodyguardof he Anglo-Dan ish aristocracy , whichru led England prior to the NOrnulnConquest of 1066. Although men ofhighst tus who rode to battle, huscarlsdismounted to figh t i n the traditionalScandinavian manner. He wieldsa long-handled axe whichcould decapitate a horse at ablow, as the Bayeux Tapestrydepicts. He has slung his ki teshaped shield, popular with bothinfantry and cavalry ofhis era, onhis back to allow him a daublehanded grip for extra weight in theblow. Axemen such as these were usuallypaired with a spearnuln, who alsowielded a shield to cover both of hem,so making a dangerous offensive anddefensive team. Archaeologicalinvestigation in the JUver Thamesproduced several examples of uchaxes, probably connected with theDanish siege ofLondon in 1012.They are known as bearded axesbecause they are asymmetric, with thelower cutting edge being much longer,reminding observers of he long beardswhich the Vikings wore.

exile, he visited the island. It is this visitthat most historians link to the promiseof his inheritance of the throne,although when the Godwin familyreturned shortly thereafter - anddespite Godwin s death thefollowing year - it was Harold, not theDuke of Normandy, who became theobvious heir to Edward the Confessor sthrone. But sometime in 1063-64 Harold ispurported to have visited Normandy, eitherbeing driven off course while at sea or for adiplomatic meeting with William. Mostimportantly, Norman sources claim thatwhile in Normandy Harold swore hisallegiance to the Norman duke and hiswillingness to aid him in acquiring theEnglish throne after Edward died.CONTESTED SUCCESSIONHowever, even if this made William tllerightful heir to the throne of England, onhis deathbed, on 5 January 1066, Edwardthe Confessor recognized HaroldGodwinson as the new King of England.

However, three claimants to the Englishcrown disputed Harold s coronation. Svein

HASTINGS

LOCATIONStamford Bridge/ \ EN GLAND

n o nH astings

Landing on England s southern coast near Hastings,William quickly built five motte-and-bailey castlesestablishing a foothold. Harold s march to counter thisincursion met the invader at Senlac Hill.

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B TTLES O THE MEDIEV L WORLD

William the Conqueror s campaign to gain the Englishthrone is depicted here in the Bayeux Tapestry. In thetop sequence after being shipwrecked in France, thechiefEnglish earl, Harold Godwinson, is rescued froma Breton lord by Willi am and his Norman cavalry. Inthe second panel, a grateful Harold promises to supportWilliam s claim by making an oath on two relics. Hethen returns by Norman ship to England. nd in thethird panel an ailing King Edward the Confessor dies.He is carried for burial to Westminster Abbey,whereupon Harold Godwinson, breaking his oath tothe Duke of Normandy, takes the English throne andthereby provokes William s conquest.

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Estrithson, King of Denmark, whose claimw s based on his kinship to Cnut, decidednot to do anything about it. The other two,King Harald Hardrada of Norway andDuke William of Normandy, planned toimmediately invade England. HaraldHardrada s claim to the English throne w sweak and distant; mostly he believed thatEngland had been weakened by thesuccession of Harold Godwinson, a beliefseemingly confirmed by Harold s estrangedbrother, Tostig Godwinson, who had fled toNorway after being outlawed in 1065.Tostig was also willing to accompanyHarald s Norwegian army on their invasionof England.TH C MP IGNHarald Hardrada and William theConqueror were ready to launch theirinvasions by the summer of 1066. Harold

Godwinson certainly knew that the lwas planning an attack on his kingdommay also have thought that William wasgreater of the two threats, or he mayhave known of Harald Hardrada s planeven ofTostig s flight to him. Whatevereason, his army remained waitingWilliam s invasion along the southern cof England until 8 September.

However, because of poor weathethe English Channel, William had bunable to launch his invasion. HaHardrada was able to set sail, however,in September 1066 he went first toOrkney Islands and then to Scotland, wa few allied troops - although not majoined his army. Finally, the Norwegsailed along the northeastern coasEngland to the Humber River. OnSeptember, Harald landed his fleet inHumber at Ricall and marched tow


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York. In the way of his march, at FulfordGate outside York, were the armies of twoEnglish earls, the brothers Morkere ofNorthumbria and Edwin of Mercia. Yetthey proved no match for the much morenumerous and skilled Norwegians, whoquickly won the battle.

Harald Hardrada proceeded to York,where the town s leaders surrendered tohim, and then he marched to StamfordBridge, where he waited for the payment ofpromised tribute. His soldiers could relax inthe knowledge that there was no one else innorthern England to oppose him.

Or so they thought. It is not knownwhen Harold learned of the Norwegianinvasion nor when he began his army smarch north to counter the threat. t iscertain, however, that what he accomplishedwas an impressive feat - a swift march of hisarmy to Tadcaster and then on to York,306km (190 miles) north of London. It wasachieved at an incredible pace of 32-40km(20-25 miles) per day

Four days after Harald Hardrada landedat Ricall and no more than two days after hehad arrived at Stamford Bridge, on 24September, the English forces also arrivedat the Humber River, in Tadcaster, and thenext day they marched through York toStamford Bridge. Their early morningapproach completely surprised theNorwegians, some of whom were caughtacross the Derwent River away from theircamp and their armour. The Battle of

Stamford Bridge was over quickly, with theNorwegians decidedly defeated, althoughhow this was accomplished cannot bedetermined from contemporary sources.Both Harald Hardrada and TostigGodwinson were slain.

Two days after Stamford Bridge, whileHarold Godwinson and his men enjoyed

English shield wall mid-eleven th century. The troopsare mainly spearmen although some hold axes andswords. The formation depended upon the mutualsupport of he men within it for its strength.

The Norman conquest of England remained of nteresthroughout the Middle Ages as evidenced in thisillumination from a manuscript of miscellaneouschronicles painted between 128 and 13 and housedtoday in the British Library. Accuracy was clearly notan issue as it shows both sides on horseback andWillia m personally killing Harold.

THE OPPOSED FORCESNORMANS (estimated)

Cavalry:Infantry:Total

1-20005-60006 8000

ANGLO SAXONS (estimated)Huscarls: 1000Infantry: 5-6000Total 6 7000


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B TTLES OF THE MED I EV L WOR LD

5 arold attempts toregroup his infantry into anew shield wall. However heis hit in the eye with an arrownd slain. The remainingEnglish retreat from thebatdefield giW tg theNonnJmMrtory.

1 arold Godwinsonorders his troops intoa shield wall along thetop of Senlac HiU withhis heavier infantrypositioned in the middle.


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H STINGS1 66

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rll-Cll

BATTLES OF THE MEDIEVAL WOR LD

The Bayeux Tapestry, perhaps the most famous artisticdepiction of medieval warfare, shows William theConqueror s campaign to gain the English throne.This scene portrays the attack ofNorman cavalryagainst the Anglo-Saxon infantry shield wall at theBattle of Hastings. Note that while one or two cavalrylances are shown to be couched most are thrust downon the infantry, indicating that at this time there wasno single preferred position.

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their victory celebrations in York, Williamthe Conqueror got his favourable weatherand crossed the English Channel. His armylanded without opposition at Pevensey onthe south coast of England. Theyimmediately erected an earth-and-woodmotte-and-bailey castle, the first of fivesuch constructions that William built inEngland before the Battle of Hastings. Thecastles were intended to provide theNormans with permanent bases from whichthey could operate and reinforce, in the

event that the conquest of England turninto a lengthy campaign. Williampermanent positions would also have effect of drawing Harold towards him aprecipitating battle.ISPOSITIONS

King Harold Godwinson learned ofNorman landing only a few days latprobably on or around 1 October. The kretraced his route. Repeating the speedhis earlier march, he passed throuLondon and continued for anoth80-96km (50-60 miles) to Senlac HHere some 600-800m (656-731 yaralong the crest, or slightly below it, facisouth, he found terrain that he believed wfavourable for a stand against the invadNormans. He estimated, correctly, tWilliam wanted to fight a battle, and tthis would keep the Duke of Normanfrom avoiding his army, even if thoccupied the be tter position.

Technological improvements to the saddle, most notathe high cantle and pommel invented in the earlytwelfth century, increased the stability of a cavalrysoldier. A high cantle, sitting against the rider s backprevented him being thrown o v l ~ the horse s rump.equally high po mmel protected the rider s genitals alower stomach as well as preventing him being throover his hone s head.


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Harold lined up his troops using a we llknown tactic, the shield wa ll. His infantryand dismounted cavalry stood in a tightlypacked formation, their shields overlappingone another n what was in effect a fieldfortifi cation . I f they could hold theirposition, it was almost impossible to breakthrough this fo rmation. T he Anglo-

NORM N C V LRYuring the eleventh century Norman

horsemen dominated five milit ary theatres:England northern France southern ItalySicily and the Holy Land. Their bodyarmour called a hauberk by this time wasmail m de in one piece. Most hauberksreached to the knees and were divided downthe front and back by slits tha t allowedgreater freedom ofmovement and comfortto a horseman. Some leaders and othermore wealthy soldiers were also outfitted inmail leggings or chausses. Other defensiveequipment included the kite shield andhelmet. A long lance was the chiefweaponof he Norman horseman while a swordcould be used for close-combat situations.

Saxons were experienced warriors, many ofwhom had served with Haro ld in h isvictorious attacks on the Welsh in 1063 andall of whom had fought at the Ba ttl e ofStamford Bridge. In the centreof the shield wall fought theroyal huscarls Harolds mosttrusted and skilled troops,

H A I N

armoured in leng thy mail coats and abfight with all weapons but especially fefo r their use of the two handed battleOn the wings of the shield wa ll werefyrd, a well-trained and skilled militia, awith the spear and sword. T hey too, wwell arm ed and well armoured. A archers also fought with the English fo

although their numbers were likely smWhi le his army was not ent

composed of cavalry, they were certa


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King Harold Il Godwinson was the son of he powerfulEarl Godwin. Before ascending to the throne ofEngland, Harold had served King Edward theConfess01' as earl, first of East Anglia and then ofWessex, since 1044-45. His inheritance of he crownin January 1066 from the childless Edward wascontested by the Kings of Denmark and Norway andthe Duke of Normandy.

R OLDecolld Jrlloj't:oriwin./;'u7'1 f T v I 1 l ; / ~ ' 7 6.7.


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disciplined English footsoldiers, who couldnot be moved from their strong defensiveposition. William of Poitiers describes thescene thus: this was a strange kind of battle,one side with ll the mobility and initiative,and the other just resisting s though rootedto the soil.

t was also quite a long battle. Mostmedieval battles were decided in a veryshort time, no more than an hour or evenless. But not the Battle of Hastings. The

Norman cavalry delivered charge aftercharge. None broke the English infantryshield wall. Few were ki lled or wounded oneither side, with the horses stopping theirassaults on the infantry before actuallyclashing with them. However, at one time,well into the battle, a rumour passedthrough the Norman ranks that William theConqueror had fallen . In an era beforeheraldry, such a mistake was excusable, s allNorman horsemen looked alike, s

The death of King Harold as recQ1ded in the BayeuxTapestry. n this panel he is shot in the eye with anarrow. In the following panel he is shown cut down bya sword. Other contemporary sources confirm thesemethods of death. They also indicate that his body wasso mutilated following the battle that it could only beidentified by his mistl ess, Edith Swan s Neck.

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B TTLES OF THE MEDIEV L WORLD

Since the time of he Battle of Hastings, the battlefieldhas been secu. ed. On the c. est of Senlac Hill, nemo thesite of he Anglo-Sa xon shield wall and from wherethis photo was taken), William the Conqueror builtan abbey, in part as penance for his participation inthe battle.

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confirmed by the contemporary BayeuxTapestry. William is also shown in thetapestry to quash this rumour by lifting hishelmet and showing his face. His cavalryimmediately regrouped for another charge.FEIGNE RETRE TThat William was still fighting with themseemed to re-energize the Norman cavalry,enough at least to pull off one of the mostwidely used but difficult cavalry tactics: thefeigned retreat. Recorded in Vegetius e remilitari - the military manual read mostfrequently in the Middle Ages - the feigned

retreat demanded skill and disciplithose retreating had to look s thougwere genuinely fleeing the battlefielto wheel and charge again in formatiunity. Such a tactic could not be pertoo early in the battle, and rarely moonce - although at Hastings, the Noattempted two feigned retreats, accto eyewitness testimony. Should a fretreat work, however, usually by dthe opposing line into a celebratory pthe battle would be over quickly. Oother hand, should it not work, mhistory had shown that, demoraliz


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H A ) I I N L i )

..... r .. t ' )

their failure, those who had attempted thetactic might actually flee the field in earnest.

At Hastings, the second feigned retreatworked well. Some Anglo-Saxon troopswere able to remain in their lines, but manyothers broke and pursued the retreatingNormans, only to realize too late that thecavalry had turned around and returned tothe attack. Very few of the English troopswho had run down the hill after theNormans could escape the re-charginghorsemen and they were ridden down andslain. Among these were Harold s twobrothers, Gyrth and Leofwine, who hadserved as his lieutenants that day.The battle had changed so quickly thatHarold Godwinson could do little more thantry to regroup those soldiers who had notfallen for the Normans tactical trick. Heattempted to form them again into a shieldwall however, this group proved to be too

fatigued and disorganized to resist theNormans for long. They remained with theirking until he was killed, the Bayeux Tapestryand William of Poitiers recording that thiswas by an arrow that struck him in the eye.

FTERM THThe last Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Scandinavianarmy had been defeated, and it was a defeatfrom which the remaining military andgovernmental powers in England could notrecover. William still had to face someopposition n the kingdom, primarily in thenorth from Earls Edwin and Morkere, whohad been defeated at Fulford Gate and hadnot followed Harold Godwinson toHastings. But they were defeated quiteeasily. William the Bastard, Duke ofNormandy and Count of Maine, hadbecome William the Conqueror, King ofEngland, as well.

The Norman army as displayed in the BayeuxTapestry consists of cavalry and archers. OthercontempomlY sources indicate that the cavahy greatlyoutmmzbered the archers, but the latter s role in tbedeath of King Harold Godwinson no doubt accounts fortbeil exaggemted presence.

Tbe most fearsome military tactic of he Middle Ageswas perhaps the cavalry charge, as demonst1 ated hel eby N01 1nan bone. t a time wben success in battleoften depended more on foning one s enemies to flee tbebattlefield tha n on actually killing them, l esisting sucha cbarge depended on the discipline of much lower-classinfan try troops and tbe leadership of heir officers.

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B TTLES OF THE MEDlEV L WORLD

EGN NO76

WHY DID IT HAPPENWHO A small German cavalry anny,

numbering no more than 2500, ledby the Holy Roman EmperorFrederick Barbarossa (c.1123-90),was defeated by an equally smallnorthern Italian army.

WHAT While Frederick Barbarossa scavalry easily chased off theirnorthern Italian counterparts, theMilanese, Veronese and Brescianinfantry stood solidly against theGennans , allowing their owncavalry to regroup and defeatBarbarossa s army.

WHERE Legnano in northern Italy.WHEN 29 May 1176.WHY In an effort to stop an alliance

between the Lombard League andPope Alexander III (1159-81),Frederick Barbarossa marchedthrough the Alps to restore his rule.

OUTCOME Having been defeatedat Legnano, Frederick Barbarossawas forced to recognize Alexander

as pope and make peace withthe Lombard League.

This print shows the future Pope Alexander at theDiet of Besanfon in 11 S7, at which he claimed, in thepresence of Frederick Barbarossa, that the Holy RomanEmpire was a benefice of he papacy thus incurringthe emperor s antagonism. When Alex ander was raisedto the papal throne in 11 S9, Frederick opposed him, anopposition that led the emperor to undertake severalcampaigns into Italy, including that which ended atthe Battle of Legnano.

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ON ONE OF HIS NUMEROUS CAMPAIGNS THROUGH THE ALPSNORTHERN ITALY, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR FREDERlCK BARBAROARMY WAS DEFEATED BY NON-PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS DRAWN MOFROM THE TOWN MILITIAS. THE BATTLE OF LEGNANO WAS A VICTORINEXPERlENCED OVER PROFESSIONAL TROOPS.

Throughout history, the Alps have stoodas a geographical hindrance to anymilitary force trying to cross over orthrough them. From Hannibal to Hitler,armies have been tormented by man andnature as they tried to travel throughnarrow and precipitous passes, making thejourney long, gruelling and dangerous .Above all, this mountain range protectedItaly. More than any strategy, army orweapon, the Alps saved Italy from numerousconquests . During the Middle Ages, theItalian people were politically and legallypart of the Holy Roman Empire, but theyalmost always sought their own sovereignty,especially after the towns of northern andcentral Italy increased in population and

wealth during the High and Late Ages. Tllis meant that medieval generally opposed being ruled fromof the Alps.

However, the Holy Roman Eoften had other considerations tllhim from Italy. The difficulty of thepassage, as well as the distance bthere and his powerbase in Geallowed only an emperor whcompletely secure at home to campItaly. Such security was rare in mGermany, due to its custom of imelection, which frequently fomjealousy among imperial candidattheir adherents. When such securreign, though, and the emperor came


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the Italian towns were often unwilling tosurrender their political independencewithout a fight. When these wars werefought, the Italians usually were defeated bythe more professional, more experienced,more skilled, better-led, and better-armedand better-armoured German troops. Butsometimes the Italians were victorious. Oneof the battles won by the Italians against theGermans was fought at Legnano on 29 May1176 between the troops of the HolyRoman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa andthe soldiers and militia of Milan and otherallied Italian towns .THE OPPOSING FORCESFrederick Barbarossa was already anexperienced military commander when hewas designated the successor to EmperorConrad III (1138-52) in 1152. n fact, itmay well have been the generalship heexhibited when fighting Duke Conrad ofZahringen s rebellion on behalf of EmperorConrad that led to his being recognized ashis successor, despite having no familial tiesto him. This same military leadership nodoubt won him a unanimous election, ararity in medieval German politics.

It had been a while since the Italians hadseen a German army south of the Alps.Neither of the two emperors who precededFrederick, Lothair Il and Conrad Ill werestrong enough to pursue any more than adiplomatic connection with the inhabitantsof Italy; in essence, the Italian towns werevirtually independent for more than 50years. Among other things, the HolyRoman Empire had been unable to collecttaxes and other duties, while the Alpinepasses were so filled with bands of thieves,that few traders, pilgrims, churchmen orother travellers could pass through themsafely without paying for protection.

Two years after ascending to the throne,Frederick undertook his first campaignthrough the Alps, ostensibly to be crownedas emperor by the pope and to clear up thelawlessness of the roads and passes, but also,certainly, to bring Italy back into a politicaland economic union with the rest of theHoly Roman Empire. The latter aimbrought an immediate response from thestronger northern and central Italian townsand their neighbours. But Frederick

Barbarossa realized little from thiscampaign, except for his coronationnecessitating his return again (and again).

That the townspeople of Milan led thisfirst rebellion against Frederick is easy tounderstand since their wealth derivedlargely from being in control of many of thepasses through the Alps. Any traveller whowished to journey along the shortest pathsinto Italy had to pass through Milan. Thismeant that the town was continually filledwith pilgrims and traders, who spent largeamounts on housing, transportation, guides,protection and victuals from thetownspeople. s so often in medievalEurope, wealth translated into a longing forindependence. Of course, this meant thatthe Milanese frequently opposed anycontrol from the Holy Roman Empire or itslords. Perhaps also due their wealth, theywere able to inspire the citizens ofneighbouring towns to join their rebellionsagainst the empire, even if neutrality mighthave served them better.THECAMPAIGNWhen Frederick

without securing Italy ssubjugation, his baronssaw this as weakness, andthe recently crownedHoly Roman Emperorhad to quell dissent amongEventually, Frederick was able to placate ordefeat all of his adversaries, throughdiplomacy as well as military power. Hissecond campaign to Italy took place in1158, and this one turned out to bequite a bit more successful than hisfirst. His greatest victory waswithout a doubt the capture ofMilan, which fell on 7 September1158 to F rederick s forces after a shortsiege. Other rebellious Italian towns quicklysurrendered.

But there was still no peace south of theAlps. Once Frederick returned to Germany,Milan and most of the rest of Italy againdeclared their independence, forcing theemperor s third expedition south of the Alpsin 1163. On this occasion, his army faced anew alliance of earlier enemies, the

f Mi laOMB RDY L egn ano

Papalstates

As a German army, led by the Emperor FrederickBarbarossa, marched from omo to Pavia, it wassurprised by the Milanese army outside of he townofLegnano.

Enemies havealways needed to

communicatewith eachother. This

function in the medievalperiod was performed ythe heralds. They alsoissued the king sproclamations to the armyand kept the records ofwhowas present with the army -nobles ofcourse,not the peasants. Theserecords were called Rolls

ofArms and recorded namesand coats-oJ-arms.

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rmClzzo


Ernpe1 01 Fredel ick I Barbarossa :r life ended in 119while participating in the Third Crusade, when hedrowned in the Rive7 Saleph in present-day Tztrkey.Despite having taken the cross only two years before hisdeath and never l eaching the Holy Land, henevertheless is remembered as a Cnlsadel in this latetwelfth-century portrait.

Fredelick Barbarossa:r military caner has beencelebrated since his death. H is cm eer included severalmarches through the Alps to put down northernItalian lebellions. Most of hese wel e victories . let it isperhaps his defeat by tbe Milanese and otber northernItalian militias at the Battle of Legnano (depicted intbis nineteentb centztry romantic painting by AutosCassioli) tbat is most remembered.

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Lombard League. The Lombard Leaguehad been formed initially by the smallertowns of Verona, Vicenza and Padua, butsoon more substantial allies joined in:Venice, Byzantine Constantinople and theKingdom of Sicily. In the beginning, Milanstayed out of the league, although probably

more out of fatigue than disagreemits purpose. Facing the unity andstrength of the LombardFrederick s 1163 campaign failedanother campaign, his fourth, inthis latter expedition, it was notItalians who defeated the invading Gbut also disease, in particular fevealmost annihilated them. Seeinsuccess, the Milanese joined the lea

Frederick Barbarossa did not cm Italy again until 1174, when there to prevent an alliance betwLombard League and Pope AlexaSince being made pope in 1159, Ahad remained neutral in more nItalian affairs, although never a fsupporter of Frederick. Now he hato entertain the Lombard League s for alliance, and with it, obviousapproval for their rebellion . Sarrangement was not in Frederick sand he was determined to stop it. Wwas unable to do so diplomaticlaunched a new campaign. It was ducampaign, in 1176, that Fredericand lost the Battle of Legnano.


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ISPOSITIONSThe original sources for the Battle ofLegnano do not provide adequate detail forall of the action on the battlefield.Surprisingly despite its importance to hismilitary career the chroniclers andbiographers of Frederick Barbarossagenerally quite descriptive about all facets ofhis life are silent on the battle while thef w local Italian histories are quite short.

From 1174 to 1176 Frederick travelledaround Italy trying to bring the LombardLeague to battle. By 1176 he had becomefrustrated at the lack of progress he hadmade: the Italians had not been pacifiednor had the pope backed down in hissupport of them. Early in the year theemperor had called for reinforcements from

Germany and in April 2000 additionaltroops arrived from Swabia and theRhineland. This force was led by Philip theArchbishop of Cologne Conrad theBishop-elector of Worms and BertholdDuke of Zahringen a nephew of theempress. From the sources it appears thatthese soldiers were mounted men-at-arms -knights and sergeants - seemingly withoutany attendant infantry. Traditionally theinfantry should have been there and whythey were missing is not explained in theoriginal sources.

There are several possibilities: perhaps itwas because of the speed Frederick requiredof them; perhaps the Germans normally hadtheir infantry supplied by local alliedItalians or mercenaries; or perhaps

LEGNANO

In this nineteenth-century painting by artist lbertBauer, Frederick Barbarossa is shown receiving thepraises of he citizens ofAachen. Aachen had been thecapital of Charlemagne s empire, and Frederickregarded himself s the direct descendant of he greatCarolingian emperor. He visited the town on numerousocc sions and was responsible for transferringCharlemagne s bones to the famous golden reliquarieswhere they stil l lie.

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4


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redericka r b a r G u a ~his am ry. .b ttlefield and into the

ilanese lIles

LEGN NO76

LEGNANO

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B TTLES OF THE MEDIEV L WORLD

The Milanese carroccio was a ceremonial wagon builtto reflect the town s pride and wealth. Taken with thetown s militia to the Battle of Legnano, it was meantto encourage the more inexperienced soldiers when theyfaced Frederick Barbarossa s veteran forces, and did sosuccessfully to judge y the result of he battle.Although never actually threatened during the battle,it s so portrayed in this painting, one of hree createdy Gaetano Previati 1852-1920) in 1916 17

depicting the carroccio at Legnano.

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Frederick Barbarossa felt that cavalryreinforcements were what his army neededat the time.

Too little s known about Frederick smilitary organization or his needs on thiscampaign to determine the reason whythere were no infantry among thesereinforcements. But had they been present,the Battle of Legnano would probably haveturned out differently.M NOEUVRESThe emperor was at the head of his own 500cavalry, and these joined the Germanreinforcements at Como early in May. Thiswas certainly not the entire German army atFrederick s disposal in Italy at the time, andit may be that the 500 cavalry were only hisbodyguard, who accompanied the HolyRoman Emperor to protect him on thejourney to meet up with the Swabian andRhenish reinforcements.

f his was the case, then Frederick likelywanted to add these to his army so that hemight campaign mo re effectively against the

Lombard League. He may even hthat such a large cavalry army, all eqin heavy armour on powerful, exhorses, might intimidate the Italiasurrender without the need for maction - the most successful campaigone that brings its desired result actual fighting.But Frederick s main army was aat the time, putting the town ofbetween this force and those witFrederick hoped that he might be travel around Milan without mopposition from the Lombard Leagu

However, the Milanese knew where the two German armies wethey also recognized that Freddivision of his forces offered thextraordinary opportunity. The Mgovernors mustered the town s foprobably any man who could bear and also called in numerous neighballies to join them. German nasources place these troops at 12,000 with an even larger number of infan


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these tallies are surely exaggerated. Modernhistorians have suggested the number to becloser to 2000 Milanese cavalry, with nomore than 500 infantry, the latter drawnfrom Milan, Verona, and Brescia. Presentalso was Milan s carroccio, a large ceremonialwagon that symbolized the wealth andindependence of the city.TH B TTLENot wanting the two German armIes tounite, the Milanese moved to interceptthem. This occurred outside Legnano on 29May. From the original sources, it appearsthat the Italian army - which had effectivelyconcealed their movement behind a forest -actually surprised Frederick Barbarossa.Before the emperor could organize hisbattlefield formation, the vanguard cavalryof the Milanese, numbering around 700,charged into the German vanguard cavalry,which numbered considerably fewer,probably no more than 300. The Germans

were quickly routed. But tlley had boughtsome time for their army to form up, whichquickly took in those retreating and chasedoff their pursuers.

During this action, the Milanese hadalso moved onto the battlefield and formedtheir lines opposite the Germans. Thecavalry was ordered in four divisions, withthe infantry and carroccio behind these. Howthe German army was arrayed is notrevealed in the contemporary sources.Frederick decided that it was to his benefitto go on the offensive, s he was in foreignterritory and could not count on his forcesbeing relieved, while he feared that hisopponents numbers would only increase ifhe delayed for too long.

He also refused to retreat, although thismay have been the wisest strategy at thetime; the Annals o Cologne claims that theemperor counted it unworthy of hisImperial majesty to show his back to hisenemies . So, instead of taking a defensive

L t u I JA I JU

Anothe1 o he Carroccio Triptych y GaetanoPreviati depicting the Milanese carroccio at theBattle o Legnano. Here the Milanese soldie1 s honourthe wagon spresence on the battlefield.

THE OPPOSE FORCESITALIANS (estimated)

Milanese cavalry:Milanese, Veronese

and Brescian foot:Total:

GERMANS (estimated)Frederick s bodyguard

men-at-arms:Swabian and Rhenish

men-at-arms:Total:

2000500

25

500200025

37


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rmClzzo

B TTLES O THE MEDlEV L WORLD

The wedge formation consisted of battle lines made upof a number of deep wedges of cavalry followed byinfantry. The more heavily armed knights would leadthe wedge while the more lightly armed men-at-armswould for m the centres. The idea was to slice into theranks of he enemy and disrupt their formationafter which the infantry could follow up to providethe fin l blow.

38

stance, the German cavalry chargedstrongly , and their attack quite easily brokethrough the Milanese cavalry.INF NTRY ST ND F STHowever, pushing through the cavalry, theGermans ran into the Italian infantry, whohad held their positions despite the flight ofthe cavalry - an important and incrediblycourageous stand. The German cavalrycharge was halted. The Italian infantry -with shields set close and pikes held firm ,states Archbishop Romuald of Salerno -caused the German horses to stop, unable topenetrate the massed infantry, and unwillingto run onto their long spears. This was notsurprising, because such a result hadhappened before: if horses could notpenetrate or go around an infantry line,they simply stopped. But it was a result thatcould only come about when the infantrywas motivated to stand solidly and not flee,even when they faced soldiers whosearmour and warhorses displayed a wealthand power attainable by very few if anyfootsoldiers. In the twelfth century, such astand was rare.

The stubborn courage of the Milaneseinfantry allowed their fleeing cavalry toregroup and return to the battlefield, wherethey attacked tlle halted German cavalry inthe flank. Frederick s horsemen, seeing thatthe charge that had so recently broughtsuccess against their cavalry counterpartshad been stopped by lowly infantry, beganto waver. They quickly turned from their

fight with the infantry and attempreturn to their former positions. Buretreat was very disordered and, ltheir own infantry to re group behquickly turned into a rout. Someduring this part of the battle, Fredbanner was lost to the Milanese, anhorse was killed under him.

Frederick barely escaped - althow is not recorded in the original s- and for several days, while he maway secretly back to Pavia, it was fearehe had been killed at Legnano.Germans were captured, but thenumber of either army slain obattlefield seems not to have been undoubtedly a testimony to the protgiven by the mail armour worn bGerman and Milanese men-at-arms.

Few battles show the necessmedieval armies to have botll cavalrinfantry on the battlefield better thBattle of Legnano. The Milanese hainfantry and cavalry in thei r army, andtheir infantry who were able to hold athe charge of the German cavalry. Thithem victory at Legnano FreBarbarossa had not fielded a simorganized army, leaving no relief fcavalry when they began to flee, anmore than anything else decided his d

FTERM THTheir victory at the Battle of Lebrought immediate results for the ItaBy October, Frederick was forced tthe Treaty of Anagni with Alexandrecognizing him as pope and givinnumerous concessions. And the foll


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May Frederick signed the Treaty of Venicemaking a truce with the Lombard Leagueand the Kingdom of Sicily.

Furthermore over the following fewyears Emperor Frederick Barbarossa wasforced to become more involved in affairs inGermany. nother campaign across theAlps was at least for the time beingunthinkable and in June 1183 the emperoragain made peace with the Lombard

League under the Treaty of Constancewhich granted nearly complete sovereigntyto its members.

Although Frederick and his successorsretu rned to Italy they were never able tobreak the desire for independence amongthose towns in the north which hadexperienced this self-government. Onemight conclude then that at Legnano theRenaissance was born.

LEG NAN

The victory of Milanese townspeople over the HolyRoman imperial army t the Battle of Legnano gavean early indication of he power and wealth of henorthern Italian towns. This painting romanticizes theend of he battle as the double headed imperial eaglebanner is shown bowed and captured by those carryingthe colours of Milan.

I

pp.18 39.hastings legnano

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