Hi my name is Kevin Hicks welcome to my
YouTube Channel The History Squad. Now what we're going to cover today in our video is
armed combat, the bowmen of England and Wales how did they fight hand-to-hand, personal combat
once the arrows have been shot. It's a question I've been asked more than once you know, did they
just put their bows and arrows down and pile in as a mob or did they simply go to the rear well I'm
going to answer that question for you because it's been raised asked many times, so let's see what
I've discovered. So how did the bowmen survive the battlefield once their arrows were shot? And
it takes a little bit of answering because you've got to get under the skin of the bowmen of the
age and it's interesting because the English they, they formed slightly different to the Welsh and
you imagine so me I was raised in Staffordshire in Lichfield and my first arrows were actually shot
on the green just adjacent to the cathedral there, so that is continuing a history of the bowmen of
the city of Litchfield. You'd go on through the Medieval Times to the Wars of the Roses and the
bowmen of Beverly. The town was so proud of its bowmen, they issued them with padded jacks and
had on their shoulder “From Beverly” embroidered by the ladies of the town, so within the shires,
within the towns of England there was a pride. So if you were a young lad and you're shooting
at the butts at the back of Warwick Church, Saint Mary's there and you're shooting away
every Sunday morning and it's always your mates, it's the same guys you're coming up, you're coming
up, you're coming up/. Then there's a levy that's got to be filled. When you turn up for that levy
because you're of age, they're your friends, you already know them but it isn't just the case
of your proficiency to be able to shoot the bow, it's what other weapons could you use what
other weapons did you bring. Now I've shown some of these weapons before this a
hatchet perfect for chopping people, this oh it's just an agricultural bill hook isn't
it. Now some of the bowmen put these on sticks so they could gut out the horses, this is
horrible stuff, but I've got a couple of new weapons that I've added for this and I found
this in a in a bit of a junk market the other day. Thor's hammer. Yes it's the original, I
don't think so. This is a rock hammer, but if you hit somebody at the back of a helmet
with one of these they're going to go down, this I think this one's a three pounder so wow what
a hit, tuck into the back of your belt. But my favorite and it's something I've been asked about
for years what was an archer’s maul people used to say. A maul. A maul can be a heavy club with
spikes on it, a maul can be a great big enormous lump of wood with nails in the end. In fact they
use them in the First World War, but traditionally though the maul was what you knocked your stakes
in when you were getting ready for a battle. You would knock your stakes into the ground with
a heavy maul, you would then sharpen them and the maul would then be put to one side,
but if you've got a guy in the battle right, in your company who is six foot one, six foot two,
because there were big people in those days, he'll be the guy who will carry the maul into battle.
I've got one here I've made one specially for you here you go, for knocking in the wooden stakes or
for bashing the brains out of an enemy man at arms or for breaking the knee of a man at arms because
you want to take him prisoner. You work in your companies. So there you go, you're shooting your
bow and arrows, your arrow supply is dwindling, the message comes we're almost out of arrows, you
shoot your last arrow. The first thing you do is you look at your Vintenar or your Centinar, your
officer, they'll have a pennant, all your guys will have the same colored coats or a mark when
they advance. You don't all just run as a mob, you advance together and then when you hit the
enemy you hit them as a cohesive force. Lightly armored, lightly dressed you're quite nimble. You
imagine being a man at arms, you're armored up, you are a fit killer but all of a sudden there's
12 of me, but I'm the oldest all the rest are a lot younger than me, knives, hammers, daggers.
How about an old piece from a previous battle it's not a full poleaxe, it's what's left of
a poleaxe. This is nice and light, quite handy for a bowman. He can use it as a hammer, as an axe
and as a spike, these men were quite something but what I love about the bowmen both of England
and Wales is their companies. I love the way they fought together, they lived together and of
course they died together. But I heard a saying many years ago which kind of relates to these
men. Have faith. Keep Faith. First with the man next to you and then with God. I like that. Well
I hope you enjoyed that video, if you did like, share and subscribe and don't forget to turn
on the all notification button so you know what's coming on down the line but before I go
mention a few of my PATREON members Mark Wright, Michael Anderwald and Lexi some great names
here isn't it. Thanks a bunch guys, bye for now.
