ANST - Ansteorran Uniforms? No!

[Decker, Terry D.]

> ::GUNNORA:: wrote:
> 
> >Thing is, real medieval armies *DIDN'T* wear uniforms or carry the same
> device on >their shields.  Even tightly-knit warbands and kings' personal
> guards usually did >not.  Everyone bore their own personal heraldry.
> Nationalism and national pride >were unknown.
> 
> Armies didn't wear uniforms but the bands of men-at-arms raised by every
> feudal lord were REQUIRED to wear the livery and badge of their lord, AND
> the
> lord was expected to supply such livery.  
> 
> Lord George Edmunson
> Northkeep
> Proud father of the Lion-Dragon of Mooneschadowe
> 
I think you will find Gunnora is generally correct for warfare prior to the
13th Century.

Only persons who were in liveried service were granted the privilege of
livery.  Levees did not generally receive livery and mercenaries were not
usually considered to be in liveried service.

On the otherhand, the identification of one's allies in combat is a serious
matter in all periods and there were attempts at creating a unique
identifier for an army.  Apocryphally, the Welsh took to wearing the leek on
their caps or helms in the 6th Century to identify them from their Saxon
foes at the direction of St. David.  The practice appears to have occurred
throughout the Middle Ages even when the Welsh served as mercenary archers.
Which probably gives them one of the earliest national identities.

Bear
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