beaufort herald2011 iss7

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Beaufort Herald

Beau fo r t Companye

News le t te r

Next issue:

Due— September 2011

Avoncroft breaking

fast

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RIII Foundation

conference

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Battle of MURTEN 4—5

Can you ever have

enough liveries?

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Comp of St George

Male Clothing

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John Talbot 8-9

Beavale Priory 10

Caption

Competition

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Volume 5, Issue 7 August 2011

Your chance to make it onto the History

Channel There is a new travel series, ex-ploring Britain through its Counties and each episode will feature a different County and will be presented by John Thomson and Simon Day. An important part of the series is finding

interesting events which John and Simon can get involved in, which will challenge them and provide an unusual and energetic way of giving an insight into the history of the area.

The Battle of Mortimers Cross has been cho-sen as an exciting introduction series John and Simon will learn to be billmen, archers and gunners on the day plus possibly stan-dard bearers during the battle

JAYNE H - Who wants to be on TV?

The History Channel will be at Mortimers Cross

The amount of action (or

lack off such) or even what

is planned for an evening

The difficult bit is balanc-

ing these to make some-

thing special for all. Not

the easiest thing in the

world to try an please eve-

ryone. Beauforts A

What do you want from

an event?

This is a question that always

sets me thinking as an event

means different things to dif-

ferent people.

It can be the location, the his-

torical significance, the people

attending, the size of the event

Have you seen the queue

for the bathroom!

Heraldic crest of Charles

Somerset

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er

Avoncroft 2011

The culprit!

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The Beauforts have been asked if we would like to have a stand at this confer-ence. If any of you are inter-ested in attending, and/or assisting with a stand please can you let me know.

The event offers further great potential for us to pro-mote knowledge of the pe-riod, the hobby and of the Beaufort Companye

Please let me know ASAP as

would like to plan what we

will present

The Richard III Foundation, Inc. “Yorkists and Lancastrians: In Armour and Blood.”

Where: Dixie Grammar School, Market Bosworth When: Saturday 15th October 2011 Who: Line-up of speakers for the day are: • Professor Anne Curry - Military Career and Armies in

the Wars of the Roses

• Professor Matthew Strickland - Warfare in Mid 15th Century France and Burgundy

• Dr. Tim Sutherland - Cannons, Arrowheads and Mass Graves: Towton - Archaeological Evidence of Britain's

Bloodiest Battle

• Peter Algar - Hot Coals of Vengeance! A foray into the ill-famed family of Cliffords.

• Mark Stretton - The Power and Effectiveness of the War-bow in Battles

• John Sadler - The Anglo-Scottish War of 1482

• Michael Miller – The Man Who Would Be King – the first Lancastrian King

The Foundation’s honorary patron, Robert Hardy, will

do a special introduction to the epic poem by the

late John Davey “A Towton Tale”. The poem will

be narrated and performed by Mr. John Pilkington

and Mark Taylor, Chair of the Towton Battlefield

Society.

Normal cost is £35.00 to non-Foundation members

How to attend, please contact us at Richard3Founda-tion@yahoo for a registration form, or by mail to Mrs. Dorothy Davies at 32 Church Lane, Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 2NB.

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The Burgundians stood to at dawn in ex-

pectation of the enemy and remained

drawn up for battle all morning in the

pouring rain, but no horde of enemy ap-

peared, and at noon Charles stood down

most of his men, leaving the Grunhag

manned by 2,000 infantry and 1,200

horse.

The Battle of MURTEN

The Battle of Morat (also known as the Battle of Murten) was a

battle in the Burgundian Wars fought June 22, 1476 between

Charles I, Duke of Burgundy and a Swiss army

Stung by his embarrassing defeat by the Swiss Confederation at Grandson in March 1476, Charles, Duke of Burgundy rebuilt his routed but otherwise mainly intact army at Lausanne. By the end of May he once again felt ready to march against the Confederates to recover his territories and fortifications then march on and attack the city of Bern, his greatest enemy among the cantons.

His first objective was the strategic lakeside town of Murten, set on the eastern shore of Lake Morat. On June 11, 1476 the Burgundians commenced the siege of the well-prepared town, whose forces were commanded by the Bernese general Adrian von Bubenberg. An initial assault was repulsed by a heavy barrage of fire from light guns mounted on the walls, but two great bombards used by the Burgundians were slowly reduc-ing the walls to rubble. By June 19 the Confederate muster was near complete at their camp behind the River Saane. Only a contingent of some 4,000 men from Zürich had yet to arrive and these were not expected until June 22.

Charles in the meantime had been kept reasonably well in-formed of the approach of the Confederate army, though he did nothing to hinder their approach. This is not to say that he was unprepared for the arrival of the Swiss; indeed in typical fashion Charles had prepared an elaborate plan to meet the enemy on ground of his choosing where he thought they would approach from some 2 km from Murten. The terrain around Murten is quite hilly and he had chosen to rest his left flank ar-tillery on a steeply sloped gorge cut by the Burggraben stream. In the centre, behind an elaborate ditch and palisade entrenchment known as the Grunhag, stood the bulk of Charles’ infantry and artillery not engaged in besieging Murten itself. These were to fight the Confederation pike and halberd blocks to a halt while on the right the massed Gendarmes would then flank the frontally engaged Swiss, thus creating a killing ground from which there was no escape.

Saturday, June 22, 1476 dawned stormy and dark. Charles

had not seen fit to scout beyond the River Saane to see what

held the Swiss back, but there was a notion round the Burgun-

dian camp that this was to be the day of battle.

The battle of Morat Johannes Stumpf,

1548

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Retiring to their camp the Burgundians sought shelter from the rain, besides it was also a payday and many sought their midday meal after a soaking that morning. It was then that the Confederate Van-guard of some 6,000 skirmishers and all the 1,200 cavalry present erupted out of Birchenwald Woods to the west of Murten, exactly where Charles had predicted they would appear.

Behind the Vanguard came the main body of pike, the Gewalthut (Centre). This was some 10,000–12,000 strong and was formed in a huge wedge with the cantonial standards in the centre, flanked by hal-berds and an outer ring of pikemen. The Rearguard of 6,000–8,000 more closely packed pike and halberdiers followed the Gewalthut towards the now sparsely manned Grunhag.

As the Swiss charged downhill into the Burgundian position the artillery managed to fire a few salvoes, killing or maiming several hundred of the overeager Lorrainers. Against the odds the defenders in the Grun-hag held the Swiss for some time before a contingent of Swiss found a way through the left flank of the defences near the Burggraben and turned the whole position. The Swiss formed up quickly beyond it and advanced towards Murten and the besieger’s camp.

In the Burgundian camp all hell was let loose once the Swiss were sighted as men rushed to reform and prepare for battle. In the Ducal tent on top of the Bois Du Domingue, a hill overlooking Murten, Charles was quickly armed by his retainers before rushing on horseback to try and co-ordinate the defence of the camp. But as fast as any unit was formed and moved forward against the Swiss, it was swept aside as various uncoordinated attacks were made against the still compact Confederate battle formations. There was some resistance from the squadrons of the Ducal household who routed the Lorrainers, including René II, Duke of Lorraine, who was saved only by the arrival of the pikes, against which the Gendarmes could only retire, unable to make any impression against them.

Charles managed to muster enough English archers to form a last line of defence before the camp, but these were routed before a bow could be bent, their commander shot by a Swiss skirmisher. Then it was every man for himself as Charles ordered the army to fall back which was interpreted as a retreat, which in turn became a rout as all organ-ized resistance ended.

For some three miles along the lakeside many Burgundians died that

day in the rout. The Italian division of some 4,000–6,000 men be-

sieging the southern part of Murten probably suffered the worst

fate: cut off by the Swiss rearguard and attacked by a sally from

the town, they were hunted down along the shore and driven into the

lake. As promised, no quarter was granted

More fortunate was the Savoyard divi-sion under Jacques of Savoy, Count of Romont which was posted in the northern half of the Murten siege works. Forming up and abandoning all their baggage they retreated east round the lake and eventually made good their escape to Romont

Part of the war booty captured at this battle is still kept at the castle of Gruyères in Switzerland which include three capes of the Order of the Golden Fleece which belonged to Charles Bold .

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Yellow and Black is not currently used by

any other Wars of the Roses Fed groups; the

family was related to the Beauforts (see be-

low); Leo Welles was allegedly at Blore

(should it ever re-emerge as an event); they

were Yorkist from 1461 to 1470; sup-

ported Warwick in 1470 and then Yorkist

again from 1470 to 1483 finally being in

rebellion from 1483 to 1485;

it is also an authentic counterpoint to the

Burgh's (with whom we are increasingly un-

dertaking joint events with) and

would differentiate ourselves from the

likes Saviles (who again we undertake joint

events with) when Beaufort livery and Mur-

rey&Blue is not appropriate. The adoption

of yellow/ black along with blue/

white and generic Yorkist would

then give us the opportunity and

flexibility of being able to play ei-

ther side throughout the entire Wars

of the Roses period, would suit most

scenarios we and other groups use,

and more importantly, give us a

standard semi-generic livery to dif-

ferentiate ourselves from the various

blue/murray groups when appro-

priate. This would not require full

livery coats to be invested in (unless

people so wished) and could be im-

plemented relatively cheaply by the

use of bends (sashes) and helmet

plumes. Liveries could be left un-

badged as Yellow and Black was

also used by others including the

Welsh Wogans (Yorkist).

What do people think ?


As the Beaufort Companye one of the difficulties we often face is

the use of our standard blue and white livery colours at certain bat-

tles and during certain time frames of the Wars of the Roses when

the Dukes of Somerset were not present or inactive particularly dur-

ing the period 1464 to 1487 (not counting Tewkesbury and Charles

Somerset's involvement at Bosworth). Whilst many of us own a ge-

neric Yorkist and English livery that may be used to supplement our

blue/white this does not give the group an actual separate liveried

identity that can be recognised by other groups. Consequently my

thoughts turned to considering what we could potentially adopt as

an easily identifiable "official" second (not counting blue/

murray) strip which maintains some connection with our adopted

Beaufort family.

The 2010 Gainsborough event provided a potential solution as the

adoption of the yellow and black livery of the Welles family ap-

pears to "tick all the boxes".

Can You Ever Have Enough Liveries?

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Male Clothing Guide Download from Company of St George

The Company of St. George presents our new Clothing Guide for males. You can download it via their website. In order to access the document, we are asking for your name and email address. We are not sharing this information with anybody else, but we might use it to contact you in the future to bring you news about the Company of St. George.

http://www.companie-of-st-george.ch/cms/?q=en/Costume_Guide If you have problems downloading the docu-ment, then please get in touch with via [email protected].

This clothing guide is built on top of the research by countless people. . If you have any feedback, good or bad, if you think some-thing is wrong in the guide, if you know of additional pictures that might share additional light or if you just want to say thank you, then please use the email address above. We wel-come any feedback.

The Company of Saynt George is a group of enthusiasts recreating the military and civil life of a Burgundian artillery unit between 1460 and 1480. Their goal is to live late medieval day-to-day life as intensely and realis-tically as possible, from the calf leather shoes of the blacksmith to the feather decorated helmet of the Captain. They represent sol-diers (gunners, archers and halberdiers), artisans and their families.

They work on a steady improvement in our portrayal, with the latest research as the key guideline. The narrow definition of the period portrayed permits a high degree of authenticity. Main interest lies more in the evocation of living history and than in the re-enactment of historical battles. At events they want to share this experience with visitors. Adapting to the local environment and history as well as to the demands of the sites (Much like ourselves). Occasionally portraying troops from other areas of Europe in the employs of Burgundy..

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John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford

(1384/1387 Blakemere, Shropshire – 17 July 1453 Castillon,

France), known as "Old Talbot" was an important English military

commander during the Hundred Years' War, as well as the only

Lancastrian Constable of France.

From 1404 to 1413 he served with his elder brother Gilbert in the Welsh war or the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. Then for five years from February 1414 he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, where he did some fighting. He had a dispute with the Earl of Or-monde and Lord Grey of Ruthin over the inheritance for the hon-our of Wexford which he held.[6] Complaints were made against him both for harsh government in Ireland and for violence in Herefordshire. The dispute with the Earl of Ormonde escalated into a long -running feud between Shrewsbury and his brother the Archbishop of Dublin on the one hand and the Butler family on the other and their allies the Berkeley's. The feud reached its height in the 1440s when both sides were reprimanded by the Privy Coun-cil for weakening English rule in Ireland. Friendly relations were finally achieved by the marriage of Shrewsbury's son and heir to Ormond's daughter.

From 1420 to 1424 he served in France, apart from a brief re-turn at the end of the first year to organise the festivities of cele-brating the coronation of Catherine of France, the bride of Henry V.

He returned to France in May 1421 and took part in the Battle of Verneuil on 17 August 1424 earning him the Order of the Garter.

In 1425, he was lieutenant again for a short time in Ireland; he served again in 1446-7.

So far his career was that of a turbulent Marcher Lord, employed in posts where a rough hand was useful. In 1427 he went again to France, where he fought alongside the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Warwick with distinction in Maine and at the Siege of Or-léans. He fought at the Battle of Patay on 18 June 1429 where he was captured and held prisoner for four years.

He was released in exchange for the French leader Jean Poton de Xaintrailles and returned to England in May 1433. He stayed until July when he returned to France under the Earl of Somerset.

Fantastic

shot of

the bom-

bard be-

ing fired

•

Images from Bolton castle

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Talbot was a daring and aggressive soldier, perhaps the most audacious captain of the age. He and his forces were ever ready to retake a town and to meet a French advance. His trademark was rapid aggressive attacks. He was rewarded by being ap-pointed governor and lieutenant general in France and Nor-mandy and, in 1434, the Duke of Bedford made him Count of Clermont.

In January 1436, he led a small force including Kyriell and routed La Hire and Xaintrailles at Ry near Rouen. The following year at Crotoy, after a daring passage of the Somme, he put a numerous Burgundian force to flight. In December 1439, follow-ing a surprise flank attack on their camp, he dispersed the 6000 strong army of the Constable Richemont, and the following year he retook Harfleur. In 1441, he pursued the French army four times over the Seine and Oise rivers in an unavailing attempt to bring it to battle. Around February 1442, Talbot returned to Eng-land to request urgent reinforcements for the Duke of York in Normandy. In March, under king's orders, ships were requisi-tioned for this purpose with Talbot himself responsible for assem-bling ships from the Port of London and from Sandwich.

On Whit Sunday, May 20, Henry VI awarded him the title of Comes Salopie, translated as Earl of Shropshire but despite this he popularly became Earl of Shrewsbury. Just five days later, with the requested re-inforcements, Talbot returned to France where in June they mustered at Harfleur. During that time, he met his six-old year daughter Eleanor for the first time and almost certainly left the newly created Countess Margaret pregnant with another child.[11]

In June 1443, Talbot again returned to England on behalf of the Duke of York to plead for reinforcements, but this time the English Council refused, instead sending a separate force under Shrews-bury's brother-in-law, Edmund Beaufort. His son, Sir Christoper stayed in England where shortly afterwards he was murdered with a lance at the age of 23 by one of his own men, Griffin Va-chan of Treflidian

He was appointed in 1445 by Henry VI (as king of France) as Constable of France. Taken hostage at Rouen in 1449 he prom-ised never to wear armour against the French King again, and he was true to his word. However, though he did not personally fight, he continued to command English forces against the French. He was defeated and killed in 1453 at the Battle of Castillon near Bordeaux, which effectively ended English rule in the duchy of Aquitaine, a principal cause of the Hundred Years War. His heart was buried in the doorway of St Alkmund's Church, Whitchurch, Shropshire.

Bolton & Avoncroft

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Caption Competition

“But the trader said this kit is

perfect for our period!”

Replies to: captioncomp @ jayandal.plus.com

Beauvale Priory Medieval Fayre,

Nott's 24th & 25th September 2011

Starting small with about a dozen medieval traders, a 3-4 small living history displays and have-a-go arch-ery for the field we are using. Elsewhere on site there is a cafe, occasional bar, a barn to host local history and wildlife stand, hog roast and local produce & crafts. There will hopefully be a local black Morris at-tending, a possibly beer and ice cream made on site, pending people finding the time to get it up and run-ning.

Likely to be some Stanley's in attendance with a few others But there is potential to have quite large event as only using one of the available fields for the medie-val Fayre itself. The site is similar to Blore Heath in size layout. And did I mention there’s a barn

Anyone interested?

Richard and bodyguard at Kelmarsh

Beauvale Priory, Nottinghamshire. NG16 2AA

Documents

beaufort herald2011 iss7