Hobelar
Hobelars were a type of light cavalry, or mounted infantry, used in Western Europe during the Middle Ages for skirmishing. They originated in 13th century Ireland, and generally rode hobbies, a type of light and agile horse.
Origins
According to James Lydon, "There can be little doubt that the hobelar as a type of soldier originated in Ireland ... between the fully armoured knight on the 'equus coopertus' and the lightly armoured archer on the 'equus discoopertus' there was an intermediate stage. This intermediary ... was provided by the hobelar." He further states that hobelars
were highly mobile, and excelled in scouting, reconnaissance and patrols ... eminently suited to the terrain in which military operations had to be conducted in Ireland. However superior the
Norman knight might be upon the field of battle, the bogs and woods of Ireland gave little opportunity for the mail-clad charge. Thus there evolved in Ireland, as a habitual part of every Anglo-Norman force, a type of light horseman, which came to known as the hobelar. It was only a matter of time until this phenomenon found its way ... into other Anglo-Norman armies across the Irish Sea.[1]
More recently, however, this view has been challenged by Robert Jones, who believes that the ancestor of the hobelar was a form of second class cavalryman called a muntator. These soldiers originated in the Anglo-Welsh armies which invaded Ireland in the 12th century. Jones accepts, however, that the hobelar diverged from the Anglo-Welsh muntator during the 13th century, with the hobelar becoming lighter armed, perhaps for economic reasons. The hobelar is thus still seen as a response to military conditions in Ireland, rather than elsewhere.[2]
Military usage
Hobelars were used successfully by both sides during the
The first reference to hobelars dates to 1296 in Ireland, when 260 accompanied a contingent of Irish troops to
It is clear from their rapid adoption into English armies operating in Scotland that the hobelar met a perceived tactical need and, in the early years of the 14th century, hobelars were to be found in all the major border garrisons.[5] It is also clear that these hobelars are increasingly Englishmen, rather than Irish. Of the 845 hobelars at the siege of Berwick in 1319, 500 were from Cumberland and Westmorland, 36 from Barnard Castle, 24 from Norham and 45 from Tynedale.[6] 376 English, 10 Welsh and 139 Irish hobelars were mustered at Newcastle in 1322.[7] The hobelar became a standard feature in English forces throughout the country in the 1320s and 1330s. Muster records for 1326 show hobelars being recruited in Norfolk, Suffolk and Oxfordshire.[8]
In the 1330s, however, a new type of mounted infantryman begins to be recorded; the mounted archer.
The hobelar remained a named constituent of local forces through the rest of the 14th century but was less commonly mentioned in the 15th century.[13] The final reference to hobelars appears to be a commission of array in Norfolk and Suffolk in 1485.[14]
Arms and armour
There is no surviving description of the equipment of the original Irish hobelar, but they may have been equipped after the style of native Irish cavalry of the period, who wore
Horses
The native Irish horse, the
See also
- Border Reivers
- Irish hobby
- Horses in the Middle Ages
- Horses in warfare
- Connemara pony
Notes
- ^ Lydon (1954)
- ^ Jones (2008)
- ^ Hyland (1998), p 32, 14, 37
- ^ Lydon (1954)
- ^ Morris (1914)
- ^ Morris (1914), p. 85
- ^ Morris (1914), p. 89
- ^ Morris (1914), p. 91
- ^ Strickland and hardy (2005), p. 202
- ^ Morris (1914), p. 97.
- ^ Powicke (1962), p. 192
- ^ Powicke (1962), p. 196
- ^ Powicke (1962)
- ^ Goodman (1981), p. 235, n. 139
- ^ The scian is a knife Retrieved 14 March 2009
- ^ Powicke (1962), p. 192
- ^ Ayton (1994), pp34, n. 74
References
- Ayton, Andrew (1994). Knights and Warhorses. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-739-4.
- Goodman, Anthony (1981). The Wars of the Roses. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-0728-0.
- ISBN 0-7509-0746-0
- Jones, Robert : Re-thinking the origins of the Irish Hobelar, Cardiff Historical Papers 2008/1
- Lydon, James (1954) "The hobelar:An Irish contribution to medieval warfare, Irish Sword, II, v, pp. 12–16. [1]
- Morris, J.E. (1914), Mounted Infantry in Mediaeval Warfare, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 3rd Series, Volume 8 [2]
- Powicke, Michael (1962). Military Obligation in Medieval England. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-820695-X.
- Scharff, Robert Francis (1908) The Irish horse and its early history, P.R.I.A. 27:B6, pp. 81–86.
- Strickland, Matthew; Hardy, Robert (2005). The Great Warbow. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3167-1.
- Ware, Sir James(1654) De Hibernia et antiquitatibus eius disquasitiones, p. 34.