Assize of arms
The Assize of Arms (from Assisen , a result of a medieval solemn assembly at which legal matters were regulated and English arms = weapons) was a reform of the military constitution, a kind of conscription law, enacted in 1181 by the English King Henry II . To distinguish it from an also Assize of Arms mentioned extension of the decree of 1252 it is also called Assize of Arms of 1181 referred.
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In the twelve sections of the Assize of Arms, all free people - graded according to income and wealth - were required to own various weapons and equipment, without these being in a feudal relationship with the king. Among other things, it prescribed when the oath of allegiance had to be taken and regulated a ban on the export of weapons. The king was also able to raise shield money to recruit paid knights. As a result, on the one hand, the circle of conscripts was expanded and, on the other hand, the military monopoly of the high nobility was broken. Violations against it could be punished with the death penalty.
literature
- Michael Salewski : History of Europe: States and Nations from Antiquity to the Present , CH Beck, 2000, ISBN 3406461689
Web links
- Text des assize of arms (English) ( Memento from May 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Text des assize of arms (Latin)
Individual evidence
- ^ Richard Kinseher: The bow in culture, music and medicine, as a tool and weapon. Books on Demand GmbH, 2005, ISBN 3-8311-4109-6 , pp. 74 .