Huscarl

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Huskarls (from Old Norse húskarlar ; also Huscarl ) were warriors of the personal bodyguard of Scandinavian nobles and kings. The name comes from Old Norse and is made up of the elements hús (household) and karl (free man capable of weapons). The entirety of the Huscarls was also referred to as Hirth ( house power ) in the Anglo-Saxon region . In later times it was used to describe all the troops of a noble house, some of which were the only professional soldiers in the kingdom. The rest of the armies consisted mostly of only militia that Fyrd were called, conscripted farmers and occasionally mercenaries . The number of huscarls was mostly under 2000 soldiers in the kingdom.

history

The runestone of Snåttsta (U 330) mentions an Asser (Assurr) who was Ragnfaster's huskarl. The rune stones U 184 from "Össeby kyrkoruin" U240 from Lingsberg and U 335 from Orkesta also mention a huskarl

The term appears on various Swedish rune stones . Canute the Great introduced the term in England when he occupied Anglo-Saxon England. There were around 3,000 huscarls in England, and a special tax was introduced for paying them. The king provided board and lodging and, in contrast to the "Fyrd", had a professional army that was always available and that was also used for representation purposes in peacetime.

The Huscarl army was known for its professional training and good equipment. The combat skills of the soldiers were constantly checked carefully. For example, a nobleman demanded that anyone applying to be a huscarl must have a sword inlaid with gold. In this way he ensured that applicants were economically well placed to be able to buy good quality equipment.

Although huscarls were skilled in the use of a variety of weapons, such as the one-handed sword and the throwing ax , they were particularly feared for the unique handling of the bearded ax , the “skeggox” or the “ Danish ax ”. Representations of this can be found on the Bayeux Tapestry .

Although the Bayeux Tapestry is just a static representation of the Battle of Hastings , it can teach a lot about the fighting style of the Huscarls. On one illustration you can see them in the tactical formation of the “ shield wall ”. In this formation, the Huscarls formed a series of shields, similar to the Greek phalanx . This tactic did not correspond to the usual Anglo-Saxon fighting technique, which provided for more aggressive attack, so that it is assumed that this "shield wall" was probably used more defensively to ward off outnumbered attackers, especially when riders and archers attacked like the Normans in battle Hastings.

Another fighting technique used by the Huscarls can be found on the Bayeux Tapestry. There it can be clearly seen that they held their axes in their left hand, while it was otherwise customary to use the ax with their right hand. As a result, they attacked the right side of the person opposite who was not protected by the shield and forced him to raise the shield and take a defensive stance.

When fighting mounted soldiers, they smashed the horse's legs with the ax and thus forced the knights to dismount. In reports of the Battle of Hastings it is said that some horses were almost cut by ax blows. However, this type of fighting also meant that the Huscarls could not choose their targets exactly and the ax blows sometimes led to the ax getting stuck.

There are theories that archers fought in the ranks of the huscarl ax fighters. This theory is invoked again and again because Harald III at the Battle of Stamford Bridge . was struck by an arrow in the neck while fighting the Huscarls and died. In any case, no archers appear to have fought there at the Battle of Hastings, as it is reported that the attacking Norman archers had almost no arrows left. Had there been a hail of arrows from each other beforehand, the Normans could have used the opposing arrows.

The battle of Hastings

The most famous Huscarl army is that of Harold Godwinsons at the Battle of Hastings. The defeat can be traced back to various reasons, but one of the main reasons may have been the fighting technique of the Anglo-Saxons, which were firmly rooted in their fighting traditions and were not up to the modern army of William the Conqueror . While Wilhelm's knights marched to battle on foot to rest their horses, the huscarls rode to the battlefield to fight on foot. So they completely lacked the cavalry in battle. In addition, Harold's troops were not very rested because they had been forced to march: they had previously defeated a Norwegian Viking army under Harald Hadrada and Harold's brother Tostig Godwinson at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and then hurriedly marched south.

Defeat of the Huscarls on the Bayeux Tapestry

Wilhelm had riders and a large number of archers available who could not fight efficiently at first. Because Harold's army was standing on a hill, the archers initially had little effect, and the attacks of the riders, who had to attack uphill, were repulsed by the impenetrable “shield wall”. After Wilhelm attacked the "shield wall" with infantry and these soldiers began the mock retreat, the Anglo-Saxons disregarded Harold's order not to pursue the enemy under any circumstances and thinned the shield wall. Without their advantage in terrain on the hill, the Anglo-Saxons were slain by the Norman horsemen at the foot of the hill. This was the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon defeat.

The decline of the Huscarls and the Anglo-Saxon way of life began with the Battle of Hastings. The survivors of the battle crossed the English Channel to the European continent and hired themselves there as mercenaries. Some of them even reached Byzantium and joined the Varangian Guard there. In the 12th century so many Anglo-Saxons served in the Guard that it was sometimes called the "English Guard".

Other meanings

Nowadays a certain fighting style is called "Huscarl" when it comes to presentations at living history events. This style was suggested on the initiative of the Englishman Alban Depper in 1999. The aim should be to use exhibition weapons, i.e. blunt replicas of early medieval weapons, to approach a form of free combat that is as realistic as possible. In the meantime, Huscarl sees itself as a constantly developing, practice-oriented approach to the reconstruction of historical European martial arts and war techniques. Both modern efficient martial arts as well as the traditional codices and fencing books of the late Middle Ages , especially the basic principles of Johannes Liechtenauer , have a noticeable influence on this form of fighting.

literature

  • Ole Jørgen Benediktow: "Kirkens setesvener og domsrett". In: Norges historie . Vol. 5. Fra rike til provins 1448–1586 . JW Cappelens forlag. ISBN 82-02-03429-9 . Pp. 327-333.

Web link

Wiktionary: Huskarl  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations