Group
Structure
This group will represent
the familia
troops of William FitzOsbern. Allowing
the time span of 1054-1071 allows a great deal of latitude and possible
scenarios while still keeping the time frame of a narrow enough focus to ensure
an accurate portrayal.
Familia Soldiers
Familia
troops were NOT feudal troops (i.e. they did not render a set term of military service
based on the holding of land); rather, they were full-time paid soldiers and
would form perform day-to-day and small-scale military duties (such as patrols,
raids, and castle garrison in FitzOsbern's holdings
in England AND Normandy) and would form the core of, if such was necessary, a
larger force consisting of the feudal host, the fyrd,
and/or short-term mercenaries. While the term "mercenary" is
appropriate for the types of soldiers the familia were, the common
misconceptions about mercenaries do not necesarily
apply. They were loyal to him, and he to they (there is evidence that he paid
his familia troops so well that he was reprimanded
by William I for doing so).
Developing
this structure allows for some very desirable effects:
1) Having the overall group impression be purely military is quite appropriate;
2) Being a well-paid professional force means that we can all have nice
weapons, armour, and equipment (which everybody likes
) while avoiding the necessary equipment, support structure, etc. to have
members be lords, barons, or other such landed nobility.
3) It means that in the field we don't have to have a large encampment to
provide a realistic setting; on the contrary, we should not be OVER equipped
with lots of tents, cooking gear, furniture, and (yes) beds;
4) While having horses and being mounted is always nice and encouraged, with
this setup footmen are perfectly appropriate and the lack of horses for
everyone won't have to necessarily be "explained away";
5) It makes for a much more realistic portrayal of medieval soldier life (at
least in the 11th century) than is currently being presented by most other
groups.
Why these years and
this man?
The years of focus
along with the personality of William FitzOsbern (see biography
here) have been chosen to allow a very interesting
diversity of time and place setting for our activities: The Battle of Mortemer, in 1054, was the turning point in the consolidation
of Normandy under William the Bastard; In 1071 William FitzOsbern was killed at
the Battle of Cassel.
Within this timeframe are a variety of interesting and popular events to
portray, among them
1) The rise of
2) The Norman
Conquest of England (including
3) FitzOsbern’s nearly
constant conflicts on the Welsh marches
4) Continental struggles in northwestern
To present an accurate
portrayal of a professional troop in the service of a Norman lord, Conroi FitzOsbern will be a present a purely military
impression of soldiers on campaign. As
such, there are no female or civilian impressions which would be appropriate in
this group. While this runs contrary to
the practice of most
other groups, we feel that for an accurate portrayal of military men in the
field this is necessary. The members
will all be soldiers, and will present an appropriate presentation of an 11th
century