North British Warrior

[dux bellum]

The ridge helm would probably have been more common in the North.

Why?

Like Angus McBride's picture shows, the British nobility probably relied on mail and scale armor

What other armour would you say was available to them?

underneath it all he probably wore a simple long sleeved tunic(depending on his rank),

Why depending on rank?

trews (possibly striped in the Celtic style, especially if he came from Gododdin or Strathclyde),

Why 'striped in the celtic style'? Why would you say that 'Celtic style' was striped. What would you say would be evidence for such an assumption? And lastly, why would this 'striped style' be more common for Goddoddin and Strathclyde?

and riding boots or Roman style caligae (see the link above).

You are now just looking at Mcbride's picture, aren't you? :wink: Why riding boots? Do we have evidence for 'riding boots' in this period? And why caligae as an alternative, when caligae had for some time (a 100 to a 150 years) been out of fashion?

Over it all he would have worn a cloak (orange/tan for commoners, rebed for warriors and elite, purple for royalty--again see above) with a brooch.

Whyn these colours? 'Rebed' for warriors and elite - how do you figure that? Purple for roytalty? How would they have found the materials for that colour?

a round shield with a metal boss, probably with a cross, twin fish, or the Phi-Rho symbol.

Why the crosss or the twin fish? The chi-rho (not phi-rho) symbol would of course ne Christian, but do you have evidence that it was actually used on any British shield in the late 5th or early 6th century?

As for the use of heavy cavalry, I'm not much of an equine expert. I know that Roman saddles lacked stirrups, so couching the lance was out of the question.

I'm sure that several experts on this forum can tell you otherwise.

My question is, could these horses be used in an all out frontal charge to open up the enemy ranks, or were the put to better use attacking from the sides or flanks? Also, the horse armor of the cataphracts may have been too rare and expensive, but could leather armor have substituted?

Of course you could use cavalry in a frontal attack, but I'm not so sure that a) it would have the preferred result or b) the horses could be used again. Harrying the front, using weak spots and of course the flanks or better, rear, would generate a better result I'd say.
Personally I'm not so sure if the British would have been able to keep such very costly units. If we look at gaul, Spain or other provinces of the Empire, where such units vanished probably even before Roman effective rule ended, it's hard to accept that Britain, for a reason other than whishful thinking, would have been an exception. Even the far richer East Roman empire did not manage to retain such units continually and in large numbers.

I forgot I was talking to more profesional people about history that's more conjectural.

1. The ridge helms may possibly have been more common than the spangenhelms or the Frankish helmets in the north, b/c the southern kingdoms had more access to continental trade (via ports like Tintagel). We don't know much about the markets or trade in the north, but on the whole I don't think helmets were that common at all in Britain. The horsemen on the Aberlemno Stone (probably British) are wearing what appear to be spangenhelms, however. The only reason the Britons in the North may have had access to ridge helms may be because some may have been left behind in the Roman foundries after the Romans left.

2. There is the possibility that Lamellar armor could have been utilized, or they could have worn a simple leather Jerkin.

3. This is just on te assumption that a nobleman or king's tunic would be of better quality, since they could afford it.

4. Well, that's why I said "possibly", since no one really knows. The Celtic style wasn't really "striped", but had more tartan or checkered pattersn but The men of Strathclyde and Gododdin lived north of Hadrian's Wall, in the area probably known as Valentia. Since Hadrian's Wall pretty much marked the extent of Roman influence, and given their close proximity to the Picts and Scotti of Dal Raida, it seems likely that the Men of the North retained more of their celtic heritage than, say, men from Dumnonia or Powys.

5. Hehe, yes, and also the image from the Vergilis Romanus (the men seem to be wearing the same kind of footware). The riding boots notion comes from Geoffrey Ashe's description, though in truth I don't know how reliable that is. as for the caligae, I only said that b/c I didn't remember the name of the later footware.



6. Wow, apparently I need spellcheck :oops: :lol: . Once again I'm drawing from the several illustrations and motifs from the Vergilis Romanus, as well as Gildas' description of Ambrosias being born "of the purple". Any dyes or fabric needed for these cloaks could have come from trade, especially with Byzantium.

7. I admit, this comes mainly from all the illustrations I've seen, as well as the descriptions by Nennius and the Welsh Annals of Arthur bearing either the cross or the Virgin on his shield ("shoulders"). While I'm sure that the subordinates also had the crests of their lords on their shields, I don't know if they adopted the Roman symbols after the last cohorst left.

8. I heard somewhere on another forum that you could chain or tie a lance to a mount to get the same impact as a couched lance, but I seriously doubt that. If there was a common way for cavalrymen to couch their lances without vaulting out of the saddle on impact, please let me know.

I agree with most of that in regards to cavalry. I'm sure cavalry was utilized and quite possibly one of the richer British kings from the south may have purchased a few heavy war horses from the east, but I think most likely that Briton cavalry worked either like that of the Plains Indians or lighter Mongol cavalry, showering with javellins or arrows and then charging into the sides or rear of the enemy. If a force is held in place by opposing infantry, especially uphill (since the Britons apparently loved to fight around fords and hillforts), then armed horsemen coming from behind could possibly have been both frightening and devastating.