Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Agraes]

There is some mention of breeds in the Early Breton Laws as I mentionned before in this thread. Léon Fleuriot dated them from the 5-6th centuries, David Dumville was more skeptical and tended to argue a large datation between the 6th and 9th centuries. Recently Soazick Kerneis tried to tie them with the activity of Flavius Aetius in the mid-5th century.

Those horses mentionned are equites Saxonicum et Calfaicum, that one beeing also Calpeis in another manuscript. Fleuriot thought Calfaicum as a corruption of Tailfaicum, and the corrupted word itself is actually known in reference to the Taifaili settled by Romans in Poitou as laetes. Saxon could equally be insular saxons as continental, settled in Gaul: in nowadays Bessin in Normandy, in the Loire estuary or in Brittany itself.

This lawcode had much common point with other known celtic lawcodes such as the early irish laws, or with barbarian lawcodes such as the Lex salica of the Franks. It has few in common with roman lawcodes, except the 'christian' laws (to have hair cut short or else be banned from church).
Much laws refers to horses. Here a few, not exact translation but I hope you get the content (sorry for my sometime ackward english).

Law A18:A man finding in his uilla a horse or cattle stolen, tied or killed, shall present three men to discupalte him, or else pay a compensation.

Law A20: A man that have acquired a calpeis/calfaicum, saxon horse or from another nation, shall prove it with witnesses, the witnesses sharing the compensation in equal parts. If he has no witnesses or trie to lie, he shall pay three times the compensation.

Laws A32, P33: A man that is thought guilty of the still or murder of a horse shall gather six man from at less three swear he says the truth.

Law A51: A ounce of silver as reward to whom who brings back a stollen horse that is worth a pound of silver, or half a ounce if the horse is worth less.

Law P63: If the owner of a horse recognises it harnessed with the harness of someone else, he can then enter the property of the other and the horse shall be given back to him.

More stuff here (in french):
http://schnucks0.free.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=388

For John; there is a young company in France who is trying to re-enact the Taifali settled in Poitou by Rome from the 4th to the 6th century. It is quite possible they have few to do with your equites Taifali )
Here their blog:
http://blogs.paysmellois.org/taifali/


A try at the translation of accounts of Breton 9th century cavalry by frankish writter Reginon de Prüm.
"The saxon troups, whom the king (Carl the Bald) had bought off to support the rushes and the feinted retreats of the breton cavalry, were put in first line. But just after the first charge of the Bretons, and the first volley of javelins, the Saxons run to hide behind the rest of the army. The Bretons, following their usages and riding horses trained at that kind of fight, run on one side and the other. Sometime they attack impetuously, with all their strenght, in the deep mass of the frankish infantry and harass them with javelins, sometimes they fake a retreat, and the foes running after them don't escape the darts in their chest. Accustomed to fight from near spear to spear, the Franks stay stonned, terrorised by this new unknown peril; they are bot equipped to catch those light troops, and if they await us in close ranks, they got no shelter against their strokes."
Reginon de Prüm, Chronique, sub anno 860.

http://schnucks0.free.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=485