Did You Know 19 - The Barons
about 4 years ago
– Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 04:54:35 AM
Previously, in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the king's companions held the title of earl and in Scotland, the title of thane. After 1066 William the Conqueror introduced the rank of baron* in England to distinguish those men who had pledged their loyalty to him under his feudal system. This act established his favoured followers as barons by enfeoffing them as tenants-in-chief with great fiefdoms to be held under this title.
All who held this feudal barony "in-chief of the king", that is with the king as his immediate overlord, became equal barones regis ("barons of the king"), bound to perform a stipulated annual military service, and obliged to attend his council.
Such barons were not necessarily always from the greater Norman nobles but were selected often on account of their personal abilities and usefulness. For instance, Turstin FitzRolf, the relatively humble and obscure knight who had stepped in at the last minute to accept the position of Duke William's standard-bearer at the Battle of Hastings, was granted a barony comprising well over twenty manors (fees).
In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's manor or fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. Out of necessity, it would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, esquires and servants, but also the means to furnish himself and his entourage with the horses and armour needed to fight for his lord in battle. It was effectively the size of a fee (or "fief" which is synonymous with "fee") sufficient to support one knight in the ongoing performance of his feudal duties, his knightly service.
A knight's fee created by the king himself or by one of his Barons was produced by separating off an area of land from his own. This action would establish therein a new manor for the use of a knight who would by the process of feudal freehold becoming his tenant by paying homage and fealty to his new lord. This homage and fealty was a vow of loyalty, with a corresponding vow of protection received, and an undertaking to provide a specified form of service commonly due under feudal land tenure in England. Broadly speaking such service was a military service generally to a maximum of 40 days per year, signifying that he would have to fight for his lord in battle.
No cash rent was payable, although military service was later transformable into scutage, you could pay not to fight. A knight was required to maintain the dignity of knighthood, living in suitable style and be well-turned out in battle, with the required number of esquires to serve him and with horses, arms and armour for all.
The size of a force a Baron could muster depended on how many manors or fees he presided over or how many mercenaries he paid to join him in the field.
*The word baron comes from the Old French baron, from a Late Latin barō "man; servant, soldier, mercenary" (so used in Salic law; Alemannic law has barus in the same sense). The word is presumably of Old Frankish origin, cognate with Old English beorn meaning "warrior, nobleman". In the kingdom of England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was the highest degree of feudal land tenure, namely per baroniam (Latin for "by barony"), under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons. Those who held land directly from the king by military service, from earls downwards, all bore alike the title of baron, which was thus the factor uniting all members of the ancient baronage as peers of one of another. The title of baron was mostly, though not always, hereditary and passed from one generation to the next.
Last Update at the End of Day 2 - a quick round-up 😃
about 4 years ago
– Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 02:11:05 PM
Final update as day two draws to a close here in the UK and I wanted to take the opportunity for a quick round-up. What can I say, you have all continued to surprise us with your exceptional support throughout the day leaving Paul and me at times speechless.
Below are the stretch goals we have unlocked just today, I have to apologise again for us not having all the miniatures ready to show you, in our defence, we didn't think we would need them all in such a short timeframe (yes, caught us with our pants down) and we promise to have them to show you as soon as we possibly can:
What do all these stretch goals mean when it comes to pledging? Adding to yesterdays list of Levy 3, Mounted Knights with Hand Weapons 2, Prince Louis on Horse and Foot Knights with Two-Handed Weapons we have now added Foot Sergeants with Spears, Mounted Knights with Hand Weapons 3, Robin and Tuck, Little John & Will Scarlet, which means we currently have the Mounted Sergeants with Spears stretch goal to unlock next. If you wish to add all of these new unlocked packs to your pledge the extra amount is £50 which gives you everything so far unlocked and £57 if you want to include the mounted sergeants as well before they are unlocked - this helps the goal to be reached.
Paul has almost finished the Foot Knights with 2 Handed Weapons which means we should be able to share those with you tomorrow, he did give us a sneak peek in the Q&A video we did last week if you missed it you can watch on my Facebook page.
Tomorrow I am aiming to release an update about the Barons' War, a 'Did You Know?'. I planned to do this today but have just run out of time. We are also planning to share some updates about the rules so if there is anything you want to know in general please add it in the comments and we will do our best to answer them.
Once again let me finish by thanking you all so much for your backing, it is mind-blowing and awesome in equal measures, both Paul and I are really grateful.
Stay safe everyone. 😃
~Andy
Robin Hood & the Friar Tuck Unlocked, John Little & Will Scarlet next?
about 4 years ago
– Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 07:52:59 AM
Robin Hood and the Friar Tuck have been unlocked and can now be added by increasing your pledges by £4, next up we have John Little and Will Scarlet because you can't have Robin Hood without his merry men?
The thing is we hadn't expected things to go quite as well as they have and with that in mind Paul hadn't scheduled starting these two until tomorrow. However, because you have all been so awesome we don't have John Little or Will Scarlet to show you yet which does mean we will be able to share work in progress updates with you as he goes along. :D
~Andy
Overnight in the UK we unlock lots! :O
about 4 years ago
– Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 06:03:10 AM
This update started out as a "Good Morning", however, I realised that it is already the afternoon here in the UK and I hadn't realised as I try desperately to catch up and answer everyone. So what happened last night? I went to bed hoping we would unlock the foot sergeants and woke up to the situation where we have sailed past those, the third pack of mounted knights with hand weapons and finally settling on unlocking Robin Hood and the Friar Tuck. Thank you, everyone, this is just awesome!
I have been asked a number of times how do you add the unlocked packs to your pledge? If you scroll down the main Kickstarter page there is a graphic showing the cost of each of the unlocked packs, total up the ones you want and add that amount to your pledge total. If you have gone for The Retinue pledge and you want to add extra packs, it works in the same way, you click on the 'manage your pledge' button and follow the steps in the graphic below.
I have also been asked will the Backer Rewards be available as add-ons in the pledge manager, the answer to this I am afraid is no. Paul and I are not in the position to give lots and lots of freebies, so what we have done is to make sure that we have a couple of really nice miniatures at certain levels as rewards so when you back at that level we can afford to make them available as a thank you.
I also want to take this opportunity to explain how the freebies work and who is entitled to what as they pledge:
1. Everyone who pledges regardless at what level will be sent a digital PDF of the alpha rules for free.
2. Everyone who pledges for at least one pack will be sent a printed copy of the alpha rules for free.
3. Everyone who pledges £40 or more, this includes add ons in the pledge manager will receive the kneeling knight miniature 'Taking the Cross' for free.
4. Everyone who pledges £80 or more, this includes add ons in the pledge manager will receive Aymeric de Saint Maur, the Master of the Knights Templar in Britain for free.
Each of these combines so if you back the project for £80+ you will receive a digital and printed copy of the alpha rules plus the kneeling knight and Aymeric.
The only other thing to mention is the free sergeant, you must back within the first 24 hours and your pledge amount must be for a minimum of one pack. He is still available for another 4 hours but this offer will end at 6 pm UK time.
I hope this all makes sense, if not please ask. Once again thank you very much, I don't think I can say that enough, and let's see if we can unlock EVERYTHING. Right, I'm off to write up some "Did you knows?" about the Barons' War as they seemed to go down well last time and check to see if we have unlocked anything else while I have been away. :D
~ Andy
Last Update at the End of Day 1 - Thank You!
about 4 years ago
– Sun, Apr 26, 2020 at 02:31:01 PM
Wow! This is my second ever Kickstarter and I am currently sat here once again stunned and overwhelmed by the communities response. Paul and I just want to say a massive thank you for your support in getting us over the line so quickly and for surging through stretch goals like it's nobodies business, I personally am speechless and still a bit shocked.
Just to summaries as everything happened so quickly, this is currently where we stand regarding stretch goals:
You unlocked these packs which can now be added to your pledges: Levy 3, Mounted Knights with Hand Weapons 2, Prince Louis on Horse and Foot Knights with Two-Handed Weapons. If you want to add any or all of them just add the extra to your pledge amount to include them. If you haven't done this before the graphic below will show you how:
You have also unlocked the following 'Backer Rewards' which we will add to your pledge If you qualify:
Paul and I are both huge fans of these two sculpts and we are hoping they give you an idea where we would like to take things next?
I'm now off to bed so please look after things while I am away, continue to share links to this Kickstarter out there in social media land or via email with your friends as any and all help is appreciated. When I wake up I will be back to answering questions, just remember no question is too daft to answer and I am always here to help.
I am hoping we will have unlocked one of my favourite packs in the whole campaign, the Foot Sergeants 2, by breakfast.
Keep safe, and once again thank you so much from the both of us!
~ Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)
