War, the Church, and English Men-at-Arms

Summary

During the fourteenth century, the pious practices of most members of the gentry and nobility were predominantly focused around their caput horonis and familial heartland. Even though many of these men spent significant periods of time serving abroad, their religious focus remained close to home, as this was where they worshipped, made donations and were buried. Despite what has been said about the universality of the church in the late medieval period, evidence of the spiritual preparations men-at-arms made before campaigning reveals an unwillingness to engage with foreign clergy and fears of not being able to confess their sins fully to them due to language barriers. Suspicion of, and open hostility to, foreign clergy was a feature throughout the period, both in royal policy – with the seizure and exploitation of alien monastic houses – and military strategy with violent attacks carried out against members of the French and Scottish clergy by English men-at-arms. This distrust of foreign clergymen was reflected at the local level, as when preparing to be away from England for significant amounts of time, men-at-arms did all that they could to take the spiritual protection of their local church with them.

Many historians studying the careers of the militarily active gentry and nobility have ignored the religious implications of this extended warfare. This must be rectified if we wish to understand the conflict and the history of the period generally. Engaging with and understanding how these men-at-arms defined themselves and how they defined the church to which they offered so many prayers and donations is essential if one wishes to understand their religious beliefs. It is the aim of this chapter to provide an overview of the ways in which English men-at-arms prepared themselves spiritually for campaigning and, through an examination of their conduct while serving abroad, to attempt to see what, if any, influence these preparations had upon the ways in which they acted towards foreign clergy and non-combatants. This examination will reveal that while many men-at-arms in this period took pains to bring English priests on campaign with them, this did not prevent them or those under their command from committing sacrilegious acts in foreign churches and violent attacks on foreign clergymen.