THE CAROLINGIANS.
An Introduction by Chris
Peers (author of "By The Sword - Rules for
Medieval Skirmish Gaming, c. 400 to 1600 AD".
This
range represents the armies of the Carolingian dynasty, which took over the
kingdom of the Franks (roughly modern France,
the Low Countries and Western Germany) in 751 AD, and ruled in France until
987. They were made famous by their greatest king, Charlemagne ("Charles
the Great"), who turned the Frankish nation into a regional superpower and
could claim to be the greatest figure in medieval European history. Charlemagne's
armies fought and defeated the Lombards in Italy, the Moors in Spain,
the pagan Saxons and Slavs in Germany,
and even the Avars from Central Asia (former nomads who
had terrorised Europe from a stronghold in the
Balkans). The Franks made themselves masters of an empire stretching from Brittany to Croatia,
and from the borders of Denmark
as far south as Rome.
In the process they extended the boundaries of Christendom in Eastern
Europe (converting the vanquished by force if persuasion failed).
In
the year 800 the Pope recognised Charlemagne's achievement by crowning him as
the first Holy Roman Emperor, and even the Emperor in Byzantium was obliged to treat him as an
equal. To the later Middle Ages, the reign of
Charlemagne seemed like a heroic golden age. Epic poems like the "Song of
Roland" described the fictionalised exploits of the Emperor and his
knights in the great struggle against the Muslims - a sort of Continental
version of King Arthur and his Round Table.
Even
the Vikings did not dare to challenge Charlemagne, but after his death in 814
the tide turned. The barbarians beyond the frontiers returned in force, and for
a century Europe was overrun by pillaging hordes of Arabs and Vikings, joined
in the 10th century by the equally ruthless Magyars (a new nomadic
power based in Hungary).
These were the worst invasions since the days of the Huns, and for a while it
looked as if Christian Europe would be completely overrun. But the formidable Frankish
armies were in the forefront of Christendom's desperate fight for survival, and
although they were no longer united and often fought among themselves, they eventually
overcame all their enemies. They thwarted the Vikings at the Siege of Paris in
886, routed the Magyars at the battles of Riade in
933 and Lechfeld in 955, and in 975 they wiped out
the main base of the Muslim pirates at Fraxinetum. But
during the 9th century the Empire gradually broke up, and the East
and West Franks began to evolve into the peoples we know as the Germans and
French respectively.
The
main strength of the Carolingian army was the cavalry, which at first was in a
minority but increased in numbers as time went on. Not all were armoured, but
the wealthier horsemen wore mail coats, helmets, and even iron arm and leg
defences. They had not yet adopted the medieval "couched" lance
technique, but they were feared for their impetuous charges. They were
supported by infantry spearmen in typical Dark Age "shieldwall"
formations. Charlemagne encouraged archery, and introduced bows to the list of
equipment to be brought on campaign. In contemporary pictures the elite "scara" guardsmen are often shown wearing red uniforms,
with helmet plumes and other Roman-inspired features. The rest of the troops
were not uniformed, but the traditional Frankish white or blue cloaks and tunics,
with scarlet leggings or trousers, would have predominated, making a Carolingian
army a colourful sight.
The
figures in this range are ideal for the armies of both Charlemagne and his
successors. Their solid, spear armed infantry and striking force of heavy
cavalry make a deadly combination against more conventional "Dark
Age" axe-wielding nutters, as well as against
the marauding light cavalry of the Arabs and Central Asian nomads.
Carolingians
could be used in all sorts of scenarios as well as standard one-off tabletop
battles. A long-running campaign might be based around the attempts of a local
Frankish count and his retinue to beat off rampaging Vikings or Arabs (or
both!), while establishing his authority over his Frankish rivals at the same
time. At the other extreme an exciting skirmish game could be based on a raid
on an army's baggage (like the one in which the epic hero Roland was killed in
778), or an attempt to save a holy relic from some heathen horde.
Good
sources for background information and painting details include:
David
Nicolle, "Carolingian Cavalryman, AD 768 - 987".
Osprey "Warrior" no. 96 (2005).
Ian
Heath, "Armies of the Dark Ages, 600 - 1066". Wargames
Research Group, 1980.
