Arthur and the Anglo Saxon wars

[Breogan]

Arthur and the Anglo Saxon wars


The warrior aristocracy of Arthurian Britain generally fought as light cavalry with sword and javelin, but rarely as cataphractlii with heavier lances. Those Britons who fled to Armorica were later famous as horsemen, and cavalry clearly pre- dominated in southern Scotland, the Pennines and West Midlands. The men of Wales, however, were mostly infantry. The loss of horse-raising areas such as the Cotswolds, Salisbury Plain and Hampshire must have been a serious blow to the Britons. What little written evidence survives suggests that surprise dawn attacks were a favourite tactic, as was the defence of river lines with consequently frequent battles at fords. In the rarely recorded sieges the Britons were almost invariably the besieged, and here the defenders were probably a form of urban militia. British resistance, in fact, probably re-assembled a guerrilla campaign from fortified base-areas by small groups of horsemen against scattered Anglo-Saxon settlements. The foot-slogging Saxons were, by contrast, better able to build field fortifications and so to consolidate their territorial expansion...


continues in:

Clive Owen - Arthur and The Anglo Saxon Wars