Recent from talks
Devon Trained Bands
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Devon Trained Bands
The Devon Trained Bands were a part-time militia force recruited from Devonshire in South West England, first organised in 1558. They were periodically embodied for home defence and internal security, including the Spanish Armada campaign in 1588, and saw active service during the First English Civil War. They were reformed into the Devon Militia in 1662.
The English militia was descended from the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd, the military force raised from the freemen of the shires under command of their Sheriff. It continued as the Shire levy or Posse comitatus under the Norman kings, and was reorganised under the Assizes of Arms of 1181 and 1252, and again by King Edward I's Statute of Winchester of 1285.
The legal basis of the militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3) and the maintenance of horses and armour (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2). The county militia was now placed under the Lord Lieutenant, assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace. The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England.
The Earl of Bedford was appointed lieutenant for the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Exeter, and issued detailed orders for the organisation of the militia on 18 April 1558. He organised the men from the Hundreds of Devonshire into four groups for the defence of the harbours on the north and south coasts of the county:
Most of these men would have been armed with longbows or bills, because the 1560 survey of arms and armour in Devonshire reported only two arquebuses. However, nine years later there were 595 arquebuses in the county, besides 112 in Exeter. Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so the militia commissioners in some counties including Devon separated their able men aged 16 to 60 into three categories. 'Pryncipall' men were best suited for soldiering; those of the 'seconde' rank had some promise, while the remainder were classed as 'unable'. After 1572 it became the universal practice to select a proportion of the available men for the Trained Bands (TBs), who were mustered for regular training. In that year Devonshire mustered 9224 'able men', including tin-miners and mariners, under 53 Captains, but the musters were unsatisfactory, with many propertied people shirking their obligation to provide arms and armour. This earned the Earl of Bedford a rebuke from of Queen Elizabeth I.
By 1577 the Devon Trained Bands were divided into three divisions, each with two colonels and six captains:
By now the weapons consisted of 647 calivers (firearms), 651 longbows, 830 pikes and 1160 'black bills' and halberds, with 841 corslets (pikemen's armour) and 637 Morion helmets.
The threat of invasion during the Spanish War led to emphasis being placed on the 17 'maritime' counties most vulnerable to attack, and in 1584 the Devon TBs fielded more men than any other county: assessed at 1200 'shot' (men with firearms), 800 bowmen, and 1000 'corslets', the county actually provided more than was required in each category, a total of 3178 men. In the Armada year of 1588 the three Devonshire Divisions (each of three large companies, totalling 3661 men) were instructed to join the army forming to defend the South Coast of England, while 1650 able-bodied untrained men remained to defend the county. Devon also supplied 150 light horsemen and 50 'petronels' (the petronel was an early cavalry firearm); it had no 'lances' (heavily armoured horsemen) but instead supplied 200 additional musketeers.
Hub AI
Devon Trained Bands AI simulator
(@Devon Trained Bands_simulator)
Devon Trained Bands
The Devon Trained Bands were a part-time militia force recruited from Devonshire in South West England, first organised in 1558. They were periodically embodied for home defence and internal security, including the Spanish Armada campaign in 1588, and saw active service during the First English Civil War. They were reformed into the Devon Militia in 1662.
The English militia was descended from the Anglo-Saxon Fyrd, the military force raised from the freemen of the shires under command of their Sheriff. It continued as the Shire levy or Posse comitatus under the Norman kings, and was reorganised under the Assizes of Arms of 1181 and 1252, and again by King Edward I's Statute of Winchester of 1285.
The legal basis of the militia was updated by two acts of 1557 covering musters (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 3) and the maintenance of horses and armour (4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2). The county militia was now placed under the Lord Lieutenant, assisted by the Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace. The entry into force of these Acts in 1558 is seen as the starting date for the organised county militia in England.
The Earl of Bedford was appointed lieutenant for the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Exeter, and issued detailed orders for the organisation of the militia on 18 April 1558. He organised the men from the Hundreds of Devonshire into four groups for the defence of the harbours on the north and south coasts of the county:
Most of these men would have been armed with longbows or bills, because the 1560 survey of arms and armour in Devonshire reported only two arquebuses. However, nine years later there were 595 arquebuses in the county, besides 112 in Exeter. Although the militia obligation was universal, it was clearly impractical to train and equip every able-bodied man, so the militia commissioners in some counties including Devon separated their able men aged 16 to 60 into three categories. 'Pryncipall' men were best suited for soldiering; those of the 'seconde' rank had some promise, while the remainder were classed as 'unable'. After 1572 it became the universal practice to select a proportion of the available men for the Trained Bands (TBs), who were mustered for regular training. In that year Devonshire mustered 9224 'able men', including tin-miners and mariners, under 53 Captains, but the musters were unsatisfactory, with many propertied people shirking their obligation to provide arms and armour. This earned the Earl of Bedford a rebuke from of Queen Elizabeth I.
By 1577 the Devon Trained Bands were divided into three divisions, each with two colonels and six captains:
By now the weapons consisted of 647 calivers (firearms), 651 longbows, 830 pikes and 1160 'black bills' and halberds, with 841 corslets (pikemen's armour) and 637 Morion helmets.
The threat of invasion during the Spanish War led to emphasis being placed on the 17 'maritime' counties most vulnerable to attack, and in 1584 the Devon TBs fielded more men than any other county: assessed at 1200 'shot' (men with firearms), 800 bowmen, and 1000 'corslets', the county actually provided more than was required in each category, a total of 3178 men. In the Armada year of 1588 the three Devonshire Divisions (each of three large companies, totalling 3661 men) were instructed to join the army forming to defend the South Coast of England, while 1650 able-bodied untrained men remained to defend the county. Devon also supplied 150 light horsemen and 50 'petronels' (the petronel was an early cavalry firearm); it had no 'lances' (heavily armoured horsemen) but instead supplied 200 additional musketeers.