Schiltron: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 20122021}}

The term dates from at least 1000 AD and derives from [[Old English]] roots expressing the idea of a "shield-troop".<ref>scildtruma,sceldtroman,scheltron {{cite book |title= An Anglo-Saxon dictionary|last= Bosworth|first= Joseph|author2=T. Northcote Toller |year= 1898/1921|page= 831|pages= |url= http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oe_bosworthtoller/b0831.html|accessdate=}}</ref> Some researchers have also posited this etymological relation may show the schiltron is directly descended from the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[shield wall]], and still others give evidence "schiltron" is a name derived from a [[Viking]] circular formation (generally no lessfewer than a thousand fighters) in extremely close formation, intended to present an enemy's cavalry charge with an "infinite" obstacle (that is, a perimeter horses refuse to breach). Matters are confused by use of this term in [[Middle English]] to clearly refer to a body of soldiers without reference to formation, including cavalry and archers.<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=byte&byte=176821441&egdisplay=compact&egs=176834765 see examples in the Electronic English Dictionary]</ref> The first mention of the schiltron as a specific formation of spearmen appears to be at the [[Battle of Falkirk]] in 1298.<ref>{{cite book |title= William Wallace |last= Fisher|first= Andrew|year=1986 |publisher=John Donald |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0-85976-154-1 |page=80}}</ref> There is, however, no reason to believe this is the first time such a formation was used and it may have had a long previous history in Scotland, as the [[Picts]] used to employ spears in block formation as the backbone of their armies.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Picts and Scots at War|last= Aitchison|first=Nick |year=2003 |publisher=Sutton |location= Stroud|isbn=0-7509-2556-6 |page= 88}}

There are two recorded [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scottish]] instances of circular schiltrons: [[William Wallace]]'s army at the 1298 [[Battle of Falkirk]], and an element of [[Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray|Thomas Randolph]]'s forces on the first day of the 1314 [[Battle of Bannockburn]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Linklater | first = Eric | title = The Survival of Scotland | url = https://archive.org/details/survivalofscotla00link | url-access = registration | publisher = Double[[Doubleday Day(publisher)|Doubleday]] | year = 1968 | location = Garden City, NewNY York, USA | isbn = }}</ref>

The circular formation is essentially static. At Falkirk, the formation was fortified by driving stakes into the ground before the men, with ropes between.<ref>Fisher (1986), op.cit., p. 80</ref> [[Charles Oman]] describes the formation thus: "The front ranks knelt with their spear butts fixed in the earth; the rear ranks leveled their lances over their comrades heads; the thick-set grove of twelve foot spears was far too dense for the cavalry to penetrate."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Art of War in the Middle Ages |last=Oman |first= Charles |authorlinkauthor-link=Charles Oman|year=1924|volume= vol.2|publisher= Greenhill |location=London |isbn= 1-85367-100-2|page=80}}</ref>

There are numerous accounts of rectilinear schiltrons —– they were employed at the battles of [[Battle of Glen Trool|Glen Trool]] (1307), Bannockburn (the main battle), [[Battle of Myton|Myton]] (1319), [[Battle of Dupplin Moor|Dupplin Muir]] (1332), [[Battle of Culblean|Culblean]] (1335), [[Battle of Halidon Hill|Halidon Hill]] (1333), [[Battle of Neville's Cross|Neville's Cross]] (1346) and [[Battle of Otterburn|Otterburn]] (1388).{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

Unlike the circular schiltron, the rectilinear formation was capable of both defensive and offensive action. The offensive use of the schiltron is a tactical development credited to [[Robert I of Scotland|Robert the Bruce]] at Bannockburn. He had drilled his troops in the offensive use of the pike (requiring great discipline) and he was able to fight the [[Kingdom of England|English]] forces on flat, firm ground suitable for their large force of cavalry. Bruce's new tactic was a response to a crushing defeat for the Scots at Falkirk when the first recorded use of the schiltron by a Scottish army failed in the face of a combination of conscripted [[Wales|Welsh]] [[Welsh longbow|longbowmen]], English [[Archery|archers]] and English [[cavalry]].<ref>[[Winston Churchill|Spencer-Churchill, Winston L.]] ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples'', Volume 1, ''The Birth of Britain'' (New York: Bantam Books, 1974, 12h printing), p. 225.</ref>

*"They were all on foot; picked men they were, enthusiastic, armed with keen axes, and other weapons, and with their shields closely locked in front of them, they formed an impenetrable phalanx ..."<ref>''Trokelowe'', quoted in Brown, op.cit, p. 90</ref>

The term schiltron is also used by [[John Barbour (poet)|Barbour]] to describe English infantry at Bannockburn.<ref>Brown, op.cit., p. 132</ref> It is also used by the author of the [[Lanercost Chronicle]] to describe the English spearmen at the [[Battle of Boroughbridge]] (1322).<ref>{{cite book |title= Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century|last= DeVries|first=Kelly |year=1996 |publisher= Boydell Press |location= Woodbridge|isbn= 0-85115-567-7|page= 94}}</ref> In both cases, a rectilinear formation is being described, though that at Boroughbridge is curved, with its flanks bent back.

While doubtless a Scottish development, the schiltron fits into a Northern European context of infantry combat. Parallels with Scandinavian practice have already been drawn (see [[#Etymology|Etymology]] above) and the multiple-ranked tightly- packed infantry formations were standard across Europe during the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Soldiers' Lives Through History : The Middle Ages |last=Rogers |first=Clifford|year=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location= Westport, CT|isbn=978-0-313-33350-57|page=162}}</ref>

Another example is during the [[Battle of Legnano]] (1176) between the Milanese Army against Federico Barbarossa, in defense of the Carroccio by the Milanese armies commanded by Guido da Landriano.

== See also ==

*[[Testudo formation|Testudo]]

{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==