The Training of a Medieval Knight

The story of the illustrious French knight Jean II Le Maingre “Boucicaut” and how he trained to become a great warrior and an embodiment of chivalry.

In this post I would like to remind people that the medieval knights trained hard to stay in shape, just like modern athletes.

Some specific descriptions of the physical exercises they were doing have survived. One of the most fascinating is this account of the renowned French knight Jean II Le Maingre “Boucicaut” (1366-1421) from his biography written during his lifetime.

“Here we tell of the physical exercises Boucicaut undertook in order to become hardened to arms.

And this was not all that the noble young Boucicaut did. He declared that he would no longer be detained at court, and that henceforth he would be master of his own fate; he saw himself as already a grown man, who needed to perform as others did. So very soon he left Paris and went to Guyenne with the Marshal Louis de Sancerre who was about to lay siege to the castle of Montguyon [Monguison] – and now we shall recount how Boucicaut conducted himself on that expedition.

So unwavering was he in the pursuit of arms that no hardship was too great; privations that would have seemed intolerable to others gave him great pleasure, for even in periods of respite, he could not take it easy. So instead, he would train himself to leap fully armed onto his horse’s back, or on other occasions he would go for long runs on foot, to increase his strength and resistance, or he would train for hours with a battle-axe or a hammer to harden himself to armour and to exercise his arms and hands, so that he could easily raise his arms when fully armed. Doing such exercises gave him a physique so strong that there was no other gentleman in his time who was so proficient – for he could do a somersault fully armed but for his bascinet, and he could dance equipped in a coat of mail.

Item: he could leap fully armed onto his courser, without putting his foot in a stirrup.

Item: he could leap up from the ground onto the shoulders of a tall man mounted on a large horse, simply by grabbing the man’s sleeve in one hand.

Item: by placing one hand on the saddlebow of a great courser and the other between its ears, he could vault between his arms over the horse, holding its mane.

Item: if two plaster walls, the height of a tower, stood an arm’s width apart, he could climb up them using just feet and hands, no other aid, and without falling.

Item: fully armed in a coat of mail, he could climb right to the top of the underside of a scaling ladder leaning against a wall, simply swinging from rung to rung by his two hands – or without the coat of mail, by one hand only.

These things are absolutely true – and indeed he trained his body so hard in so many other exercises that it would be difficult to find his like. And when he was at home, he would never tire of competing with the other squires in throwing a lance and other warlike exercises. And this was how he behaved during the whole expedition, and he felt he could never be too prompt to take part in any skirmish. And when the army was besieging Montguyon [Monguison], he was a part of every attack that took place, and he would hurry to be among the first to take part in any enterprise appropriate to a man of breeding. He would risk danger in a way that astonished everyone, and because of his bravery and courage, and his deeds, Marshal Sancerre became very fond of him, and said to his own followers: ‘If that boy lives, he will be remarkable man.’ And in the end, Montguyon fell, and a number of other castles and fortresses were rendered by agreement – after which the army returned to France.”

Source: The Chivalric Biography of Boucicaut, Jean II Le Meingre (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2016), 30-33.

I would like to talk a bit more about this French knight Boucicaut, for he was a great warrior who fought in many battles and achieved great fame and prestige!

In his 33 years long military career as a knight he fought all over Europe. He was knighted on the eve of the Battle of Roosebeke on 27 November 1382 by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, when he was only 16. Boucicaut helped the French destroy the Flemish rebel in this battle and this is how his journey as a warrior began.

He did not only serve France but also fought as a crusader in many different lands. He went to the Baltic three times to assist the Teutonic Order fighting against the pagan Lithuanians. The first of these journeys was in 1384 when he was only 18. He also fought against the Moors in Spain and would later fight against the Ottomans in the Balkans.

However his military career was mostly defined by the ongoing Hundred Years' War where he served France fighting against the English. In 1391 he was declared Marshal of France due to his incredible achievements and the valor he had shown in battles.

Even during peace time, he was constantly seeking challenges and participated in tournaments. He was a man who enjoyed fighting and dedicated everything in his life to be a better warrior and an example of chivalry.

The key to his success as a warrior was that he simply trained very hard. At the end of the day, knights had to be very well prepared physically. Medieval combat was strenuous and required not just great deal of skills but also great physical conditioning. Fighting in heavy armor for a prolonged period of time demanded stamina and muscle endurance. Things could get especially bad in hot weather. One of the battles that comes to my mind to illustrate you this is the Battle of the Marchfeld in 1278, where after three hours of continuous fighting in armor on a hot summer day, many Bohemian knights who fought there began suffering from heat exhaustion and were unable to move.

The kind of training Boucicaut was doing, as described in his biography, makes sense and was probably replicated by other knights of his time. Running long distances and regular practice of various movements while wearing armor would greatly increase their endurance for long battles. I imagine most knights trained very hard in their spare time, especially in times of war, since this was basically a matter of life and death for them. We simply don’t have that many details for other knights.

Boucicaut gained great respect by contemporaries not only because of his strength and prowess in battle, but also because he was a firm believer in chivalric values and began to be seen as an embodiment of the ideal of chivalry. He was a pious man who lived and ascetic life. He did not take part in hedonistic excesses of nobility. He praised courtly love. When he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land during, he and his companions composed a poetical defence of the faithful and chaste love of a knight called the Livre des Cent Ballades.

In 1396 he took part in the ill-fated crusade in the Balkans that ended with defeat against the Ottomans at the Battle of Nicopolis. Along with many other French knights, he was captured by the Ottomans but was eventually ransomed. Despite this devastating defeat, he was determined to return and in 1399 he led six ships carrying 1,200 men to Constantinople which was besieged by the Ottomans.

In the meantime Republic of Genoa fell under the influence of King of France Charles VI and Boucicaut was appointed as governor of Genoa in 1401. This led him to new adventures in war as he now had to fight for the Genoese interests all over the Mediterranean. He immediately went to Cyprus where he defended the city of Famagusta, then held by the Genoese, from the attack of King Janus of Cyprus.

From Cyprus Boucicaut tried to expand the Genoese power and planned to attack Alexandria in Egypt but eventually campaigned in modern-day Lebanon. He unsuccessfully attacked Tripoli and then went on to sack Botron and Beirut in 1403. He also attacked the cities of Sidon and Latakia.

Fighting for Genoa, Boucicaut experienced naval warfare as well. But he was not successful in this as he was defeated by Venice at the Battle of Modon in 1403. Eventually the Genoese freed themselves from the French influence in 1409 and Boucicaut had to go back to France.

Back in France, Boucicaut would achieve the greatest honor of his military career. As the Marshal of France he would be given command of the great French army at Agincourt in 1415 together with the Constable of France Charles I d’Albret. However this would also be his biggest defeat as the French experienced disaster in that battle. Boucicaut was captured and spent the last years of his life in English captivity where he died in 1421.

It feels that in the eyes of modern people, the terrible defeat at Agincourt has somewhat ruined Boucicaut’s reputation, and he is often seen as an overly idealized figure of a bygone era who, in his actual military career, could not adapt to the pragmatic reality of his time. This view was popularized by historian Johan Huizinga in his book The Waning of the Middle Ages.

But once you explore the actual military career of Boucicaut you can find out that this wasn’t the case. At the Battle of Agincourt him and d’Albret devised a sound plan of how to deal with the English. They wanted a much more cautious approach in how to deal with the threat of English longbowmen and basically wanted to play a waiting game and starve the English into surrender.

However on the day of the battle, d’Albret and Boucicaut were not able to assert their authority over the more prestigious nobles like the powerful Dukes of Orléans, Alençon and Bourbon, who wanted to face the English head on. The French army was in total chaos and practically leaderless. The infantry formations could not form properly because all the nobles wanted to be in first lines out of prestige and honor. They then hopelessly charged at the English positions without any sense of disciplined formation, leading to a devastating defeat against a smaller army.

So to blame Boucicaut for the failure of Agincourt, where he had the right plan for victory but couldn't execute it because of factors outside of his control, is extremely unfair!

The defeats that the French knights suffered at the battles like Agincourt and Nicopolis were a result of deeper problem of knightly culture at the time which included excessive bravado and vainglory, and inability to perform as a disciplined army. Boucicaut grew up in this same culture but, in stark contrast of many knights in his time, he became known for his asceticism, piety and humility. For these reasons he became so respected, as he presented the ideal of chivalry.

Ultimately, his career as a knight speaks for himself. He fought in France, Flanders, the Baltics, Spain, the Balkans, Cyprus, and the Middle East in countless battles. His experience in war was unmatched, as well as his knowledge of various different cultures and fighting styles he encountered in his life. There is a lot to learn from this man. His chivalric biography is a great insight into his mindset and a fascinating account of the time he lived in.