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Fifteenth Century

	The Border Reivers were active until the Union of the Crowns in the 17th Century. They raided for cattle and other items between Scotland and England, crossing the border to avoid pursuit by the English or Scottish authorities. Many fortified houses were built in Scotland during the period in which the Border Reivers operated. This picture shows an armoured knight of the fifteenth century. Plate armour was heavy, but, as the weight was distributed evenly over the body, it was quite easy to move in. Gaps between the plates were covered by pieces of mail.
The term "camp follower" used to have a much broader application than it does today. Wherever the army went it would be followed by hundreds or even thousands of people who made their living supplying its members with goods and services.
	The little girl is playing with a wooden spoon on which a face has been scratched to make a doll. Some quite elaborate toys were made during this period in history, but most children would have only had very simple items to play with.
Members of the upper classes would often marry when they were very young in order to establish political or financial links between their families. The common people tended not to marry until their mid or late twenties. This reduced the number of children in each family and gave the mother a higher chance of surviving childbirth each time.
Both men and women could be apprentices and members of trade guilds in towns. Women who were independent traders (femme sole) as opposed to being partners in their husbands businesses had independent status under the law, for example, their business profits and debts were separate from their husbands'. Femmes soles had the same obligations as men for military training. Many of them (and many of the men) would pay others to attend the training sessions for them. It is not clear whether women who chose to attend the military training themselves would also have formed part of the army. It is generally agreed that if a town was beseiged the women would have joined in with its defence. Records from French towns list different contributions which townsfolk and guilds were expected to make to its defence. These indicate that women were expected to operate the seige engines. Joan of Arc was exceptional in being a woman soldier who was open about her gender. There is some evidence that a very small number of women disguised themselves as men and joined the army in almost all periods of history.

Bibliography

"Food and Cooking in Medieval Britain" - Maggie Black - English Heritage - 1 85074 081 X
"Women in the Medieval Town" - Erika Uitz - Barrie and Jenkins - 0-7126-3437-1
"The Steel Bonnets" - George MacDonald Fraser - Pan - 0 330 23857 4
"The Reivers" - John Grant - Mercat Press - 0 901824 66 6
"Longer Scottish Poems 1375-1650" - edited by P.Bawcutt, F.Riddy - Scottish Academic Press - 0 7073 0328 1
"The Medieval Soldier" Gerry Embleton, John Howe - Windrow and Greene - 1 85915 036 5
"English Longbowman 1330-1515" - C.Bartlett, G.Embleton - Osprey Military, Warrior Series - 1-85532-491-1
"All a Young Wife Ought to Know" - Hastings Arts Pocket Press - 1 873422 13 X

Websites

Making a pattern for a fitted doublet
The White Company
Women Warriors of the Fifteenth Century
Women Warriors of Scotland

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