The Bayeux tapestry depicts an English housecarl (left), wielding a Dane axe with two hands.[1]
A housecarl (Old Norse: húskarl; Old English: huscarl) was a non-servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe.
The institution originated amongst the Norsemen of Scandinavia, and was brought to Anglo-Saxon England by the Danish conquest in the 11th century. They were well-trained, and paid as full-time soldiers. In England, the royal housecarls had a number of roles, both military and administrative, and they fought under Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.
^Wise, Terence (1979). Saxon, Viking and Norman. Osprey. ISBN 978-0-85045-301-0.
A housecarl (Old Norse: húskarl; Old English: huscarl) was a non-servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe. The institution...
Karl has the same root as churl and meant originally a "free man". As "housecarl", it came back to England. In German, Kerl is used to describe a somewhat...
personal armsmen, known as housecarls, who formed the backbone of the royal forces. Some earls also had their own forces of housecarls. Thegns, the local landowning...
a mix of the fyrd (militia mainly composed of foot soldiers) and the housecarls, or nobleman's personal troops, who usually also fought on foot. The main...
army. The king and magnates retained professional household troops (see housecarl), and all free men were obligated to perform military service in the fyrd...
battle, "Harold and his housecarl bodyguard...fought on until an arrow struck the king in the eye." After Harold died, the housecarl bodyguard made a last...
landed gentry over the drużyna as his base of power.[citation needed] Housecarl Leidang Hird Voluntary People's Druzhina, a civilian organization in the...
druzhina, the Swedish/Norwegian hird, and the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon housecarls. The Varangians served as the personal bodyguard of the emperor, swearing...
body. The English dead, who included some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls, were left on the battlefield. Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, Harold's mother,...
the king's men, "but luck isn't with him and he lacks a victory." The housecarl brought the men water and a towel to wash themselves. As the king was...
originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls. Over time, it came to mean not only the nucleus ('Guards') of the royal...
century the infantry was strengthened by the addition of an elite force of housecarls. More recent research, however, suggests that there was only a select-fyrd...
Learning of the Norwegian invasion he headed north at great speed with his housecarls and as many thegns as he could gather, travelling day and night. He made...
invasion of Italy. Arimannus Mannerbund Comitatus (classical meaning) Fyrd Housecarl Druzhina Thingmen Varangian Guard Hird István Bóna: Der Anbruch des Mittelalters:...
argument arose between them, and the next day, Christmas 1026, one of Cnut's housecarls killed the jarl with his blessing, in Trinity Church, the predecessor...
Security Industry Authority (UK regulator) Particular units or kinds Housecarls (medieval Scandinavia and Anglo-Saxon England) Antrustion, the bodyguards...
strong force of Danish mercenaries (housecarls) as his main force, an expensive and resented policy (the housecarls' leaders were later slaughtered by...
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