Medievel Soldiers Records, Online.

[Dave]

A university website has listed 250,000 medievel soldiers names, from our earliest service records.

Soldiers who fought in the hundred years war, as far back as the 1300's.

For a bit of fun, you can type in your surname, and see what it brings up. You can find out, for instance if your namesake was an archer at the battle of Agincourt, in 1415.

When I typed in my own surname I found a fellow with the same first name and surname as mine.

He was a Man at Arms, in the year 1439, and was stationed at Aquataine, France in a standing force.
His commander was the Earl of Huntingdon, the Remembrancer for the King.

Who was your namesake?

DATABASE LINK HERE.

The Soldier in Late Medievel England

 

[woof]

That's fascinating thanks very much for posting.

Rob

 

[Goatboy]

Cool cheers for posting, a good wee resource.

I had none with the same first name, but nineteen with the same surname which is relatively rare. Four were Men At Arms the remaining fifteen were Archers. Seven of the Archers had traditional christian names for our family. A few of those were off in France during the Hundred Years Wars. Interesting stuff.

 

[mountainm]

Not a single entry for Mountain

 

[ozzy1977]

Greta find.

Only 4 with my surname and one was an archery, hope he shot better than I can

 

[Laurentius]

38 references (some of them clearly duplicates), mostly archers which I suppose is not surprising for the peasantry, none with the same christian name though. I also typed in my mothers maiden name and there were none at all, but it is a very rare name.

 

[sandbender]

Fascinating stuff, thanks for the link. Nothing for my name but it is an an anglicisation of an Irish name and so is quite recent.

 

[British Red]

A few references to my unusual surname - one of a man at arms commanded by Henry V

 

[Dave]

Glad you like it guys.
I was surprised when my full name came up. You think your name must be modern, but i guess theres nothing new under the sun eh?

 

[mountainm]

My name has a fair few derivations a couple of which are on as archers (Menton and Manton if I recall).

 

[Laurentius]

My christian name is also a surname and my surname is also a christian name now as it was in medieval times. My middle name does not appear at all I suspect it crept into usage with the popularity for Biblical names amongst non conformists after the various religious revivals of the 19th and 18th century, but that is just a guess as I inherited it from a Baptist great grandfather.

 

[The_Taffinch]

My surname doesn't produce any results - it's pretty rare (only about 600 of us in the world apparently), but it did lead to bit of research on the orgins of the name where I discovered that the likeliest root meaning is 'dweller in the woods' which is nicely apt

 

[Coldfeet]

Thanks for sharing - no one with my full name, but a few with my unusual family name, one under the Duke of York (who had 10,000 men!)

 

[Goatboy]

Interesting stuff about folks names. My first name is one letter away from a complete anagram of my surname. (My mother wasn't pleased when she figured it out seemingly!) It's originally from Norway, seemingly brought as hired mercenaries to knock lumps out of a Scottish clan.

 

[Toddy]

Out of ten family names I tried only one came up.....men at arms in Wales, esquires and knights on the Scottish marches and naval exped.

Interesting though Thanks for the link

Wish there was a Scottish version. It'd be some trawl through the Scottish muniments :yikes:

cheers,
M

 

[Goatboy]

Out of ten family names I tried only one came up.....men at arms in Wales, esquires and knights on the Scottish marches and naval exped.

Interesting though Thanks for the link

Wish there was a Scottish version. It'd be some trawl through the Scottish muniments :yikes:

cheers,
M

Now there's a lovely word that you don't see everyday. On the Scottish front though M, imagine trying to keep records of all the bickering and infighting that went on!? Like they say, "Put three Scots in a room for four opinions."

 

[Toddy]

I have spent weeks trawling through the Scottish Records Office and the assorted muniments for Loch Tayside in the Breadalbane papers, and for the spying and poaching that went on in the development of the Scottish flax industry by the Honourable, the Society of the Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland ......absolutely fascinating stuff, it really is.
The SCO is an incredible treasure trove of wonderful details.....from receipts for red silk cushions for lady soandso to the details of the measures and markings of land for specific tenants; how much seed to be sown to specific lands...what cargo came ashore, what catches were made, who married in and who died of what.

Good stuff

M

 

[Damascus]

Well it seems archery is still in the blood!

my grandfather, William was esquire and man at arms to the king!

Thankyou for that really interesting.

 

[Man of Tanith]

none with my surname.
Two with my mothers maiden name both archers.
However I'm gonna try the older version of my surname tonight.

interestingly my name was chosen by my folks as there was no Sam's in the family to prevent claims I had been named after somone.
gl back two generations and there are Sam's every generation for years back. including one who ran an inn on my parents road in tbe 1800's so its clearly an old family name after all