The ingenuity of Medieval people isn't appreciated enough. They didn't have the conveniences modern societies possess (rail, automobiles, aircraft, engine-powered ships, computers, digital calculators, gps, instant communication, etc.), yet they were able to successfully coordinate an effort to feed and transport thousands of people to lands far away. Getting supplies across the English Channel onto the mainland by itself was a herculean task, now imagine the feat required to supply the crusades in the Middle East. It truly was a miracle that the First Crusade was ever able to succeed. A wonderful video, and I truly appreciate the work you do for our benefit.
This is a proper goldmine of a channel. There's plenty of history content about, and that's obviously class, but few tend to go into detail about the relatively obscure stuff like you do.
Another outstanding channel is Modern History TV. Jason Kingsley is as great a host as Kevin and he also talks about "mundane" aspects of medieval life, as well as more traditional topics, such as armour, weapons and so on.
To understand this, you need to know about the quart system. A quart is a unit of volume that is similar to a liter. The quart was originally a medieval English unit for dry and liquid measures that varied between 0.95 and 1.16 liters, relatively close to its modern equivalents (L).
as a sheep owner i find it fascinating how animals were transported historically, often by a 'drover' who would know the countryside well and run hundreds of sheep or cattle vast distances usually with the help of dogs. As they were seasoned travellers, town-folk would pay them to tag along too for protection. I'm always amazed how the animals ended up where they needed to be
Even into the mid 20thC sheep were brought to London for slaughter by drovers who used teh commons on the way for grazing: there are pix of them on Clapham and Wandsworth Commons from that period.
In Colonial America the drovers often had a regular route so the farmer would know when to bring his cows, sheep, ducks, and pigs to intercept the drover. There is a very good short story and movie about a farmer who built a bridge to change the drovers route so he and his neighbors could make use of the drover. Of course I don’t remember the name.
Your account of pottage reminds me of a story from World War II. My father was in the US Army and in Europe in charge of a truck company. (He claimed he spent the war chasing Patton with cans of gas.) He asked my mother to send him anything spicy she could find -- hot sauce, garlic powder, anything with a good strong taste -- to jazz up the rations they were issued. Once she sent him a jar of little cocktail pickles. She wrote, "I thought you could eat them one at a time." He explained later that they had removed the liner from a helmet, dumped everything they had to eat into the helmet, including the pickles and their juice, mixed it up, heated it over a fire and ate it. "Tasted great!" An army doesn't change much over the years.
@@andremaertens5964 The truck company filled their tin cups with clean snow and stuck them into the truck's engine. Trial and error taught them how far it took for the heat from the engine to melt the snow and heat it up for coffee. Of course they had instant coffee.
The mental visuals I'm getting of how vast the old world actually was, is astounding. The logistical side of things really shows it, just speaking in numbers of soldiers doesn't quite do it.
Theres an excellent book called the silk roads: a new history of the world, by peter frankopan, which wonderfully illustrates how vast and interconnected the ancient world and middle ages actually were. It wasn't unusual for chinese coins and gems from afghanistan to show up in scandinavia and even iceland.
I'm reminded of the sayings, "Enough to feed an army" (which is apparently quite a lot) and "An army travels on it's stomach". Keep up the good work, Kevin! 👍🏻
This makes Caesars campaign in Gual so much more impressive. Given that he somehow found a way to keep his legions supplied, via building an entirely new logistical system from the ground up using conquered Guals in the middle of his campaign.
Ceasar IMO is one of histories most impressive military leaders. Especially during his time when such feats were thought to be impossible or too difficult to achieve
@@etholus1000 I think Aurelian is probably Romes greatest military leader of all time, Like I don't think Caesar could have replicated what he did. Trajan might of been able to pull it off though.
This is also where Roman road/highways come into play. Not to mention Italy is a peninsula. So shipping things from the south to north wouldnt be a big issue. Also trade routes all through out the mediterranean.
The Romans had logistics down to a science as time when on. When a legion or army was moving on foot about 1/4 to 1/3 of the convoy was wagons/carts of logistics stuff. When they were pushing north through Gall into the Germanic territories they usually had hunters on horseback looking for deer/elk. Usually scouts went ahead and off to the sides to avoid ambushes but hunters were in the same areas so they pulled double duty at times. I ran across an interesting account about the wild Auroch cattle were greatly feared by the Romans moving through this wild mysterious world. Today's Spanish Fighting Bulls are nasty critters and Aurochs were much bigger with as bad or worse tendency to be dangerous.
I've always been fascinated with the logistics of medieval and ancient warfare. The time, planning and resources involved boggles my mind. No wonder wars and campaigns were costly!
Having had a Tbred, in Racing condition when she came off the track, we used her for general riding. When she first came off the track she would eat 25 lbs off food and graze. I would say a war horse would in fighting condition would eat 30 to 35 lbs depending on availability of grazing. My Great Grandfather used 2'teams of Belgian Drays and that is about what they ate Spring to Fall
Well, I have been around a lot of horses and dreys are close to the knights battle horses and the draft horses of the period. Warm Blooded and Drafts eat a lot when in working form
I remember visiting a castle with my old comprehensive school, about eight years ago, and you was there. I recall you actively firing arrows while showing us a longbow? Amazed that I've only now discovered your channel. Great content.
Sir, I met you in probably summer of 98’ at Warwick. I was 11. I mean no offense, but I know it was you by the birthmark on your hand. You put on a great display of bow skills and spoke about the marksmanship standards while effortlessly hitting the target. Then you let me attempt to draw your bow. I think you said it was a 70 pound pull. A week later I got to roam the royal arms museum and see Henry VIII’s jousting armor with its…ahem..generous groin bulge. My wife and I are starting to look at a UK vacation for our children and I basically the only “must have” for was to see another archery demonstration. It made my day to see you on this channel and to see you discuss such a overlooked topic. If I’m ever in your neck of the globe again, I’d love to buy you a pint.
I'm been loving this series. This is the type of history that is often overlooked, especially in school. Could you do a video on the wages of soldiers? What they were paid in, the amount and how often? Also could you cover how a medieval army divided up the food/supplies amounts the troops?
Truly incredible! Every soldier and horse needed the food to come to them, but the people and animals bringing the food also needed to eat. How many horses need to be fed and cared for just to bring surplus grain to the 4,000 horses in the army. I wonder, what percentage of the actual food committed to field an army goes to the mouths of the soldiers and warbeasts and how much is used to feed the supply chain? I'm sure it changes from war to war and era to era but I would be fascinated to hear about a few specific examples.
The usual assessment is that a fighting force needs twice as many people to keep it in the field, unless it's able to live off the land (which is difficult if you need to concentrate your force for battle). Consequently it can't move faster than the supply chain can be safely extended to keep up with it, or it has to be given time each day to forage and raid. I vaguely recall an outline of the logistics of keeping British Army units in the field in South Africa, during the Boer Wars. It would take a certain number of ox carts to resupply a unit, plus twice as many ox carts to feed the first set of oxen along with the second set supplying the feed! The longer the supply chain became the worse the feed problem grew, leading to the need to establish supply dumps, which of course needed to be guarded by soldiers. All of this was highly vulnerable to raids by the Boers, whose forces primarily consisted of flying columns of irregular cavalry quite capable of living off the land and striking wherever they spotted an opportunity.
Horses would graze their way along, so you would not have to carry all their food. Australia in days gone by had a series of mile wide stock routs throughout the country. Hugh mobs of sheep and cattle could graze their way along for 100s of miles.( no trucks in those days)
Never been into history as a kid, 27 now listening to this guy is quite riveting, i kinda wish he was a history teacher of mine I sure would have learnt alot more
As you covered, they were smart enough to ensure the army maintained its fighting fitness by being well feed. Interestingly, peas played a significant part in the rations. Surprised that they could obtain such large volumes of peas. From other pieces, peas were a big part of 18th century naval rations too. Thanks for another interesting talk.
Its these everyday glimpses into life that fascinate me . Doesn't always have to be the battles or weapons ( although I enjoy hearing about those too). Great video
I love historical logistics. Seeing how people of the past solved big problems without the tools we have today is facinating. Humans have always had incredible ingenuity, no matter the technology at the time.
This guy is fantastic. When he tells a story it feels...haunting? But not scary. It feels immersive. I wonder if he is what people mean by a good storyteller.
82k+! Wow! I am just amazed, though not at all surprised, at how quickly our community of history lovers is growing. I consider myself a fan, and a student of thehistorysquad. Kevin, you always teach and entertain me. Thank you!
To be honest I'm pretty humbled by the speed at which the channel is growing, and have to give a big thank you to you and all my other subscribers and supporters for helping the community grow. 😊 Thanks!
It's incredible that they were able to organize the gathering up and transport of all that food, before it got spoiled none the less. But its more amazing that the nobility and kings actually payed fair prizes most of the time, and didn't just impose a "tax-increase" on the peasants xD
Peasant serfs were virtually property of the lords and their core source of income from tilling land. Extremely short-sighted to over-work them (same with your oxen which could only plough so far). It's why cruel treatment of slaves made no sense from an asset management perspective. Wilberforce got started by stopping a man beating his exhausted horse.
"An army marches on its stomach" could've not put it any better Mr Hicks. Honestly this makes me more astonished how Cao Cao from Three Kingdom managed to feed 800,000 forces during his campaign against Wu kingdom. No wonder Cao Cao made it a martial law that if any soldier dares to march through a granary field, he will be put to death immediately.
Greetings once again from nova Scotia, thanks for another great film Kevin ; I always enjoy your stories, you are very good at putting things in perspective. I especially enjoyed this video, as I was a chef/ships cook for over forty years, some time back, I cooked at a rather large university, where we served 2000 students every meal. I worked my butt off as it was, I can only imagine how much harder it would have been, back then. Thank you once again for your kind attention, and as always best regards, Arthur
It's incredibly fascinating how smart people can be in those timeliness compared to ours. By the looks of it, the Romans had a similar way when transporting goods to places
something that changes everything, i think, is the way the world has shrunk in the modern era. mechanized transport has multiplied how far and how much one can move in a day to an extent that i can barely imagine. and then even faster, information and communication can be just about instantaneous. many things to be grateful about in the modern day, but im slightly jealous of my olde timey ancestors and the lives they got to live🙂
I’d also like everyone to just realise what a true presenter looks like, the video’s are pretty much done in one take. Not the cut and pasted crap every 10 seconds we’re used to seeing, this is real skill and quality. I actually take the time to watch these videos on tv like the olden days. Thank you so much for the effort you put in to this Kenneth.
@@thehistorysquad All those years at Warwick castle come in handle eh? I visited in 2007 and spoke to the bowmen, talking draw weight and punch power etc - would you have been still one of them at the time?
Comments generally might seem a bit run of the mill... but this channel is legitimately impressive, I have to say these videos are top notch Its hard to put into words the amount of appreciation and respect i have to people who love and nurture their craft.
My family history is of both English and Scottish and once in America, Cherokee. I truly enjoy these videos and learning many things from Kevin and the History Squad. Thank you for good learning material by the hearth of an evening Sir, very well done.
Great information! Glad to know that it was so organized and regulated! And as you said if foods were turning what a great deal for locals to get decent foods at a reduced price! Thanks for sharing!
Another super film, thank you! The figures are mind boggling. That number of fighting soldiers alone would've been impressive enough, but with all of the supplies in tow...It's difficult to get your head around. And all that without a tarmac road in sight. Nice to know that they actually paid for everything and not just say 'don't you know there's a war on' and pinch it all! Thanks again Kevin, I learn something new every time I come here 😀
Absolutely brilliant upload, one of my favorite channels. As a ex Coldstream Guard it always amazed me the logistics to Iraq and Afghan campaigns I served on , but the Crecy campaign logistics etc as you have just shown us is mind blowing when you think of it , keep the uploads coming mucker !
Your videos on the day to day lives of medieval soldiers are deeply fascinating. Would love to see more content like this, especially videos examining first hand accounts.
Hi there, thank you & thanks for joining me over on Patreon too! Although I love ALL history and cover lots of different topics here on the channel, my favourite period without doubt is medieval, so yes for sure over time I will continue to add to my medieval playlist. 👍🏻
An interesting moment with the ships. And what prevented saboteurs from poisoning or spoiling resources in ports? After all, it is very easy to spoil grain, as well as meat. It is interesting to find out how the ships were protected at that time from the encroachments of saboteurs. I'm sorry for my English, I'm trying.
@@thehistorysquad Already subbed and waiting for more! I’m sure I’m not the only one that appreciates all your dedication research and hard work you put into these videos. They are very informative and so interesting!! I very much enjoy watching your videos! If you were my history teacher, I may have actually paid more attention in class!😆 Keep up the great work!
I've recently just stumbled upon your channel here Mr. Hicks and I do enjoy it quite a bit. Much respect from my side of "the pond" to you...Yeah. Nice way to work in what the Corsican said......
This is why one reason why England developed a money economy before other countries in Europe. Soldiers had no feudal obligation to fight outside England, so the army had to be paid. To ensure supplies were available, as you say, the farmers and other trades had to be paid a fair price for their goods to encourage the production of a surplus for sale. This and the loss of workers in the Black Death effectively began the decline of Feudalism and the beginning of a Market Economy (Capitalism). I really like your channel and the way it looks at the Hundred Years War from the soldiers point of view as well as the tactics and strategy.
Hey Kevin, I'm a history fan that discovered your channel within the past few weeks. Enjoying every upload. Today I noticed you live within close proximity to me! (Saskatoon) Small world. Keep up the movies, very uniquely informative.
Very interesting following the 100 years war series with these kind of intertwined info between the battle episodes. Love your props, maps and models as well, really adds to the story. Thoroughly enjoying this 😁
Cheers Daniel, I appreciate that. 👍🏻 I've just been working on assembling more figures for the next video, they need to be painted but I'll be getting it out asap .
This puts paid to the crazy high numbers cited for the Battle of Towton. Edward IV got from London to Pontefract in 14 days, an average of just over 12mi/day. Can't do that at speed with a large army, especially at the end of winter/early spring. Thanks Kevin!
I discovered this channel just this day and I'm hooked on to all the fascinating info on the period you're sharing with us. You got one subscriber closer to 100k!
Excellent and concise video on the food logistics of the medieval era campaigning armies Kevin. Question though, did the English kings and their armies in France ever go "living off the land" through pillaging the food resources of the French regions they were sweeping through, be it as a whole army or with their repeated raiding parties? And how much of this "living off the land" pillaging of French food resources substitute for shipping food supplies all the way from the British Isles? Were there any foodstuffs that the English simply could not or would not pillage from French regions and therefore had to always have a ready supply of them shipped from across the Channel?
Hi there, that's a hard one to answer. The English armies were kept well supplied from England, but with regard to local food, taking the siege of Calais (see video for example) where Edward III actually set up a market for the local French to bring produce in twice a week for his army/soldiers to purchase. On the Agincourt campaign, soldiers were forbidden to plunder, although obviously if the army was running short, it would forage 👍🏻
I would rather watch 8 seasons worth of video of you, Kevin, explaining the logistics of medieval army campaign instead of over-simplified Hollywood medieval battle scenes. This video made me subscribe to your channel. Thank you so much!
The ingenuity of Medieval people isn't appreciated enough. They didn't have the conveniences modern societies possess (rail, automobiles, aircraft, engine-powered ships, computers, digital calculators, gps, instant communication, etc.), yet they were able to successfully coordinate an effort to feed and transport thousands of people to lands far away. Getting supplies across the English Channel onto the mainland by itself was a herculean task, now imagine the feat required to supply the crusades in the Middle East. It truly was a miracle that the First Crusade was ever able to succeed.
A wonderful video, and I truly appreciate the work you do for our benefit.
Thank you very much 👍🏻
Perfect timing as I'm having dinner.
😉
I'm having breakfast
Perfect time to watch this then 😉
Hm. What did you have that day?
@@derekbaron2172What did you have that day?
This is a proper goldmine of a channel. There's plenty of history content about, and that's obviously class, but few tend to go into detail about the relatively obscure stuff like you do.
Thank you 👍🏻
Another outstanding channel is Modern History TV. Jason Kingsley is as great a host as Kevin and he also talks about "mundane" aspects of medieval life, as well as more traditional topics, such as armour, weapons and so on.
I fucking love this channel. Unbelievably good
Yeah?
To understand this, you need to know about the quart system. A quart is a unit of volume that is similar to a liter. The quart was originally a medieval English unit for dry and liquid measures that varied between 0.95 and 1.16 liters, relatively close to its modern equivalents (L).
as a sheep owner i find it fascinating how animals were transported historically, often by a 'drover' who would know the countryside well and run hundreds of sheep or cattle vast distances usually with the help of dogs. As they were seasoned travellers, town-folk would pay them to tag along too for protection. I'm always amazed how the animals ended up where they needed to be
You from Wales? I believe you take good *care* of your sheep.
Even into the mid 20thC sheep were brought to London for slaughter by drovers who used teh commons on the way for grazing: there are pix of them on Clapham and Wandsworth Commons from that period.
Not just sheep, pigs, and cattle. Also ducks!
thats actually fascinating
In Colonial America the drovers often had a regular route so the farmer would know when to bring his cows, sheep, ducks, and pigs to intercept the drover. There is a very good short story and movie about a farmer who built a bridge to change the drovers route so he and his neighbors could make use of the drover. Of course I don’t remember the name.
Your account of pottage reminds me of a story from World War II. My father was in the US Army and in Europe in charge of a truck company. (He claimed he spent the war chasing Patton with cans of gas.) He asked my mother to send him anything spicy she could find -- hot sauce, garlic powder, anything with a good strong taste -- to jazz up the rations they were issued. Once she sent him a jar of little cocktail pickles. She wrote, "I thought you could eat them one at a time." He explained later that they had removed the liner from a helmet, dumped everything they had to eat into the helmet, including the pickles and their juice, mixed it up, heated it over a fire and ate it. "Tasted great!" An army doesn't change much over the years.
Many times have I made coffee in my helmet and shared it with my crew
@@andremaertens5964 The truck company filled their tin cups with clean snow and stuck them into the truck's engine. Trial and error taught them how far it took for the heat from the engine to melt the snow and heat it up for coffee. Of course they had instant coffee.
The mental visuals I'm getting of how vast the old world actually was, is astounding. The logistical side of things really shows it, just speaking in numbers of soldiers doesn't quite do it.
Theres an excellent book called the silk roads: a new history of the world, by peter frankopan, which wonderfully illustrates how vast and interconnected the ancient world and middle ages actually were. It wasn't unusual for chinese coins and gems from afghanistan to show up in scandinavia and even iceland.
I'm reminded of the sayings,
"Enough to feed an army" (which is apparently quite a lot) and
"An army travels on it's stomach".
Keep up the good work, Kevin! 👍🏻
Maybe I should wait until I watch the entire video before commenting! 😁
@@tudyk21 I was going to make the same comment. I did learn it was Napoleon who said it though.
Marabunta Legionary travel on death. Food only gives them the fuel to continue so.
This makes Caesars campaign in Gual so much more impressive. Given that he somehow found a way to keep his legions supplied, via building an entirely new logistical system from the ground up using conquered Guals in the middle of his campaign.
Ceasar IMO is one of histories most impressive military leaders. Especially during his time when such feats were thought to be impossible or too difficult to achieve
@Mongo what
@@etholus1000 I think Aurelian is probably Romes greatest military leader of all time, Like I don't think Caesar could have replicated what he did. Trajan might of been able to pull it off though.
This is also where Roman road/highways come into play. Not to mention Italy is a peninsula. So shipping things from the south to north wouldnt be a big issue. Also trade routes all through out the mediterranean.
The Romans had logistics down to a science as time when on. When a legion or army was moving on foot about 1/4 to 1/3 of the convoy was wagons/carts of logistics stuff. When they were pushing north through Gall into the Germanic territories they usually had hunters on horseback looking for deer/elk. Usually scouts went ahead and off to the sides to avoid ambushes but hunters were in the same areas so they pulled double duty at times.
I ran across an interesting account about the wild Auroch cattle were greatly feared by the Romans moving through this wild mysterious world. Today's Spanish Fighting Bulls are nasty critters and Aurochs were much bigger with as bad or worse tendency to be dangerous.
Historical Logistics is always fun to learn about.
I've always been fascinated with the logistics of medieval and ancient warfare. The time, planning and resources involved boggles my mind. No wonder wars and campaigns were costly!
And don’t forget..bringing everything over the Channel to France or wherever in Europe…
Having had a Tbred, in Racing condition when she came off the track, we used her for general riding. When she first came off the track she would eat 25 lbs off food and graze. I would say a war horse would in fighting condition would eat 30 to 35 lbs depending on availability of grazing. My Great Grandfather used 2'teams of Belgian Drays and that is about what they ate Spring to Fall
Great comment. Thanks for adding your insight.
Well, I have been around a lot of horses and dreys are close to the knights battle horses and the draft horses of the period. Warm Blooded and Drafts eat a lot when in working form
That is just so interesting…
Puts me in mind of that old Joke.
"What's the difference between a War-horse, and a Cart-horse?"
A War-horse darts into the fray.
Your Sir are a world class story teller. Fantastic
Well thank you very much, I appreciate that 👍🏻
I remember visiting a castle with my old comprehensive school, about eight years ago, and you was there. I recall you actively firing arrows while showing us a longbow? Amazed that I've only now discovered your channel. Great content.
Hi there, yes it certainly could have been me. I used to tour students around Chepstow & Bolsover mostly 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad Aw yes, it was Chepstow! Thank you for your work.
Sir,
I met you in probably summer of 98’ at Warwick. I was 11. I mean no offense, but I know it was you by the birthmark on your hand.
You put on a great display of bow skills and spoke about the marksmanship standards while effortlessly hitting the target. Then you let me attempt to draw your bow. I think you said it was a 70 pound pull.
A week later I got to roam the royal arms museum and see Henry VIII’s jousting armor with its…ahem..generous groin bulge.
My wife and I are starting to look at a UK vacation for our children and I basically the only “must have” for was to see another archery demonstration.
It made my day to see you on this channel and to see you discuss such a overlooked topic.
If I’m ever in your neck of the globe again, I’d love to buy you a pint.
Absolutely LOVE your work on these podcasts.. Extremely entertaining and educational. Keep up the great work, mate..!!!
Thanks, will do!
I never had thought about this, just took it all for granted. Thank you for your excellent films and teaching.
Love how sweet and kind you are, especially when asking to share and like
😊 thank you
I'm been loving this series. This is the type of history that is often overlooked, especially in school. Could you do a video on the wages of soldiers? What they were paid in, the amount and how often? Also could you cover how a medieval army divided up the food/supplies amounts the troops?
Thanks very much. I'll give some thought to your ideas, it would depend on what research I could uncover 👍🏻
I've fallen in love with this channel. Very happy to have found it!
Happy to hear that! Thank you 👍🏻
Truly incredible! Every soldier and horse needed the food to come to them, but the people and animals bringing the food also needed to eat. How many horses need to be fed and cared for just to bring surplus grain to the 4,000 horses in the army. I wonder, what percentage of the actual food committed to field an army goes to the mouths of the soldiers and warbeasts and how much is used to feed the supply chain? I'm sure it changes from war to war and era to era but I would be fascinated to hear about a few specific examples.
The usual assessment is that a fighting force needs twice as many people to keep it in the field, unless it's able to live off the land (which is difficult if you need to concentrate your force for battle). Consequently it can't move faster than the supply chain can be safely extended to keep up with it, or it has to be given time each day to forage and raid.
I vaguely recall an outline of the logistics of keeping British Army units in the field in South Africa, during the Boer Wars. It would take a certain number of ox carts to resupply a unit, plus twice as many ox carts to feed the first set of oxen along with the second set supplying the feed! The longer the supply chain became the worse the feed problem grew, leading to the need to establish supply dumps, which of course needed to be guarded by soldiers. All of this was highly vulnerable to raids by the Boers, whose forces primarily consisted of flying columns of irregular cavalry quite capable of living off the land and striking wherever they spotted an opportunity.
Horses would graze their way along, so you would not have to carry all their food. Australia in days gone by had a series of mile wide stock routs throughout the country. Hugh mobs of sheep and cattle could graze their way along for 100s of miles.( no trucks in those days)
huge
It gives new meaning to The Red Ball express right!
The modern equivalent is gasoline and diesel fuel.
Ahh logistics, arguably the most important part to consider when waging war
Never been into history as a kid, 27 now listening to this guy is quite riveting, i kinda wish he was a history teacher of mine
I sure would have learnt alot more
"Learned a lot more." ..... eh, maybe?
@@cletusspucklerstablejeaniu1059maybe their english teacher was lacking too
As you covered, they were smart enough to ensure the army maintained its fighting fitness by being well feed. Interestingly, peas played a significant part in the rations. Surprised that they could obtain such large volumes of peas. From other pieces, peas were a big part of 18th century naval rations too. Thanks for another interesting talk.
Dry peas keep well.
Its these everyday glimpses into life that fascinate me . Doesn't always have to be the battles or weapons ( although I enjoy hearing about those too). Great video
I can't stress how glad I am that I found this channel. Your videos are greatly informative, entertaining and even relaxing to sit back and watch!
😉 You can Teddy, thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy it
Thank you for caring about history. I think it's important for us to care about it, and you doing so reinforces the point. Thank you
This is a question in my mind since childhood and i also wonder what type of food they eat! Thanks for the video
The fact you are able to put out so many videos on a frequent basis and keep them all high quality is amazing! Keep up the amazing videos👍👍
Thank you! Will do!
Soldiers win battles.
Logistics win wars.
Thank you for delving into the underrepresented side of history. Great videos!
I love historical logistics. Seeing how people of the past solved big problems without the tools we have today is facinating. Humans have always had incredible ingenuity, no matter the technology at the time.
I've been watching you for a week now and I really like this channel. I really like how you get into character also.
Thanks!
This guy is fantastic. When he tells a story it feels...haunting? But not scary. It feels immersive. I wonder if he is what people mean by a good storyteller.
Amazing how much care and compromise this channel has, not only with details wich are always nice, but actual historical accuracy.
Thanks Pedro 👍🏻
Interesting topic, thanks for covering it!
I could listen to this man talk for hours, thank you for taking the time to make these good sir
Cheers Magnus 👍🏻
great channel! would love to hear you talk about some Irish history 😳😳
82k+! Wow! I am just amazed, though not at all surprised, at how quickly our community of history lovers is growing. I consider myself a fan, and a student of thehistorysquad. Kevin, you always teach and entertain me. Thank you!
To be honest I'm pretty humbled by the speed at which the channel is growing, and have to give a big thank you to you and all my other subscribers and supporters for helping the community grow. 😊
Thanks!
It's incredible that they were able to organize the gathering up and transport of all that food, before it got spoiled none the less.
But its more amazing that the nobility and kings actually payed fair prizes most of the time, and didn't just impose a "tax-increase" on the peasants xD
Peasant serfs were virtually property of the lords and their core source of income from tilling land. Extremely short-sighted to over-work them (same with your oxen which could only plough so far). It's why cruel treatment of slaves made no sense from an asset management perspective. Wilberforce got started by stopping a man beating his exhausted horse.
Love learning about the answers to questions I didn't think to ask. I never thought and logistics. Amazing! All without internet!
"An army marches on its stomach" could've not put it any better Mr Hicks. Honestly this makes me more astonished how Cao Cao from Three Kingdom managed to feed 800,000 forces during his campaign against Wu kingdom. No wonder Cao Cao made it a martial law that if any soldier dares to march through a granary field, he will be put to death immediately.
Wow, thanks for that!!
Greetings once again from nova Scotia, thanks for another great film Kevin ; I always enjoy your stories, you are very good at putting things in perspective. I especially enjoyed this video, as I was a chef/ships cook for over forty years, some time back, I cooked at a rather large university, where we served 2000 students every meal. I worked my butt off as it was, I can only imagine how much harder it would have been, back then. Thank you once again for your kind attention, and as always best regards, Arthur
Wow, that's awesome Arthur. I'm sure that ships cooks were better than army cooks 😉
@@thehistorysquad Hey Kevin, I like to think it was, I know it was the hardest job, I ever loved. Keep the good stuff coming, be well. Blessings
It's incredibly fascinating how smart people can be in those timeliness compared to ours. By the looks of it, the Romans had a similar way when transporting goods to places
something that changes everything, i think, is the way the world has shrunk in the modern era. mechanized transport has multiplied how far and how much one can move in a day to an extent that i can barely imagine. and then even faster, information and communication can be just about instantaneous. many things to be grateful about in the modern day, but im slightly jealous of my olde timey ancestors and the lives they got to live🙂
That's why with those sturdy Roman Roads, Rome was able to conquer most of Europe and North Africa and the Middle-East.
Love how you call these videos "films." I really enjoy watching them.
Kevin, you answer all of the questions I have wondered about, but didn’t know the answers. Thanks for your informative insight into these issues.
My pleasure!
I’d also like everyone to just realise what a true presenter looks like, the video’s are pretty much done in one take. Not the cut and pasted crap every 10 seconds we’re used to seeing, this is real skill and quality.
I actually take the time to watch these videos on tv like the olden days.
Thank you so much for the effort you put in to this Kenneth.
LOL, cheers Kyle, there is no script either, just a couple of crib notes if I need them. I appreciate your support 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad All those years at Warwick castle come in handle eh? I visited in 2007 and spoke to the bowmen, talking draw weight and punch power etc - would you have been still one of them at the time?
@@geoffboxell9301 I'd left after the summer of 2005, so it would likely have been my replacement Noel 👍🏻
Great video! Love the logistics content ones you've put out!
Great video to watch while I am getting ready for work! Thank you Kevin for making all these wonderful videos for us.
You're welcome 👍🏻
Awesome and super interesting Kevin. Thanks for posting.
You bet!
You definitely need to make more of these videos. Loved the previous video with the medieval surgery. Don't stop 🙌
Thank you for these videos man. I was able to retain all the info and relax enough to fall asleep afterwards. God bless you man.
Glad you like them!
Comments generally might seem a bit run of the mill... but this channel is legitimately impressive, I have to say these videos are top notch
Its hard to put into words the amount of appreciation and respect i have to people who love and nurture their craft.
That's really kind of you Jack, thank you!!
Just found your channel. Instant sub. A hidden gem amidst the awesome community. More power sir.
Much appreciated!
My family history is of both English and Scottish and once in America, Cherokee. I truly enjoy these videos and learning many things from Kevin and the History Squad. Thank you for good learning material by the hearth of an evening Sir, very well done.
It's our pleasure!
Man, I could listen you for hours, just awesome!
Cheers mate 👍🏻
Great information! Glad to know that it was so organized and regulated! And as you said if foods were turning what a great deal for locals to get decent foods at a reduced price!
Thanks for sharing!
Great Channel thanks for your enthusiasm and due diligence in proofing the facts and and making your story telling captivating.Cheers mate.
My pleasure 👍🏻
You really are one of my favourite channels! So many questions that I had from my school days have finally been answered! This channel is a hidden gem
Ah, thanks Daniel 👍🏻
Very fascinating. Thank you for the lesson in history. Simple things people don’t think about.
So true!
This was Great information. Thank you so much Good Sir.
You're very welcome 👍🏻
What a great post.
Fascinating and I love your arrow pointer,....thank-you.
Absolutely fascinating as always Kevin! Keep up the great work!
Thanks again! I will. 👍🏻
Another super film, thank you! The figures are mind boggling. That number of fighting soldiers alone would've been impressive enough, but with all of the supplies in tow...It's difficult to get your head around. And all that without a tarmac road in sight.
Nice to know that they actually paid for everything and not just say 'don't you know there's a war on' and pinch it all!
Thanks again Kevin, I learn something new every time I come here 😀
Undisciplined armies would, and did, move through territory like a plague of locust. They could strip the area of any resources that were noticed.
Thanks for your visit again 👍🏻
By far one of the best history teacher’s out there, great work
This was unexpectedly enjoyable to learn. You are quite entertaining and very good at making the information simple and easy to understand.
Absolutely brilliant upload, one of my favorite channels. As a ex Coldstream Guard it always amazed me the logistics to Iraq and Afghan campaigns I served on , but the Crecy campaign logistics etc as you have just shown us is mind blowing when you think of it , keep the uploads coming mucker !
You're welcome Marky. I never served with the Coldstreams, only alongside the Grenadiers, Scots & Welsh guards. I feel as though I missed out 👍🏻
Your videos on the day to day lives of medieval soldiers are deeply fascinating. Would love to see more content like this, especially videos examining first hand accounts.
Hi there, thank you & thanks for joining me over on Patreon too! Although I love ALL history and cover lots of different topics here on the channel, my favourite period without doubt is medieval, so yes for sure over time I will continue to add to my medieval playlist. 👍🏻
An interesting moment with the ships. And what prevented saboteurs from poisoning or spoiling resources in ports? After all, it is very easy to spoil grain, as well as meat. It is interesting to find out how the ships were protected at that time from the encroachments of saboteurs.
I'm sorry for my English, I'm trying.
From what I understand security at the ports was paramount and your English is fine, well understood 👍🏻
I love this channel!! I never knew how much I’d enjoy history one day!!
Wow, that's really great to hear thanks. Stick around for lots more 😃
@@thehistorysquad Already subbed and waiting for more! I’m sure I’m not the only one that appreciates all your dedication research and hard work you put into these videos. They are very informative and so interesting!! I very much enjoy watching your videos! If you were my history teacher, I may have actually paid more attention in class!😆 Keep up the great work!
@@ChickenFerLei LOL, will do 👍🏻
I love learning new things from your channel !
Man you're doing such good work. So happy I subscribed! Thanks so much!
Cheers, I appreciate that 👍🏻
Instant subscription, what a wonderful way to present this information. Proud of you work, fellow Brit!
Cheers Jakemus 👍🏻
Another incredible video. Could honestly listen to you talk about history for hours
Keep up the amazing work
Thanks, will do!
I always learn something new from your videos. Thank you for sharing
I've recently just stumbled upon your channel here Mr. Hicks and I do enjoy it quite a bit.
Much respect from my side of "the pond" to you...Yeah.
Nice way to work in what the Corsican said......
You're welcome, thanks 👍🏻
Definitely earned a subscriber, I like your video and presentation style
Cheers Dick 👍🏻
This is why one reason why England developed a money economy before other countries in Europe. Soldiers had no feudal obligation to fight outside England, so the army had to be paid. To ensure supplies were available, as you say, the farmers and other trades had to be paid a fair price for their goods to encourage the production of a surplus for sale. This and the loss of workers in the Black Death effectively began the decline of Feudalism and the beginning of a Market Economy (Capitalism).
I really like your channel and the way it looks at the Hundred Years War from the soldiers point of view as well as the tactics and strategy.
Thanks for your comment Michael, it's appreciated 👍🏻
This channel is an absolute joy
🌹♥️🌹
Omg 81k subs, your channel is on fire. Another great video from a natural story teller. Well done 👍
Thanks Kiwifruit!! I couldn't do it without subscribers like you 👍🏻
A subject seldom if ever covered excellent once again Kevin 👌👏👏👏👏
Kevin, just want to say thank you for these videos. I have always loved history and your insights to medieval history is really amazing
Cheers Carl 👍🏻
Hey Kevin, I'm a history fan that discovered your channel within the past few weeks. Enjoying every upload. Today I noticed you live within close proximity to me! (Saskatoon) Small world. Keep up the movies, very uniquely informative.
That's cool, thanks!
A new avenue for my quest for history. Thanks! I'm now subscribed.
Cheers, thanks for your sub Kevin 👍🏻
I just found your channel yesterday and I absolutely love the mix of entertainment and history. Keep it up
Thanks, will do 👍🏻
Awesome channel.
Greetings from California.
Always thought it's cool to see where everyone is from who's watching.
Hello there California! Thanks for watching 👍🏻
Very interesting following the 100 years war series with these kind of intertwined info between the battle episodes. Love your props, maps and models as well, really adds to the story. Thoroughly enjoying this 😁
Cheers Daniel, I appreciate that. 👍🏻
I've just been working on assembling more figures for the next video, they need to be painted but I'll be getting it out asap .
Thanks!
Hi JB, THANK YOU TOO! I believe you're our first 'super thanks' buddy. I'm glad you liked the video 👍🏻
LOVE this! Very glad I found this gem. My kind of interests. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Always get excited when I see a new video posted 😁
This puts paid to the crazy high numbers cited for the Battle of Towton. Edward IV got from London to Pontefract in 14 days, an average of just over 12mi/day. Can't do that at speed with a large army, especially at the end of winter/early spring. Thanks Kevin!
Amazingly sophisticated logistics especially considering the difficulties of long distance communication!
I discovered this channel just this day and I'm hooked on to all the fascinating info on the period you're sharing with us. You got one subscriber closer to 100k!
Awesome! Thank you!
Always wondered how the logistics worked. Thank you so much
It was awesome to learn about these logistics. I never knew they planned so well!
new subscriber here, I just wanted to say that I love your passion for history and keep up the great work, greetings from germany.
Thanks Phil & welcome aboard!
Only found this Chanel last week, but recognized this guy from the Documentary "war of the roses" have been learning a lot
Thanks William 👍🏻
Very interesting stuff. I feel like this is so often overlooked or ignored in movies and video games in medieval settings.
Love your videos, Sir! Thank you for your time and efforts
My pleasure! 👍🏻
litteraly 5 mins into this video i was absolutely interested. Thank you for your work sir
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@thehistorysquad Man i have been devouring your content, next year i got a trip to UK cant wait to set foot there.
@@kalgrave497 I'm here right now for a holiday and just visited the Tower of London yesterday - a brilliant place to visit!
Excellent and concise video on the food logistics of the medieval era campaigning armies Kevin.
Question though, did the English kings and their armies in France ever go "living off the land" through pillaging the food resources of the French regions they were sweeping through, be it as a whole army or with their repeated raiding parties? And how much of this "living off the land" pillaging of French food resources substitute for shipping food supplies all the way from the British Isles?
Were there any foodstuffs that the English simply could not or would not pillage from French regions and therefore had to always have a ready supply of them shipped from across the Channel?
Hi there, that's a hard one to answer. The English armies were kept well supplied from England, but with regard to local food, taking the siege of Calais (see video for example) where Edward III actually set up a market for the local French to bring produce in twice a week for his army/soldiers to purchase. On the Agincourt campaign, soldiers were forbidden to plunder, although obviously if the army was running short, it would forage 👍🏻
You Sir make history captivating and fascinating and you show people from the past as intelligent and sophisticated.
👍🏻 I've been waiting for that 😉
I would rather watch 8 seasons worth of video of you, Kevin, explaining the logistics of medieval army campaign instead of over-simplified Hollywood medieval battle scenes. This video made me subscribe to your channel. Thank you so much!
Wow, cheers buddy, that's quite an accolade & much appreciated 👍