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Illustrations of Costume and Soldiers from the bottom margins of the
Romance of Alexander
The legend of Alexander the Great
Flanders, 1338-44AD. Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, Oxford


Lance training, baggage and siege engines - espringal & trebuchet.

82v, lower margin. Lance training


83v, left of lower margin. Baggage wagon


102r, lower margin. Baggage train


201r, lower margin. Espringal and counter-weight trebuchet

The espringal is referenced on p.6, French Armies of the Hundred Years War by David Nicolle
Men operating an espringal in a Flemish manuscript made between 1338 and 1344. This siege engine, shown with a wheeled frame carriage, was powered by twisted skeins of horsehair, and shot massive arrows - though not as large as this picture suggests. (Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, f.201r, Oxford)

(fols. 3r-208r) The Romance of Alexander in French verse, with miniatures illustrating legends of Alexander the Great and with marginal scenes of everyday life, by the Flemish illuminator Jehan de Grise and his workshop, 1338-44.
Source: Romance of Alexander, Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, Oxford

Archers & Crossbowmen in the margins of the 'Romance of Alexander', Flanders, 1338-44AD. Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, Oxford
Spearmen in the margins of the 'Romance of Alexander', Flanders, 1338-44AD. Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, Oxford
Flemish knights in the 'Romance of Alexander', Flanders, 1338-44AD. Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, Oxford



See also a Scottish trebuchet on the Charter from Edward II to the city of Carlisle, 1316AD
Other 14th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers




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