Hundred Years War soldier records put online

Information about 250,000 soldiers who fought in the latter stages of the Hundred Years War (1369-1453), has been put online.

The database, which is part of the Medieval Soldier research project enables people to search for soldiers by surname, rank or year of service and will contain the details of soldiers including salary and sickness records. It will also include information about soldiers who served at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

The data has been compiled by researchers at Reading University and Southampton University who have analysed historic sources such as muster rolls records in the National Archives at Kew.

The researchers have also been able to build a picture of career progression through what they believe are the origins of England’s first professional army.

People can use the database to identify where individual soldiers fought and for how long. They can also see who advanced in rank as a result of military success, which campaigns they fought in, what they were paid and who was off work sick. The most modest, youngest and those who were also said to ride the fastest will also be listed.

Examples include Thomas, Lord Despenser, who began his career in arms at just 12 years old in 1385, or Thomas Gloucestre, esquire, who fought at Agincourt, and whose career can be traced over a 43-year period from Prussia to Jerusalem.

Dr Adrian Bell, senior lecturer at Reading University, said: “It is the survival of the muster roll evidence that allows us to begin to reconstruct the service of soldiers.

“This allows us to look for repeated service in the retinues of particular captains, and also service alongside a network of colleagues and family members. We can see that careers in arms regularly lasted over 20 years, and soldiers served from their teenage years to their 60s and older.”

The project was funded with a £500,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.