How do you feed a medieval army? | Medieval logistics

In this Hundred Years War spin off episode, "How do you feed a medieval army?" Kevin Hicks takes a look at medieval logistics, in particular food, victuals and answers some of the questions around how you feed a medieval army.
Click here for more Medieval history films: • Medieval History
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#logistics #food #victuals #medieval #MiddleAges #EdwardIII #medievallogistics
Victuals table & a good source of information for logistics:
Shipping the Medieval Military: English Maritime Logistics in the Fourteenth Century by Craig L. Lambert

[@shaydenismat7786]

Perfect timing as I'm having dinner.

[@thehistorysquad]

😉

[@derekbaron2172]

I'm having breakfast

[@leej4523]

Perfect time to watch this then 😉

[@Sam.G79]

Hm. What did you have that day?

[@Sam.G79]

​@@derekbaron2172What did you have that day?

[@blackmagicvoodoobox8779]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you 👍🏻

[@rogerpanciera1123]

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.

[@stevendurr]

I fucking love this channel. Unbelievably good

[@OhshitPositive]

Yeah?

[@sergeant64]

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).

[@thebrewster]

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.

[@sam_uelson]

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.

[@ColonelBragg]

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.

[@etholus1000]

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]

@Mongo what

[@ColonelBragg]

@@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.

[@hell_march6652]

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.

[@daneaxe6465]

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.

[@starboy832]

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

[@interruptingcow2418]

You from Wales? I believe you take good *care* of your sheep.

[@geoffboxell9301]

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.

[@cuebj]

Not just sheep, pigs, and cattle. Also ducks!

[@archmagejohnpaulii6287]

thats actually fascinating

[@tudyk21]

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! 👍🏻

[@tudyk21]

Maybe I should wait until I watch the entire video before commenting! 😁

[@deathdeathington]

@@tudyk21 I was going to make the same comment. I did learn it was Napoleon who said it though.

[@cristsan4171]

Marabunta Legionary travel on death. Food only gives them the fuel to continue so.

[@rayyanma1608]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you very much 👍🏻

[@dorothywillis1]

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]

Many times have I made coffee in my helmet and shared it with my crew

[@dorothywillis1]

@@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.

[@jacobbritt8124]

Historical Logistics is always fun to learn about.

[@inyrmind]

Ahh logistics, arguably the most important part to consider when waging war

[@williamwallace9427]

Your Sir are a world class story teller. Fantastic

[@thehistorysquad]

Well thank you very much, I appreciate that 👍🏻

[@kirkmorrison6131]

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

[@kollow]

Great comment. Thanks for adding your insight.

[@kirkmorrison6131]

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

[@nancytestani1470]

That is just so interesting…

[@rcfokker1630]

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.

[@elscruffomcscruffy8371]

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!

[@nancytestani1470]

And don’t forget..bringing everything over the Channel to France or wherever in Europe…

[@kirbyow]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

Hi there, yes it certainly could have been me. I used to tour students around Chepstow & Bolsover mostly 👍🏻

[@kirbyow]

@@thehistorysquad Aw yes, it was Chepstow! Thank you for your work.

[@colinhankinson7367]

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.

[@madisonc-s5531]

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

[@cletusspucklerstablejeaniu1059]

"Learned a lot more." ..... eh, maybe?

[@TravelsWithATwist]

​​@@cletusspucklerstablejeaniu1059maybe their english teacher was lacking too

[@JerryBear59]

I never had thought about this, just took it all for granted. Thank you for your excellent films and teaching.

[@TheItalianPepe]

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?

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks very much. I'll give some thought to your ideas, it would depend on what research I could uncover 👍🏻

[@Campfire_Bandit]

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.

[@RichWoods23]

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.

[@groblerful]

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)

[@groblerful]

huge

[@gregpenny4384]

It gives new meaning to The Red Ball express right!

[@georgesakellaropoulos8162]

The modern equivalent is gasoline and diesel fuel.

[@ianatkins1213]

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.

[@allanfifield8256]

Dry peas keep well.

[@licentiousdreams]

I've fallen in love with this channel. Very happy to have found it!

[@thehistorysquad]

Happy to hear that! Thank you 👍🏻

[@sandwichdelta]

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.

[@Grimhorn]

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

[@LaTanaDiKosky]

Love how sweet and kind you are, especially when asking to share and like

[@thehistorysquad]

😊 thank you

[@Kylejphotographer]

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👍👍

[@thehistorysquad]

Thank you! Will do!

[@TheTeddyGuy28]

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!

[@thehistorysquad]

😉 You can Teddy, thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy it

[@KeefsCattys]

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

[@Pavia1525]

Soldiers win battles. Logistics win wars. Thank you for delving into the underrepresented side of history. Great videos!

[@coreybarnes1802]

Great video! Love the logistics content ones you've put out!

[@ImThyWizard]

I think it's really honorable of them the way they traded. It insured trust and sustained good trading relations. Thumbs up to them.👍

[@Uberdude6666]

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

[@cuebj]

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.

[@polo_sheridan2869]

Great video to watch while I am getting ready for work! Thank you Kevin for making all these wonderful videos for us.

[@thehistorysquad]

You're welcome 👍🏻

[@zaink7037]

You definitely need to make more of these videos. Loved the previous video with the medieval surgery. Don't stop 🙌

[@lanzknecht8599]

Interesting topic, thanks for covering it!

[@goldendragonbringer]

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.

[@Daniel_Parke]

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

[@thehistorysquad]

Ah, thanks Daniel 👍🏻

[@robnorris8053]

Absolutely LOVE your work on these podcasts.. Extremely entertaining and educational. Keep up the great work, mate..!!!

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks, will do!

[@luke.brannen]

great channel! would love to hear you talk about some Irish history 😳😳

[@BlooOcean]

"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.

[@thehistorysquad]

Wow, thanks for that!!

[@DiamondCutter423]

What a great post. Fascinating and I love your arrow pointer,....thank-you.

[@CJ-wr1of]

I love learning new things from your channel !

[@tonydabaloney]

Love learning about the answers to questions I didn't think to ask. I never thought and logistics. Amazing! All without internet!

[@davidbmason]

Awesome and super interesting Kevin. Thanks for posting.

[@thehistorysquad]

You bet!

[@tylerschoen5643]

I always learn something new from your videos. Thank you for sharing

[@waynehutchinson1423]

Great Channel thanks for your enthusiasm and due diligence in proofing the facts and and making your story telling captivating.Cheers mate.

[@thehistorysquad]

My pleasure 👍🏻

[@savevsdeath]

This was unexpectedly enjoyable to learn. You are quite entertaining and very good at making the information simple and easy to understand.

[@Kujatalp]

Absolutely fascinating as always Kevin! Keep up the great work!

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks again! I will. 👍🏻

[@pedrocalabran5924]

Amazing how much care and compromise this channel has, not only with details wich are always nice, but actual historical accuracy.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks Pedro 👍🏻

[@Matt-83690]

By far one of the best history teacher’s out there, great work

[@magnushorus5670]

I could listen to this man talk for hours, thank you for taking the time to make these good sir

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Magnus 👍🏻

[@PreppyClaw]

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!

[@thehistorysquad]

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!

[@Shitballs69420]

I so greatly value this sort of content, what a gem.

[@TimberwolfCY]

Man you're doing such good work. So happy I subscribed! Thanks so much!

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers, I appreciate that 👍🏻

[@paladinpariah325]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

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. 👍🏻

[@Liammillard_94]

Always get excited when I see a new video posted 😁

[@meica4290]

I just found your channel yesterday and I absolutely love the mix of entertainment and history. Keep it up

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks, will do 👍🏻

[@superdave1921]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

My pleasure!

[@carlcastro7998]

Kevin, just want to say thank you for these videos. I have always loved history and your insights to medieval history is really amazing

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Carl 👍🏻

[@bertbigballs]

Thanks Kevin, I had no idea of the "system" for obtaining all the food needed for an army, Keep up the good work!

[@metalliberator]

Love your videos, Sir! Thank you for your time and efforts

[@thehistorysquad]

My pleasure! 👍🏻

[@louayghanjati5056]

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!

[@thehistorysquad]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@MrPropanePete]

This is an absolutely fascinating series of videos.

[@aLexKcss]

Another incredible video. Could honestly listen to you talk about history for hours Keep up the amazing work

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks, will do!

[@rodeastell3615]

Excellent video .. interesting and thought provoking.

[@osan1977]

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 😁

[@thehistorysquad]

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 .

[@EpicMRPancake]

Wonderful help with my writing, cheers!

[@zachhaus8488]

Much appreciation into your work

[@oNe-TwO-fReE]

LOVE this! Very glad I found this gem. My kind of interests. Thanks.

[@thehistorysquad]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BrunoDeMarques]

Always wondered how the logistics worked. Thank you so much

[@DrewMacGregor]

I love the arrow pointer, nice touch

[@grayarea7445]

Man, I could listen you for hours, just awesome!

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers mate 👍🏻

[@TheRealJules]

It was awesome to learn about these logistics. I never knew they planned so well!

[@pjenslin1]

Interesting! Love your videos! Learning so much!

[@solidussnakious]

Instant subscription, what a wonderful way to present this information. Proud of you work, fellow Brit!

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers Jakemus 👍🏻

[@kevinkoepke8311]

A new avenue for my quest for history. Thanks! I'm now subscribed.

[@thehistorysquad]

Cheers, thanks for your sub Kevin 👍🏻

[@heisnothere1786]

you are my treasure trove of history .TY

[@garywheeley5108]

A subject seldom if ever covered excellent once again Kevin 👌👏👏👏👏

[@JacquesOF]

Just found your channel. Instant sub. A hidden gem amidst the awesome community. More power sir.

[@thehistorysquad]

Much appreciated!

[@arthurdoucette1786]

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

[@thehistorysquad]

Wow, that's awesome Arthur. I'm sure that ships cooks were better than army cooks 😉

[@arthurdoucette1786]

@@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

[@derrickstorm6976]

I absolutely love the dedication and detail put into each of these videos, no matter what topic they're in. Really inspiring to try my own hand in this youtube thing, though perhaps not in the realm of history

[@thehistorysquad]

You really should give it a go, it's not half bad 👍🏻

[@xavierthePPG]

I've been watching you for a week now and I really like this channel. I really like how you get into character also.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks!

[@lauragovernali4332]

This channel is an absolute joy 🌹♥️🌹

[@nateyjaeger6030]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

Glad you like them!

[@edshellard]

Great!!! Super captivating!!

[@stephencunliffe3879]

Excellent info . Thanks.

[@jbruce1324]

Awesome videos! Well done on making these.. You always make it very fascinating to listen to. Thank you good sir

[@thehistorysquad]

My pleasure!

[@miloo367]

Doing Awesome work Kevin!

[@thehistorysquad]

Much appreciated!

[@latintone]

Great video truly enjoyed it sir

[@whowantsmymeat]

Love how you call these videos "films." I really enjoy watching them.

[@aptorres01]

Great information really quite fascinating.

[@davidhiscock4529]

This is one subject that was never talked about in detail during any of the history classes I took during school. Thank you for discussing this in detail.

[@thehistorysquad]

You're welcome!

[@markyj.167]

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 !

[@thehistorysquad]

You're welcome Marky. I never served with the Coldstreams, only alongside the Grenadiers, Scots & Welsh guards. I feel as though I missed out 👍🏻

[@runrob1]

Very fascinating. Thank you for the lesson in history. Simple things people don’t think about.

[@thehistorysquad]

So true!

[@sushi_wolf]

Really cool channel man, keep up the great work.

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks, will do!

[@jordan1829]

I really like your channel. Your videos are so entertaining and I'm always learning something new when I listen to you. Thank you for this.

[@thehistorysquad]

You're welcome 👍🏻

[@smexghoul4889]

Been wondering about this myself thank you for sharing, great video by the way!

[@thehistorysquad]

Thanks for watching!

[@dougmartin8664]

Best yet!

[@grimdesaye6534]

This was Great information. Thank you so much Good Sir.

[@thehistorysquad]

You're very welcome 👍🏻

[@ChickenFerLei]

I love this channel!! I never knew how much I’d enjoy history one day!!

[@thehistorysquad]

Wow, that's really great to hear thanks. Stick around for lots more 😃

[@ChickenFerLei]

@@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!

[@thehistorysquad]

@@ChickenFerLei LOL, will do 👍🏻

[@janetbowersox83]

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!

[@godsservant5485]

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.

[@thehistorysquad]

It's our pleasure!