Thanks to the growing use of the Web, correspondance with learned Authors and Professonals is becoming common. Professor Arnold is author of the excellent book The Renaissance at War, published by Cassell and Co. and currently is Assistant Professor of History at Yale University. Dear Mr. Arnold My name is Mark Parker and I have just finished your book on Renaissance warfare. Excellent original thinking on the topic! I have been searching for the answer to a Renaissance question for some time now, and I would like your opinion on the matter. It was "common knowledge" during the Italian Wars that the French heavy cavalry (Gendarmes) were superior to the Italian cavalry (Condottieri). Yet the French wore armor from Milan, or Venice, (the major arms exporters of Europe at this time) and their war-horses came from stud farms in Northern Italy, the best in Europe at this time. So the French and Italians wore the same annor and rode essentially the same horse flesh. The Italians had fought (and beaten) Swiss, Greeks, Turks, French, Germans, and Spanish. They were used to hard flghting and hard killing. So why were the Gendarmes d' Ordinance superior? I have, been told that the Gendarmes used a heavier lance in combat than others, and this gave them an edge. What do you think? Dear Mark Thank you for your remarks re: my Ren at War book, and thanks for your interesting question re: French Vs Italian heavy, knightly cavalry during the Italian Wars period which I consider, roughly, as being the first half of the 16th c. One issue is whether this problem was real or not. There was a considerable sense of national, cultural competition between French, Italian, German, Spanish etc. men-at-arms. Italians felt aggrieved in particular at the fact that Italian politics, certainly by 1500, were dominated by "foreign" states and armies. However, it was a political advantage to exaggerate this situation; for example Machiavelli and other military reformers, who bolstered their arguments for wholesale military reform by playing up the "foreign menace" boggie man. I personally consider the whole question of foreign superiority over Italians as moot, and more an artifact of contemporary debates than a real situation. The, frankly, often chivalric debates over whether French or Italian knights were more puissant than the other is ridiculous, in my opinion. From Bayard's memoirs we would suppose the French were superior warriors, but he would say that wouldn't he? But, who exactly comprised an Italian or Frenchman was also not as clear as might be thought. For example, the great Italian military family of the Gonzaga (dukes of Mantua) had members on both the "French" and the "Spanish" side of the Battle of St. Quentin (1557). So, I tend to think that (as you point out) the relatively equivalent, even identical, horses, armor, and experiences were not offset by any marginal advantage of heavier vs. lighter lance. I think the larger and more important tactical circumstance, during this period, was the general convergence in Europe of a heavy cavalry practice as exemplified by the disappearance of the Spanish light cavalry tradition, the disappearance of Genitors with javelins. There is then a European consensus reached regarding heavy cavalry practices which peaks from about mid-century with the appearance of the (originally) German Reiters. I must say that I feel Renaissance Combat is an area that needs work. For example, I would love to know the extent to which we can match the theoretical tactics of "tilting' with battlefield practice. At the Battle of Fornovo (1495) a Venetian doctor noted the number of men killed with neat lance blows exactly to the throat. Given the rain, lightning and thunder of the terrible storm during that battle, this is a true testimony to real French and Italian skill. Sincerely, Thomas Arnold Assistant Professor of History Yale University  Back to Table of Contents The Messenger Fall/Winter 2001 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by HMGS/PSW. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com