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How Far, and Why, was Military Strength an Essential Ingredi


It was in this way that the king was able to secure military strength without having to maintain a large salaried standing army. These military resources could be used to suppress internal rebellion and to protect or enlarge borders. .
             This system, whilst having an elegant self-sustaining logic, had to be assiduously maintained. The king absolutely had to be assured of the loyalty of his lords and that they were maintaining their obligations. He also needed to have control over sufficient land to be able to reward those who followed him. The more land he had the bigger the network of loyalties he could attract and thus the stronger his position.
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             Having stated this general model I now wish to consider it in more detail in the contexts of Mercia and Francia. .
             Mercian society developed from a history of Anglo-Saxon warbands. Every lord whether King, aethling or ealdorman would head a band of warriors the strength of which would determine his political power. The constitution of such warbands is uncertain but would most likely have consisted of the lord's immediate kinsmen and the best warriors in the area. The success that a particular warband achieved would then attract warriors from other regions. Bede records how the popularity of king Oswine, King of Deira, was able to attract men from all over the country to serve him. The social hierarchy of this warband appears to have been grounded on a combination of birth and merit .
             The warriors of a warband would reside in the lord's hall. This cohabitation would be an important feature in developing loyalty within the band. In addition to eating at the Lord's Table the warriors were rewarded for their service with gifts, generally weapons or armour, and after a long period of successful service would be granted land. It is important to recognise that the members of the warband were not mercenaries, the relationship between a lord and his warband was a long term affair and held in high esteem by both parties.


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