Soldiers such as the figure portrayed here were the hand to hand infantry of the fifteenth century fighting alongside the heavily armoured men at arms. Armed with a variety of pole arms generically known as bills and relatively well armoured for their combat role.
The billman portrayed here wears the livery coat and badge of the Stafford family, Dukes of Buckingham. Beneath this ‘uniform’ coat he wears a mail shirt and brigandine, a descendent of the coat of plates, his limbs are protected by plate armour and he wears gauntlets. His helmet is a broad brimmed ‘kettle hat’ although closer fitting sallet helmets either with or without visor were frequently worn. The soldier’s particular pole arm is a halberd with axe blade, hook and spike and he also carries a sword, dagger and an iron buckler shield. Blocks of billmen were a major feature on both sides in the internecine struggle of the Wars of the Roses
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