What exactly were currours, and what were they used for?
score:4
Oxford English Dictionary confirms that "corrour" is related to the modern "courier," and in fact corrour was used to refer to running messengers as early as 1382 in Wycliffe's Bible. However, corrour also has a secondary meaning as "a light horseman acting as a scout or skirmisher." OED provides examples of this usage from 1523-1603, after which English texts seem to switch to the term "avant-courier", which means "especially in 17th century, scouts, skirmishers, or advance-guard of an army."
The closest I found to a description of a currours in action comes from Froissart's Cronycle (14th century, translated 1523):
Than they toke counsell what they shulde do, and it was thought moste for their honour to go and awake the French host ; ther it was ordayned that the lorde Rauderondence, and his son, sir Henry of Keukren, sir Tylman of Sausey, sir Olphart of Guystels, sir Lalemant, bastarde of Heynalt, Robert of Glennes, and Jaquelat of Tyaulx, shulde ryde, and sodenly dasshe into the Frenche host ; and the other knyghtes and squyers, to the nombre of thre C. shulde abyde styll at the brige, to kepe the passage. Thus these currours rode forthe to the nombre of a xl. speres, tyll they came to thoost, and so dassht in and overthrue tentes and pavilyons, and skirmysshed with the Frenchmen.
Unfortunately, this is a French description of "Almayn" or German currours. Fortunately, the translator is the 16th century English soldier and statesman John Bourchier, so we know that at least one Englishman thought that "corrour" appropriately described light cavalry armed with spears and swords (the latter are mentioned if you keep on reading). In this case knights and even a lord are considered as "currours" because of the nature of the military action being undertaken.
Just for completeness, here's an all-English instance of a king dispatching "currers" in their other role as scouts. From Edward Hall's Chronicle of Edward IV (1548), :
When kyng Edward knew that Quene Margarete was landed in Englande, and that the duke of Somerset with her complices had prepared a new armye, out of hand he dispatched certayn currers on light horses, in to euery part to see what number hys enemyes were, & what way they entended to take.
Upvote:2
Indeed, based on the etymology and textual evidence, it appears to strongly suggest simple messengers on light, speedy mounts. Also on the Scottish borders, it's true that light hors*m*n (including the better known hobelars) were used for patrolling and to seek out and possibly flush the enemy when the cheeky buggers were hiding in the highlands. Heavy cavalry are no good in marshy, uneven or steep ground either. As with the hobelars, it's likely they were used too as mounted infantry when needed to swell the ranks. Many could have been taken from Celtic backgrounds, as the Welsh and Irish were famed riders. As infantry, they probably used simple weapons like spears that would be just as useful in a horseback skirmish. Often we do just take a word to be more elaborate than it really is, when it had a simple direct meaning in middle English. Currours--Couriers
Upvote:5
In the The Scottish Middle March, 1573-1625: Power, Kinship, Allegiance, Anna Groundwater calls currours "forest rangers", but doesn't actually describe their role.
I think the better description would be couriers or messengers, a description that's supported from the following passage from William Caxton's The Game and Playe of Chesse (1474):
The corrours and berars of lettres ought hastely and spedily do her viage that comanded hem/ with oute taryenge/ For their taryenge might noye and greue them that sende hem forth/ or ellis them to whom they ben sent too/ And torne hem to ryght grete domage or villonye/ for whiche cause euery noble man ought well to take hede to whom he deliuere his lettres and his mandements/ and otherwhilis suche peple ben Ioghelers & dronkelewe/ And goon out of their waye for to see abbayes and noble men for to haue auantage And hit happeth ofte tymes/ that whan suche messagers or currours ben enpesshid by ony taryenge/ That other currours bere lettres contrarye to his/ And come to fore hym/ of which thinges ofte tymes cometh many thinges discouenable of losse of frendes of castellys & of lande & many other thinges as in the feet of marchandise &c. And otherwhile hit happeth that a prynce for the faulte of suche messangers lefeth to haue victorye vpon hys enemyes/ And also ther ben some that whan they come in a cyte where they haue not ben to fore/ that ben more besy to visyte the Cyte and the noble men that dwelle theryn/ Than they ben to doo theyr voyage/ whyche thynge they ought not to doo/ But yf they had specyall charge of them that sente hem forth so to doo. And also whan they be sente forth of ony lordes or marchauntes they ought to be well ware/ that they charge hem not wyth ouer moche mete on morenynges ne with to moche wyn on euenynges/ wherby her synewis and vaynes myght be greuy/ that they muste for faute of good rewle tarye But they ought to goo and come hastely for to reporte to their maistres answers as hit apperteyneth And this suffisen of the thynges aboue sayd.
Richard Grafton's A Chronicle at Large (1568) mentions currors several times, but doesn't explicitly describe their role. However, from the following passages it's clear that they weren't specific to the English army, contradicting the Wikipedia article:
The Frenche king had his currours in the Countrie, who brought him worde of the demeanor of the Englishe men, then he thought verily to have closed the king of/England in betweene Abuile and the river of Some, and then to have fought with him at his pleasure. And while the French king was at Amience, he appoynted a great Baron of Normandy, called Sir Godmar du Foy, to go and keepe the passage of Blanche taque, where the English men must passe, or else in none other place: he had with him a thousand men of armes, and sixe thousand a foote with the Genowayes. And also he had with him a great number of the men of that Country, and also a great number of them of Mutterell, so that they were a. xij. thousaude men one and other.
The Scottes passed by without offeryng of any assault, and so went forth brennyng and destroiyng the Countrie of Northumberland, and their Currours ran to Yorke, and brent as much as was without the walles, and returned againe vnto their host, which then was within a myle of newe Castell vpon Tyne.
The Queene of England who desyred to defend her Countrie, came to newe Castell vpon Tine, and there taried for her men, who came dayly from all the partes of the Realme.
When the Scottes knewe that the Englishmen were assembled at new Castell, they drewe thetherward and their Curronrs came runnyng hefore the towne: and at their returnyng they brent certeine small Hamlets thereaboutes, so that the smoke therof came into the towne of new Castell. Some of_the Englishe men would haue issued out, to have fought with them that made the fyre: But the Capitaynes would not suffer them to go out.
And they had not bene there the space of an houre, but they sawe certein Currours of the'Scottes well horssed, which came to viewe the Englishe hoste. And when these Currours had well aduised the number of the English men, then they returned to their maisters, and shewed them all that they had scene, and sayde: Sirs we haue ridden so nere to the English men, that we haue well aduised and considered all their doyng: And we saye vnto you, they are ready abidyng for you in two fayre battailes. in a goodly plaine, and in euery battaile a fiue thousande men. Therefore nowe take good advice, for we approched so neere them, that they perceyued well that we were Currours of Scotland, but they would not stirre nor sende out one man to runne at vs.
More post
- 📝 What crops were part of the medieval spring harvest?
- 📝 What was the relationship between Angles, Saxons, and Jutes; and the Vikings?
- 📝 Did British measures cause starvation in Norway during WWI?
- 📝 Why did Peter the Great name Saint Petersburg, Russia with a foreign styled name?
- 📝 How can I research an old Nazi ring that grandfather brought back from war?
- 📝 Where do Bulgarians originate from?
- 📝 Could China be considered a 3rd side during World War 2?
- 📝 Did armored cavalry have an advantage over unarmored cavalry in 18th/19th century?
- 📝 Would Victorian era British soldiers wear their short sword bayonets while wearing uniform when off duty?
- 📝 What was the process to join the army in WW2 England?
- 📝 why were animals domesticated? (for meat and fur)
- 📝 How was early Indian history re-constructed?
- 📝 What is the statue in the music video for "Sick Boy"?
- 📝 Why did the French insist on reclaiming Indo-China after WWII?
- 📝 Why didn't Russia seize California when it could?
- 📝 What aspects of Primo Levi's works are considered historically inaccurate?
- 📝 What was the role of the mountain ranges surrounding India in developing India's civilization?
- 📝 Was there a stated reason for the evacuation of Israeli settlers from the Gaza strip?
- 📝 Who should be the king/queen of England?
- 📝 In WWII, what were the major differences in tank combat on the eastern and western fronts?
- 📝 What kind of evidence (if any) could be used to identify a large conquest in the time before writing?
- 📝 Why did Union troops like General McClellan?
- 📝 How common was it for USAAF aircrews to swap airplanes?
- 📝 Exactly what time of the day was the UN charter official?
- 📝 How did the First Emperor of Qin "burn the books" prior to the invention of paper?
- 📝 How did Islam spread before the invention of the printing press?
- 📝 post slavery segregation outside of the US
- 📝 What were the German "general" ranks in World War II?
- 📝 What was the longest lasting economic bubble?
- 📝 Was there a Japanese Exchange, à la Columbian Exchange?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What exactly were currours, and what were they used for?
- 📝 Was murdering a slave illegal in American slavery, and if so, what punishments were given for it?
- 📝 What were sandbags used for in medieval duels?
- 📝 What kind of ink was used by medieval scribes in Iceland, given that there were no plant galls for iron-gall ink?
- 📝 What were the original casualty projections for Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
- 📝 How many pens were used by MacArthur to end the final chapter of World War II and where are they now?
- 📝 What were the Government Press Prosecutions of 1858 and why did they occur?
- 📝 What were Hiroshima and Nagasaki known for prior to World War II?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- 📝 What universities existed in Dutch East Indies, and how available were they to the native population?
- 📝 Were there bows employed by tribes living in the desert, and if so, what were they made of?
- 📝 What trains were used on the Dakar-Niger Railway in the late 1950s and early 1960s?
- 📝 What were the limitations on possession of wealth in Soviet Russia and how were they enforced?
- 📝 What were the typical types of ships used in the Persian Navy in the 1730's and 1740's?
- 📝 What Land Runs were there in the U.S., and were the Indians paid for their land?
- 📝 What containers were used for food prior to the industrial era?
- 📝 What coin denominations were used in the US before Dollars and Cents?
- 📝 What were conditions like for Chinese men subject to recruitment by the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War?
- 📝 When were both minuscule and majuscule letters used for the first time in the same Latin manuscript?
- 📝 What methods were used for onboard ship communication during WW2?
- 📝 What were Helfrich's orders for Doorman in 1942 prior to the Battle of the Java Sea, and did he comment on these in later life?
- 📝 What were the most used drugs in battles and wars?
- 📝 Did women in ancient Rome wear corsets, and if so, what were they made of?
- 📝 What were the requirements for Iron Cross first and second class?
- 📝 What honorifics and forms of address were appropriate for 17th century Spanish nobility?
- 📝 What field guns, howitzers and mortars were used by the Indian Army and the Pakistan Army during the 1971 war?
- 📝 What were the characteristics of the earliest varieties of European cattle, "bos tauros", and how were they kept?
- 📝 What incentives were there for Soviet and Chinese politicians to try climb to the top when there was so much history of deposing their own?
- 📝 What irreplaceable manuscripts were lost in the burning of Jaffna Public Library and what history did they contain (and subsequently lost forever)?
- 📝 What was the main driver of conquest and wars in ancient times? Why were they so frequent?