# Shire levy

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shire_levy
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shire_levy.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_levy
> Source revision: 1339422541
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

A '''shire levy''' was a means of military recruitment in medieval [England](/source/England) and [Scotland](/source/Scotland). As opposed to a [levy](/source/Conscription) of [noble families](/source/peerage), a shire levy was effected within a geographical administrative area (a [shire](/source/shire)), entailing the mobilisation of able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 for military duty under command of their [sheriff](/source/sheriff).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/s.cfm|title=Definition|publisher=NetSERF (from "Medieval Warfare" by Terence Wise)}}</ref> 

The English shire levy was descended from the [Anglo-Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxons) ''[Fyrd](/source/Fyrd)'', and  continued under the [Norman kings](/source/House_of_Normandy), notably at the [Battle of the Standard](/source/Battle_of_the_Standard) (1138). The force was reorganised under the [Assizes of Arms of 1181](/source/Assize_of_Arms_of_1181) and [1252](/source/Assize_of_Arms_of_1252), and again by [King Edward I](/source/King_Edward_I)'s [Statute of Winchester](/source/Statute_of_Winchester) of 1285.<ref>Sir [John Fortescue](/source/John_William_Fortescue), ''A History of the British Army'', Vol I, 2nd Edn, London: Macmillan, 1910, p. 12.</ref><ref>[F. W. Maitland](/source/F._W._Maitland), ''The Constitutional History of England'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1931, pp. 162, 276.</ref><ref>Sir [Charles Oman](/source/Charles_Oman), ''A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages'', Vol I, ''378–1278AD'', London: Methuen, 1924/Greenhill 1991, {{ISBN|1-85367-100-2}}, pp. 110, 359–60.</ref>

Shire levies were especially important for England during the [Hundred Years' War](/source/Hundred_Years'_War), when the escalation in warfare with [France](/source/France) increased the need for soldiers: "the king was able to rely on the military support of the nobility and of the shire levies."<ref>Curry, Anne. ''The Hundred Years' War, 1337-1453'', p. 23. {{ISBN|1-84176-269-5}}</ref>

Traditionally, the Scottish shire levies were called out by riders galloping through towns and villages bearing the '[Fiery Cross](/source/Fiery_cross_(bidding_stick))'.<ref>Gervase Phillips, ''The Anglo-Scots Wars 1513–1550'', Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-85115-746-7}}, pp. 46–54.</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

==See also==
*[Medieval conscription](/source/Conscription)

Category:Feudalism in England
Category:England in the High Middle Ages
Category:Warfare in medieval England
Category:Warfare in medieval Scotland

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shire levy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_levy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_levy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.