d arrived, and the vanguard
began their march, drums beating, ensigns unfurled. It was composed,
says Paolo Giove, an eye-witness (book ii, p. 41 of his History), of
Swiss and German soldiers, with short tight coats of various colours:
they were armed with short swords, with steel edges like those of the
ancient Romans, and carried ashen lances ten feet long, with straight
and sharp iron spikes: only one-fourth of their number bore halberts
instead of lances, the spikes cut into the form of an axe and surmounted
by a four-cornered spike, to be used both for cutting like an axe and
piercing like a bayonet: the first row of each battalion wore helmets
and cuirasses which protected the head and chest, and when the men were
drawn up for battle they presented to the enemy a triple array of iron
spikes, which they could raise or lower like the spines of a porcupine.
To each thousand of the soldiery were attached a hundred fusiliers:
their officers, to distinguish them from the men, wore lofty plumes on
their helmets.

After the Swiss infantry came the archers of Gascony: there were five
thousand of them, wearing a very simple dress, that contrasted with the
rich costume of the Swiss soldiers, the shortest of whom would have been
a head higher than the tallest of the Gascons. But they were excellent
soldiers, full of courage, very light, and with a special reputation for
quickness in stringing and drawing their iron bows.

Behind them rode the cavalry, the flower of the French nobility, with
their gilded helmets and neck bands, their velvet and silk surcoats,
their swords each of which had its own name, their shields each telling
of territorial estates, and their colours each telling of a lady-love.
Besides defensive arms, each man bore a lance in his hand, like an
Italian gendarme, with a solid grooved end, and on his saddle bow a
quantity of weapons, some for cutting and same for thrusting. Their
horses were large and strong, but they had their tails and ears cropped
according to the French custom. These horses, unlike those of the
Italian gendarmes, wore no caparisons of dressed leather, which
made them more exposed to attack. Every knight was followed by three
horses--the first ridden by a page in armour like his own, the two
others by equerries who were called lateral auxiliaries, because in a
fray they fought to right and left of their chief. This troop was not
only the most magnificent, but the most considerable in the