English Knights – Yeomen of the guard

British Knights

The oldest military organization in the world is England’s Yeoman of the Guard was initially titled "Yeomen of the Guard of our Lord the King." It was founded in 1845 in order to serve the function of the sovereign’s personal bodyguard as a component of the royal household. This is a duty it still performs to this day, although currently it is more of a ceremonial posting than a true combat outfit.

The coronation of the Yeomen of the Guard’s founder, King Henry VII, was their first officially documented appearance, which took place on October 31, 1485 in Westminster Abbey; around 50 members of the Guard existed at that time. They must have greatly risen in number, as in 1509, 126 members of the Guard stood in attendance at the king’s funeral. In addition to petty officers, ushers, sergeants, captains, the Guard was typically presided over by a captain, an ensign, and a clerk of the check; their duties were to act as vice-chamberlain, standard-bearer, and a check roll (who concerned himself with keeping record of everyone in the household), respectively.

The Yeomen of the Guard’s inital mission was extremely comprehensive and broadly defined. No matter where the king was at any time, they were his attendants and protectors. They protected the king and kept him safe on the battlefield and her journeys, as well as when he took residence in the palace. When the sovereign went on royal progresses and journeys, the Yeomen of the Guard performed as his mounted escort, despite being mostly comprised of infantry since its inception; this practice ended with the Gregorian period.

Even today, the garb of the Yeomen of the Guard is not dissimilar from it’s Tudor origins, with very small alterations. A tunic of royal red, adorned with ornaments of gold lace, purple facings and stripes are the typical uniform of a Yeoman. At different times in history, the Guard wear fuller sleevers and longer skirts. They also typically wear red knee-breetches, red stockings, a flat hat, and black shoes displaying rosettes of red, white and blue. One interesting aspect of their traditional dress is the array of gold-embroidered emblems seen all over the coat, which recount the history of the union of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom. From the Guard’s inception in 1485 until 1603, those emblems consisted of the Tudor crown containing the Lancastrian rose, as well as the initials of the current sovereign.

Until 1830, the Guard’s officers wore the exact tudor dress as the other non-commissioned officers and soldiers; however, William IV then passed a law stated that there would be no more appointed civilians to military duty or purchase of officer’s commissions, leading to a move from the Tudor style of dress to a Peninsular period field officer’s uniform.

Since then, the look of the Guard has changed very little at its core. When Henry VII ruled, from 1485 to 1509, it’s very likely they claimed victory in the Battle of Bosworth Field. The rise of Henry VIII saw archery become more and more popular, resulting in at least half of the Guard carrying bow and arrow. With the advent of the firearm, some of the Guard were outfitted with harquebus, along with buff cross belts to support their weight while on service. They wore gold-embroidered cross belts in the palace instead of the service buff, which transfered to their common dress in all situations in modern times. The Guard currently carry a steel gilt halberd with a red and gold tassel, as well as an ornamental blade.

Once the Tudor period was over, the Yeomen of the Guard’s days of true fighting ceased; however, they remained the sovereign’s attendants during battle still until the end of George II’s reign as sovereign. The last battle of the Yeomen of the Guard was the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, as they attended the king during the fight. Unfortunately, the Guard had trouble maintaining its unique military character for a short time in the Georgian era, as some civilians began paying a lot of money for commissions in the Guard, especially yeomen proper and officers, which became a recurring bad habit. Thankfully, the practice was quickly shut down by William IV. The Guard finally got its full military reputation back in 1848, with the retirement of the last civilian.