Awesome gun history website

an Englishman's obligation to serve in a citizen army is an old proposition. Coupled with this obligation to defend the realm was the obligation to provide oneself with weapons for this purpose.[13] King Henry II formalized his subjects' duties in 1181 by issuing the Assize of Arms.[14] The arms required varied depending on the subjects' wealth, with the poorest freemen obligated to provide the least--an iron helmet and a lance.[15] The Assize required not only arms to be possessed, but precluded the possessor from selling, pledging, or in any other way alienating the weapons.[16] In 1253, the armed population was expanded beyond freemen to include serfs, individuals bound to the land and the land's owner.[17] Serfs were required to procure a spear and dagger.[18]

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