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(WIP) "Ung bon coustilleur" - The Arming and Role of the Coustillier

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There's not a whole lot on the coustillier, both online and in modern sources, especially in English, so I will attempt to shed some light them. I have translated quite a few sources for this, so enjoy! The Coustillier First, it is important to know who the coustillier is: he was the armed valet of the man at arms, and as such formed part of the  lance fournie , that is, the 'furnished lance'. This is the man at arms and his entourage; the "lance" is the man at arms, and by extension, it is his crew. Although it changes between peoples, and changes over time, for the men of the Grande Ordonnances  in the 15th century, this "lance" was the man at arms, a coustillier, a page for them, and two archers and a valet for them both; all were mounted. This was outlined in the 1445 Luppe le Chastel ordinance of Charles VII: "... that is to say each man at arms [shall have] a coustillier , a page and three horses, and two archers, a page or a valet de guerre
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Omdurman and the Knightly Charge

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The Battle of Omdurman is particularly famed for a cavalry charge recorded by Winston Churchill (who was an officer who partook in the said charge). I have seen Churchill's recollection referred to frequently, yet only recently did I sit down to read it. It is quite enlightening, and confirms many of my suspicions. It is quite a famous account, and many of my conclusions are not at all hard to get to, but committing things to writing is good to form one's argument and knowledge, and I have seen opinions espoused that are contradicted by this account, so I will analyze it regardless, specifically to the end of understanding the Medieval and Early Modern cavalry charge better. You may read the full account of the battle  here . "This detachment was composed entirely of the Hadendoa tribesmen of Osman Digna's flag, and was commanded by one of his subordinate Emirs, who selected a suitable position in the shallow khor . As soon as the 21st Lancers left the zeriba the Dervi
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"They all hold swords, being expert in war" - The Sword in Combat

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It is a common belief that swords were useless in war, or hardly used at all (or only used when the situation was not ideal). And these are not strawmen! I have personally seen all of these things (and more) said! Even the some of the most generous claims are still quite harsh and backhanded ("only good for duels", "great civilian weapon", etc.). But the fact of the matter is, the sword was a weapon of war, carried for centuries, sometimes in areas where they didn't have refined metallurgy either! So how could that be if swords were useless against armor and defeated entirely by reach? I have gathered up quite the collection for this one over the years (which I posted on the internet before, so you may find them out there), so enjoy! The Reach Disadvantage These ideas regarding the sword are largely based on (poor) logic (and HEMA tests done by those who rarely train with mixed weapons; or hardly use spears at all, and fencing skills naturally transfer from one
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