hobelar

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 700+ words | Copyright

hobelar, meaning a mounted infantryman armed with a spear, was a term derived from the light horse (ME ‘hobin’, ‘hobby’) which he rode. Originally typical of warfare in Ireland, they were adopted into English armies under Edward I, though replaced by mounted archers in the mid‐14th century. In Anglo‐Irish armies Robin Frame calculates that hobelars outnumbered the heavier men‐at‐arms by an average of 4.5:1. They were well adapted to driving off or protecting cattle on rough terrain, and utilized the small, native breed of horse rather than the expensive imported strains of ‘chief horses’ required by the knights.

Katharine Simms

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