menatarms

Man-at-arms, or men-at-arms, is a term used in medieval Europe to refer to a professional soldier who fought in armor and served a lord, city, or mercenary company. The expression derives from Old French homme d’armes, meaning a man of arms.

Most men-at-arms wore mail or plate armor and fought with melee weapons such as swords, pollaxes, or halberds, often supplemented by polearms and shields. Some were mounted as heavy cavalry; others fought on foot as heavily armed infantry. They formed the backbone of feudal and later royal forces, fighting in pitched battles, sieges, and skirmishes, and could be employed as mercenaries or as part of a lord’s permanent retinue.

Unlike knights, who were primarily aristocrats with independent estates, men-at-arms were professional soldiers drawn from various social backgrounds. They were paid wages or allowances and organized into companies or retinues under a captain or captain general, sometimes supervised by a herald or marshal. In many polities, the term covered both mounted and dismounted warriors who were equipped and trained for regular service.

Approaching the late Middle Ages, the distinction between knights and men-at-arms became more blurred as professional standing armies emerged. The term fell out of common use with the rise of early modern military forces, though derivative terms and specific units in certain regions continued to be known as men-at-arms or similar.