"All burgesses and freemen shall have a gambeson, an iron cap and a lance" -English Assize of Arms, 1181. Knights, and freemen who owned more than a certain v

"All burgesses and freemen shall have a gambeson, an iron cap and a lance" -English Assize of Arms, 1181. Knights, and freemen who owned more than a certain value of property, were required to own more and better weapons. Later laws extended this obligation to all men not just freemen, and required ownership of bows.