Divine Defense: How Saint Hilary became the Patron of England’s Early Right to Bear Arms

As the Left chips away at the right to bear arms, may St Hilary pray for us. I've included the text of the Assize of Arms  after the article.

From uCatholic

By George Ryan

In the cobwebbed corridors of England’s medieval history, a unique event unfolded under the rule of King Henry II. The Assize of Arms of 1181 didn’t merely establish the obligation for all freemen to bear arms; it also intertwined this duty with a significant religious practice.

In the 12th century, King Henry II decreed that each freeman, according to his rank and wealth, must possess and use arms. This reinstated an ancient Anglo-Saxon tradition, leveraging the collective power of the people for the kingdom’s defense. What sets this assize apart is its unexpected connection to the Catholic Church.

The king’s command was that every man must pledge his commitment to bear arms before the feast day of a Catholic saint, Saint Hilary. This unique intersection of duty and devotion made the acquisition of arms a divine matter.

The freemen were bound not just by their earthly loyalty to the king, but also by their spiritual commitment, woven tightly around the feast of Saint Hilary. This religious dimension sanctified the civic duty, implying a higher divine accountability.

The Assize of Arms, in essence, cleverly married faith with fealty. By drawing upon the moral authority of Catholicism, the Assize increased the people’s commitment to defence, all under the providential gaze of Saint Hilary.

While the discourse on the right to bear arms continues today, the Assize of Arms adds a spiritual depth to this historical narrative. The intriguing blend of Catholic tradition and royal decree from the 12th century presents a nuanced perspective on the enduring subject of arms and allegiances.

Text of the Assize of Arms (27 Hen. 2), 1181

1. Whoever possesses one knight's fee shall have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every knight shall have as many shirts of mail, helmets, shields, and lances as he possesses knight's fees in demesne.^{[note 1]}
2. Moreover, every free layman who possesses chattels or rents to the value of 16m. shall have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every free layman possessing chattels or rents to the value of 10 marks shall have a hauberk, an iron cap, and a lance.^{[note 2]}
3. Item, all burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have [each] a gambeson,^{[note 3]} an iron cap and a lance.
4. Besides, each of them shall swear to have these arms before the feast of St. Hilary, to be faithful to the lord king Henry — namely, the son of the Empress Matilda — and to bear these arms in his service according to his command and in fealty to the lord king and his kingdom. And henceforth no one having these arms shall sell them or pledge them or lend them or alienate them in any other way; nor shall a lord in any way alienate them from his men, either through forfeiture or through gift or a pledge or in any other way.
5. If anyone having these arms die, his arms shall remain to his heir. If, however, the heir is not of age to use arms in time of need, that person who has wardship over him shall also have custody of the arms and shall find a man who can use the arms in the service of the lord king until the heir is of age to bear arms, and then he shall have them.
6. Any burgess who has more arms than he ought to have by this assize shall sell them or give them away, or in some way alienate them to such a man as will keep them for the service of the lord king of England. And none of them shall keep more arms than he ought to have by this assize.
7. Item, no Jew shall keep in his possession a shirt of mail or a hauberk, but he shall sell it or give it away or alienate it in some other way so that it shall remain in the king's service.
8. Item, no one shall carry arms out of England except by the command of the lord king: no one is to sell arms to another to carry out of England; nor shall a merchant or any other man carry them out of England.
9. Item, the justices shall have [a report] sworn by lawful knights, or by other free and lawful men of the hundreds and neighborhoods and boroughs — as many as they see fit to employ — as to what persons possess chattels to the amount that they should have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a lance, and a shield according to what has been provided; so that they shall separately name for those [justices] all men of their hundreds and neighborhoods and boroughs who are worth 16m. in either chattels or rents and likewise, those who are worth 10 marks. And then the justices shall have written down [the names of] all those jurors and other men, [recording] how much in chattels or rents they [each] have and what arms, according to the value of the chattels or rents, they should [each] have. Then, in their presence and a common assembly of those men, they shall have read this assize regarding the possession of arms, and they shall have that men swear to have arms according to the value of the aforesaid chattels or rents and to keep them for the service of the lord king according to this aforesaid assize, under the command of and in fealty to the lord king Henry and his kingdom. If, moreover, it should happen that any one of them, who ought to have these arms, is not in the county during the period when the justices are in that county, the justices shall set a time for him [to appear] before them in another county. And if he does not come to them in any county through which they are to go, and is not in that land [at all], they shall set him time at Westminster toward the octave of St. Michael; so that, as he loves his life and all that he has, he shall be there forswearing his oath. And they shall command him, before the aforesaid feast of St. Hilary, to have arms according to the obligation resting on him.
10. Item, the justices shall have proclamation made in the counties through which they are to go that, concerning those who do not have such arms as have been specified above, the lord king will take vengeance, not merely on their lands or chattels, but their limbs.
11. Item, no one who does not possess 16 marks [as specified above] or 10 marks in chattels is to swear concerning free and lawful men.
12. Item, the justices shall command through all the counties that no one, as he loves his life and all that he has, shall buy or sell any ship to be taken away from England, and that no one shall carry any timber or cause it to be carried out of England. And the lord king commands that no one shall be received for the oath concerning arms unless he is a freeman.