What makes a man-at-arms?

[A Crow Come Over]

No, that's simply incorrect, a man at arms is never a "peasant with a pitchfork" a man at arms is a paid retainer in service to a lord. In fact, there is no mention of peasants with pitchforks in any of the army's in this series, and that is historically accurate.

You have quite a romanticized vision of a man at arms, Stafford Lannister was raising a new army and it was taking a long time to train the small folk, those are men-at-arms

[Pod The Impaler]

I always figured that a man-at-arms would be more than a common peasant soldier, but less than a knight - better armed and armoured than the average soldier, but likely has no horse and is not a knight. Maybe they have a "heavy infantry" role when massed together, or form a surrounding retinue for their lords, when the lords are not charging ahead on horseback.

Just a guess though.

[Michael Stark Thenextwolf]

No, that's simply incorrect, a man at arms is never a "peasant with a pitchfork" a man at arms is a paid retainer in service to a lord. In fact, there is no mention of peasants with pitchforks in any of the army's in this series, and that is historically accurate.

Didnt Meribald say something along the lines of peasants get conscriped all the time into army and by they end they are stealing and pilaging from the same type of people. Also i dont think the "sweepings of Lannisport" are going to be all trained men at arms. Lastly "green boys and old men" think i read that at least once or twice...

[joe42m1]

A man at arms is a retainer, hes part of a retinue of men that fight for a lord. All knights are men at arms, but not all men at arms are knights.

This.

Also, Tyrion does mention in AGOT that part of the vanguard are "field-hands on plow horses armed with scythes." Men-at-arms are professional soldiers who are in service to a lord. Knights generally fall under this category, but they are a class above and not lumped together with the rest. I guess one way to think of it in modern terms is having knights as officers, men-at-arms as enlisted men, and peasant levies as a militia/national guard.

[SeanF]

Knighthood is an honour for distinguished service in war.

A man at arms fights in an identical manner to a knight. He is rich enough to afford armour and a war horse, and is likely to come from a gentry background. He just hasn't received a knighthood.

Like a knight, a man at arms can expect to be ransomed, if taken prisoner.

[RedDeadWedding]

Alyn and Harwin are good examples of men-at-arms

[Bloodroyal]

A man-at-arms is a trained soldier and they make up for a lord's army. They have castle forged weapon and armour, are mounted, better disciplened etc.

[FacelessDude]

Think of the difference between an officer and a soldier in the military. A man-at-arms is a foot soldier, armed and armored, and highly trained. He is more than a peasant with a pitchfork though -- armor costs money. A man-at-arms may be sworn to a house, or may hold his own lands and fight when called upon .I think the household guards appearing in the series (Lannister guards in Kings Landing, Stark men in Winterfell, Stannis's guard following Melisandre around all the time) are good examples of men-at-arms.

Knights are a few ranks up. Sure, they fight on horseback, may be better trained, and fight in tournaments and what not. But there is more to them. Knighthood has a religious (Faith of the Seven) component (they swear a vow), a social component (one is raised to knighthood, and knights are ransomed), an economic component (there are landed knights and household knights), and a military one (knights guard the king, command the gold cloaks, and serve as castellans). Think about Ser Rodrick Cassel, Ser Justin Massey, the Kingsguard, and others. They are more than men-at-arms.

That's basically the definition I described. Men-at-arms could just be simple men-at-arms and that's specifically what they were trained for, while others (like knights, sellswords, guards, etc) can retire and and become men-at-arms (or master-at-arms if they're highly skilled, like a knight) in certain cases. The definition of master-at-arms in our world is not what I'm referring to, since GRRM has a different meaning for it in ASOIAF.

This is what I had in mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-at-arms

[Howie Manderly]

I think a Man at Arms is the link between the Knight and the Peasant man. Men of maybe Littlefingers status of birth

[Bright Blue Eyes]

A man-at-arms is a professional soldier, whose main job is soldiering. They may have a second job as a farmer or whatever during peacetime, but war and preparation for war is always their first priority. That's the difference to the militia, whose main job is something else. Knights are a subset of men-at-arms.

[SeanF]

I think a Man at Arms is the link between the Knight and the Peasant man. Men of maybe Littlefingers status of birth

LF was the son of a lord (albeit a very minor one). The social status of many men at arms, sons of minor lords, and knights will be similar.

[Breastplate Stretcha]

A man-at-arms is a trained soldier and they make up for a lord's army. They have castle forged weapon and armour, are mounted, better disciplened etc.

Men-at-arms are not mounted and castle forged steel is not a requirement. You could have an iron sword with a hand-me-down boiled leather cuirass and be a man-at-arms if you're fighting in the service of a lord.