Historiography on testamentary practices in later medieval history has highlighted the contemporary fear of mors improvisa: dying intestate suddenly and without shrift and housel. Historians have also emphasized the importance of death rites, in which the production of a will looms large. In addition, it has been discussed recently that, along with the well-known military preparations soldiers made before going on campaign, many made spiritual arrangements, including petitioning for the right to choose confessors, have a portable altar, hear mass before daybreak or abstain from fasting while on campaign. Considering all of these preparations, one might presume that men-at-arms would prepare for the possibility of their death while on campaign by composing their testaments before they departed, in order to arrange prayers for their souls and the distribution of their movable property. However, an extensive examination of the available testamentary evidence reveals almost the opposite. While episcopal registers and administrations, along with chancery and exchequer documents, do yield examples of soldiers making wills before going on campaign, we also find many instances of English knights and men-at-arms from throughout the Hundred Years War going on campaign and dying without having made any official testamentary provision for their souls.

This study will seek to highlight what is a considerably underemphasized feature of previous examinations of both military preparations and testamentary practice during the Hundred Years War. It will question not only the relationship of warfare, religious practice and the fear of intestacy, but also our understanding of death rites in general.