herce

[Jim Webster]

Just came across this article on a blog

https://thepostgradchroniclessite.wordpress.com/2017/02/12/a-herse-a-herse-my-kingdom-for-the-definition-of-a-herse/

[Erpingham]

Not exactly new - I think it was Jim Bradbury who first came up with the hedgehog theory.  The main problem is that it doesn't seem to fit the medieval meanings of herse, like a portcullis or a trellis.  Think of a herse as a harrow looked down upon from above - an open framework.

[aligern]

Wasn't  Matt Bennett's suggestion, that the herce referred to an opened out deployment so that several archers could shoot.
I think its quite interesting to see how archery is deployed at Sluys. That seemed to ne a sea fightbrun on land lines and the archers arebused from the flanks. Makes more sense than in front of the knights. Strijes me the blogger has mistranslated fons as meaning behind when it might just mean ar rhe base of the formation with archers ahead and to the sides, but unibstructed.

[Jim Webster]

personally, having worked with sets of Spike harrows far older than me, I always liked the harrow explanation

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tsIEnfza5Ek/T1jjbz7LInI/AAAAAAAAESE/VGpWHvvo9tk/s1600/Firestone+Farm+Spring+Farming+012+-+Spiked+Harrow.jpg

[Erpingham]

Yes, the author only considers the Burne idea of the harrow, not the later Matt Bennet one (the overhead view).  Medieval infantry formations were usually shoulder-to-shoulder.  A formation which opened out to give room for shooting in depth could potentially be unique to acquire its own nickname.