The Galloway roll (1300): its content, composition and value to military history

The Galloway roll is one of eighteen extant English rolls of arms dating from the reign of King Edward I. Drawn up at the height of that king's wars, it commemorates around 250 knights who served in south‐west Scotland in 1300. It is the first armorial of its type to record the names of a large number of knights bachelor and to arrange them into the retinues in which they served. This article considers how this roll of arms came into being, what it adds to our knowledge of the English army in 1300, and how it highlights the gentry's service during this period of heavy campaigning.