02-20-2004, 11:10 AM
"The baton of command"<br>
<br>
Presumably the bacculus, a symbolic club carried by medieval commanders and (apparently) introduced to England by the Normans. It survives today as the Field Marshal's Baton (as allegedly found in every private's knapsack). Some hold that it is itself descended from the batons being held by some statues of Roman Generals. See the the crossed batons in the Arms of the Duke of Norfolk as hereditary Earl Marshal. <p></p><i></i>
<br>
Presumably the bacculus, a symbolic club carried by medieval commanders and (apparently) introduced to England by the Normans. It survives today as the Field Marshal's Baton (as allegedly found in every private's knapsack). Some hold that it is itself descended from the batons being held by some statues of Roman Generals. See the the crossed batons in the Arms of the Duke of Norfolk as hereditary Earl Marshal. <p></p><i></i>
