| has gloss | eng: Clubmen were bands of vigilantes during the English Civil War (1642–1651) who tried to protect their localities against the worst excesses of the respective armies of both sides in the war. They sought to club together to prevent their wives and daughters being raped by soldiers of both sides, themselves being forcibly conscripted to fight by one side or the other, their crops and property being damaged or seized by the armies and their lives threatened or intimidated by soldiers, battle followers, looters, deserters or refugees. As their name suggests, they were mostly armed with cudgels, flails, scythes and sickles fastened to long poles. They were otherwise unarmed. |