Everyone has no gear at start. If you would attack straight away you would spawn naked. If you but would get attacked you have peasent gear, which after a successfull defense you also keep the remains. As noone has a fief at start, so noone can loom gear. , so everyone has to buy broken gear at start.
Villages will have peasent gear if the same as in strat 3, castles have medium armor and good weapons and castles have plate armors and superior weapons.
I could be mistaken about the following numbers but if i remember correctly it was close to:
villages 500 pop 0 garrison
castles 1000 pop 0 garrison (pop increasing to 1500?)
towns 1500 pop 0 garrison (pop increasing to 2000?)
as they didnt have garrisoned troops, AI fiefs had an exception that you werent able to raid them(?)
AI wont attack you if it stays the same as back then.