SOLDIERS AND STRATEGIES

Warfare in the Medieval World

Military History/Mr.Smith

CONTENTS Introduction
I. Feudalism
II. The Way of the
Knight
III. Medieval
Weapons
IV. Medieval Armor
V. Siege Warfare
VI. The End of the
Knight

The images of a knight clad in armor, brandishing gleaming sword atop a sturdy steed, is
often the first image one thinks of when hearing the word “Middle Ages” or “Medieval Times”. The
legend of the knight has inspired countless stories, myths and legends of chivalry. From King
Arthur to the Song of Roland, the ideal of knightly virtues has inspired generations of readers.
Though the reality of Medieval combat was certainly brutal and harsh, and grounded in a harsh
social system, the legend of the knight has left its impact on society; virtue, honor, fair play and
gallantry were universal ideals reinforced by chivalry, the knightly code of honor. Out of the
disorder of the Dark Ages, and the insecurity of every village and town, arose warriors who
promised the defense of all in their service: the knight.

I. Feudalism
The entire military order of Medieval times was based on the feudal system. In this system
those with the most land held the most power, and those below them were their
vassals. A lord could rely on knights to server him in war as the knights could rely
on his castle in times of siege. The peasantry fought for landlord knights while the
knights led them into battle in their heavily armored state. As one might expect,
one at the top of the feudal order had the best military resources: the best armor
and the best weapons. As one moved down the feudal order such accoutrements
are lessened in quality until we reach the pitchfork or spear-armed, unarmored
peasant. Because open field battles were rare, most engagements involved
sieges; these were grand events in the Middle Ages for the era saw the pinnacle of
defensive engineering. The feudal system was a political and social arrangement,
but also a military system as well. Feudalism mandated who led, who followed,
who sought protection and who protected. The social order created a very tangible
chain of command, and separated the elite shock troops from the front line
footmen. As long as the upper classes retained the better weaponry, the feudal order was intact;
when this equation failed, the popular face of Europe would be forever altered.

II. The Way of the Knight

Warfare was a way of life during the Dark and Middle Ages. If one did not have the skills to
fight and win, an untimely death was imminent. Out of the chaos of Rome’s fall were born hundreds
of warrior kingdoms and tribes, each fighting every adversary on its frontier. Boys were trained only
to be fighting men; it was if humankind had reverted to the Stone Age “hunter” mode. However, out
of that chaos was born a set of rules that was meant to bring order to the brutality of war: the Code
of Chivalry. Chivalry was a fusion of Christian ideals and martial conventions. It called on knights
to be honorable, charitable and merciful. Though every knight and soldier did not accede to this
code, it shaped the mindset and culture of the era.
With a society shaped in war it was little surprise that military training was a common activity.
From a young age noble children began their practice. The first stage, as boys no older than 10,
was to be attendant to a knight and a squire as a “page”. As the term page suggests, the lowest
echelon of recruit was an errand-runner and served pretty much as a
custodian/butler. Upon entering his teens the page would be promoted to
squire. The squire was truly a knight-in-training. He practiced with weapons
and armor, horseback riding and battle tactics. The squire’s primary function
was to be the “right hand man” of the knight. On the field of battle the squire
would give his lord whatever weapons or new horses were required during a
battle: somewhat like a pit stop in a modern auto race. Chivalry’s rules forbade
the actual fighting of a squire in battle: not even to save his lord-knight’s life. Of
course, the pinnacle of soldier-hood was the knight. The knight was a warrior
who served both his lord and his God. His duty was both to the feudal system
and the Church. In fact, the ceremony in which he was certified knight was
considered a religious event, much like holy sacraments in the Catholic Church of his day. Besides
an official initiation through ceremony, men might sometimes be dubbed knights on the field of
battle in desperate situations. Only lords and established knights could grant passage into their
exclusive level of soldiering, and this was accomplished through the tapping of the soldier on his
head, or sometimes on his soldiers, with the flat of the sword. Achieving knighthood, the newborn
warrior carried his herald, his family’s coat of arms, into battle. Heraldry was a colorful system of
shapes, designs and scenes that adorned the tunics, shields and banners of knights. Passed down
through their ancestors, the heraldic symbols were testament to the honor and lineage of a knight’s
family line. They were more that decoration, but necessary insignia to identify heavily armored
soldiers on the battlefield.

III. Medieval Weapons

If Medieval Times were a trying and dangerous time in which to live, and indeed they were, it
should be little surprise that the weapons wielded by its warriors were especially brutal. From the
elegant but deadly sword to the smashing morning star, the weapons of the era were ferociously
destructive, at the expense of many a limb and life. As far as melee, or close-range combat, there
were three categories of weapons used: those for slashing, those for smashing and those for
piercing.
The most common handheld weapon of the individual soldier in the Middle Ages was the
sword. Unlike the gladius of Roman times, the Medieval sword was long and
designed as a “slasher” rather than to be poked at the enemy. Crafted by
expert blacksmiths, steel swords were durable and could stand the test of
time; they were often passed from father to son. The European sword was
built for power and was sturdy and heavy. In a famous tale of King Richard
the Lionheart’s meeting with Saladin the Turkish leader, Richard proved the
mightiness of his sword by slicing a heavy rock in two. Saladin,
in response, let a silk scarf drift from the air and let it fall on the
blade of his slight, curved scimitar(upon which it split). Such was
the difference in the two cultures and the European emphasis on
mass and raw power. As a secondary sword, the knight carried
a mini-sword or “dagger”. The other major slashing weapon of the day was the axe.
Being much simpler in construction and more speedily crafted that the sword, the axe
was also widely-used, though rarely by nights. The axe was a favorite of the Saxons and the
Franks. Swords and axes also came in two-handed variety, but in using such a weapon the warrior
gave up an arm for the carrying of a shield.
Besides slashing, another class of Medieval weapons was designed for crushing; these
designs were innovations particular to the time. The most common smashing or “bludgeoning”
weapon was a simple wooden club. Another such weapon was the mace. The mace was a short,
straight metal club with spikes at the end. It was carried by monks in the Crusades, for the Bible
forbade the use of slashing weapons(ones that pierced the skin)..but not those that broke bones. It
was a technicality that allowed clergymen to fight “the infidel”. The third type of smashing weapon
was the flail. The flail was a metal rod with several chains attached to the end of it; these ends
usually contained steel balls that sported a dozen spikes. The weapon was whipped at the enemy
with deadly effect. Because of the image of the spike-laden balls on its chains, the flail was
sometimes referred to as the “morning star”. These blunt weapons gained popularity in the Late
Middle Ages when solid plate armor was impervious to sword and axe strikes, but the bashing of
maces and flails might cause internal injuries beneath the defender’s armored sheathing.
The last class of melee weapons was piercing weapons. The most simple and ancient of
these weapons was the spear. Used more commonly in the Dark Ages, the spear of Medieval
Times was meant for poking rather than throwing. When used on horseback by
men such as the Norman knights,
the spear became even more
forceful. In the classical world the
spear was wielded by cavalry
over their shoulder with the arm in
the air at a right angle. With the
advent of the saddle and stirrup, knights tucked
their spears underarm: this was referred to as the
couched position. In this way, the horse did
more than merely transport the spearmen to
combat, its momentum contributed to the impact of
his weapon. Spears became longer and heavier
over time as wielded by horsemen until they
became what we identify as “the lance”. The
other major piercing weapon of the day was the
halberd or bill. The halberd was a long wooden
shaft with a two to three pronged metal blade atop it. It could be poked at the enemy like a spear or
slashed at the enemy with its long, sharpened edge.
Handheld projectile weapons were also especially dangerous. In the hands of a well-trained
soldier, a bow or crossbow could give the tradesman an opportunity to destroy a powerful knight..
The Code of Chivalry forbade knights from the use of missile
weapons, leaving only mercenaries and townspeople(the growing
Middle Class) to carry and use the weapons. As the Medieval
age set in, the only bows used were short bows, small slings
made of single pieces of wood.
The piercing power of these early
bows was limited, and nearly
useless against heavily armored
knights. The development of the
crossbow provided the footsoldier
with a powerful weapon that could
fire a bolt(short, un-feathered
arrow) at a rate able to puncture the knight’s defenses at close or
 medium range. The crossbow was fairly easy to learn to aim, and used most commonly in castle
defense. However, its complexity in mechanics meant a protracted and tedious loading time. The
final evolution of the bow was the famed longbow. When the English unleashed this weapon
against the French, it decimated entire legions of knights at the Battles of Crécy, Poiters and
Agincourt. Suddenly a cheaply-equipped carpenter, peddler or any number of tradesmen, equipped
and trained in the use of the longbow, could bring down the once great lords on horseback. Both
the crossbow and longbow could penetrate plate mail armor(the crossbow at short distance only),
but the rate of fire of the longbow allowed it to decimate mounted charges while the older crossbow
could only hope to lfire off a round or two before contact with the enemy was made. In fact, as the
enemy charged, Welch or English longbowmen let loose an arrow every five seconds, or twelve
times per minute.

IV. Medieval Armor

The deadly weapons of the Middle Ages mandated a proper personal defense. As the
development of new forms of attack progressed, so too did the nature of protective armor. At the
outset of the Dark Ages, the Germanic tribes that brought down the Romans wore little more than
shields, with no armored tunics. The next evolution was the
use of gambesons. Gambesons were thick coats of many
layers of quilted linen(cloth). However, by the time of the
Frankish Empire, scale mail was widely in use. Scale mail was
an armor suit made of overlapping metal triangles in a layered
fashion. Next in the evolution of body armor was chain mail.
Chain mail had been used in Ancient times of course, it
reemerged by the time of the Norman conquest. Knights wore
chain mail from the 11th century well into the 14th century.
Chain mail was woven from interlocking rings of armor and
provided a decent defense against handheld weapons and
short bows. By the time of the Hundred Years War, plate mail
began to be the choice defense of the average knight. Plate
mail was solid steel armor crafted to fit the knight’s body Though it was heavy, it was all but
impervious to spear, sword and axe blows except where the armor hinged to allow for flexibility.
Because of its weight, when knights were knocked down, it was all but impossible too stand, leaving
many a warrior defenseless. Even horses were outfitted with plate armor towards the end of the
Middle Ages. There were two main classifications of plate armor. “Full plate” referred to metal
sheathing that covered the body from head to toe, while “half plate”(or “partial plate”) involved a
hybrid of chain mail armor enhanced with pieces of metal plate over body joints(knees and elbows),
the shins and head. The common class of men-at-arms always carried the lower grade armor of the
era. While knights wore plate mail in the 1400’s, the average foot soldier wore a suit of chain mail,
just as when knights wore chain male during the Crusades, their attendants wore leather.
The knight was incomplete without his shield. In the Dark Ages this was a round design of
medium size as used by the Franks. The Normans used a long tear-shaped shield that provided
Great Helm better protection and was well-designed to fit the knight on horseback. As the
weight of armor and weaponry carried by knights improved,
Bascinet
the
shield was downsized to a small, triangular shaped version.
Helmets were also especially important to the knight. Dark Ages
warriors such as Vikings, Saxons and Normans sported smaller
steel or iron caps that cover the crown of the head(usually
elongated downward only by a nose-guard). By the time of the
Crusades, the helmet took on a full cylindrical shape that
Sallet covered the entire head(the “great helm”). Though this design offered first class
protection, it was very hard to see through the narrow eye slits crafted into the
helm. This helmet was also especially hot inside. As time went on the helm changed to a more
sloped design to promote weapon blows from sliding off the head. These helmets, called bascinets,
usually had face plates that could be raised or lowered given the circumstances. The final evolution
of the helmet was the sallet , which consisted of a lower cylinder covering the neck and chin, while
another top portion, which overlapped it, was placed over it like a pot lid.
Shields varied in shape throughout the Medieval era but were the most persistent piece of
defensive equipment. In the Dark Ages the large round shield of the Goths was popularized by
warriors such as Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. By the end of the Dark Ages the Normans had
popularized the “kite shield” as it was easier to wield while on horseback and afforded good
protection to foot soldiers as well. As plate mail armor became dominant the need for large shields
began to wane and the kite shield was often replaced by the “heater shield”.

Anglo-Saxon Norman Heater

Round Kite Shield
Shield Shield

V. Siege Warfare
The art of fortress-building and fortress-storming was greatly advanced during the Middle
Ages. Perhaps more than any other aspect of military science during the era, it was siegecraft that
was the greatest accomplishment. The entire premise of the development of feudalism in Europe
was the premise that powerful lords could provide protection their subjects in exchange for their
loyalty, and it was their castles that gave them this offering. The Medieval castle was a grand
structure. Though varying in form and style though the period, all castles served one primary
purpose: the protection of the citizenry in time of attack. The concept was simple, when a neighbor
attacked your manor, the best defense was to force a siege of your castle rather than fight an open
field battle. It would cost the invader many more men in an attempt to take a fortress than it would
take to win a battlefield contest. Thus, it is no surprise that castles were designed with great
functionality towards the end of making attackers pay for their incursion.
Medieval castles began as simple, wooden stockades(rings of wooden stakes) surrounding
hilltop manor houses. This type of structure,
first used by the Normans, provided a simple Norman Style Stockade
but reasonably strong deterrent to attack. It Castle
was from this basic model that castles would
evolve. When castles were made of stone
afterwards, they became the truly formidable
citadels so associated with the age. A
myriad of designs and configurations were
achieved in castle design. The basic

structure involved the building of a castle keep

surrounded by a single, outer wall of defense,
accented by intermittent towers. The keep was
the central building that was the lord’s personal
residence and offered a stockpile of food to
High Middle Ages provide for the Hoardings
population during extended
Double Bailey Castle sieges. Indeed, during a siege, the entire
civilian society would be crammed into the castle complex. Towers provided high points from which
archers could shoot at those attacking the castle walls below. Later castles involved the building of
two outer walls beyond the keep, such that if one was penetrated, the attackers would have yet
another obstacle to overcome. A number of innovations made the castle nearly impregnable.
Windows in the walls were mere slits, providing archers excellent cover from which to fire at
attackers. The tops of the walls had merlons, or jutting blocks that defenders could hide behind(the
spaces between these blocks were called crenels). To beef up the defense of a castle, wooden
hoardings that hung over the wall could be placed atop castle walls; defenders could drop various
items on attackers of the castle walls below. These items varied from rocks to smoldering hot water
and oil. Defenders also used wall-mounted cranes to hook or knock off attackers climbing ladders.
There was also the great obstacle common to many castles: the moat. The moat was a deep,
water-filled trench meant to keep attackers from getting near the castle wall. To add to the danger,
some lords even had crocodiles placed into the water.
Such daunting defenses mandated careful and powerful attack methods. The determination
that drove the construction of castles was mirrored by the strength of mind to destroy them. There
were two ways of laying siege to a castle. The first style, which was preferable
to the attacker, was to blockade the enemy stronghold until food shortages and
disease forced its capitulation. However, this type of siege had its dangers; the
contracts of knights’ military service to their lords was for a limited time and
while one’s army was besieging an enemy manor, another might very well sack
the attacker’s in his absence. Also, Medieval castles were so well-stocked and
prepared for the eventuality of siege that this method rarely forced the garrison
into surrender. The second alternative was an active siege in which attempts to
capture the enemy castle by force were enacted.
The most common way to break into a castle was through scaling ladders. Quite simply,
ladders were laid against the wall and attackers would ascend them to the top. However, this was a
dangerous approach to a siege since defenders could throw back the ladders or quite easily pick off
attackers while they packed onto the ladder. Another way to
gain entry into the castle was to enter through a siege tower:
a mobile wooden tower that was pushed against castle walls.
One close enough, the siege tower’s door on the highest level
slammed down onto the ramparts and the attackers stormed
in. If one could not climb over, one could attempt to break
through. The simplest way to break a castle was to break down its walls. This was accomplished
both with siege artillery and battering rams. Battering rams were huge tree trunks suspended on
ropes that were knocked against an enemy castle’s walls or gates. If time permitted, such rams’
crews were protected by a covering shed that was made mobile with wheels. One could also
attempt to break down fortress walls by tunneling under them. Specialized
engineers would see to the construction of tunnels underneath the castle
perimeter, each of which was supported by wooden beams. When the time was
right, engineers would knock out the supports with
ropes or set them on fire, bringing the weakened
foundation and the wall itself down in shambles.
However, castle defenders would sometimes build
counter-tunnels to intercept the assault engineers.
Aside from all of these methods was the mainstay of
siege artillery. Catapults were still used just as in
Ancient times. Whether firing boulders, flaming pots
of oil or dead animal carcasses(to spread disease),
the catapult remained the main siege weapon.
During the Middle Ages a specialized catapult was Trebuchet
developed that was more destructive than its predecessors: the trebuchet. The trebuchet was a
rock-throwing weapon with a huge counterweight on one end and a cup on which to mount the
projectile on the other. Standing up to four stories tall, these impressive siege machines would fire
their load with great momentum and distance. Siege warfare would never again be the thrust and
parry drama that it was in the Middle Ages. The main reason for the changing nature of the siege
would be a weapon that made its appearance at the end of Medieval times: the cannon.

VI. The End of the Knight

As the Medieval era came to a close, lords found their stature somewhat stolen by the rising
success of the merchant middle class. Towns, not castles,
became the hub of society. Just as this political, economic and
social shift was taking place, so too was the military reality
shifting. Thousands of men-at-arms, soldiers recruited from the
burgeoning town
citizenry, could be
cheaply equipped and raised as militias in times of war.
Armed with powerful weapons even the greatest knights
could not stand up to them. The first sign of change had
been the English introduction of the longbow; the bodies of
French knights strewn across the field at Agincourt were
testament to this. Also, the pike made a new appearance
towards the end of the Middle Ages; it revolutionized warfare as it had when Philip of Macedon
introduced it centuries earlier. Long pikes enable infantry to keep charging knights at bay. Next
was the introduction of gunpowder-based weapons. Citizen soldiers came to be equipped with
simple muskets, crude but effective against the armor worn by the upper classes. Though many of
these early firearms might just as likely explode in the face of the soldiers using them than be
projected towards the enemy, with each refinement they came more and more dominant on the
battlefield. And the cannon, the largest of the powder-firing weapons, made quick work of castle
walls. With his knights humbled by the power of the bow and gun, and his castle weakened by the
power of bombards(the earliest cannons), the lord lost his absolute grip on political affairs.
Militarily, the appearance of the gun changed the face of warfare in the Western world as today’s
weapons show.

Military
DARK High History
AGES
Middle Ages Name:____________________________
Late Middle Ages
Mr.Smith's Class Period ___

Late Middle Ages Late Middle Ages

1. What social/political system defined military roles in the Middle Ages?

______________________________________

2. What rules of conduct described how a knight should pursue warfare?

______________________________________

3. For what practical purpose was heraldry necessary?

_________________________________________________________________________

4. List SEVEN weapons used in melee, or close fighting, during the Medieval era…

a. b. c. d.

e. f. g.

5. Why did blunt(non-edged) weapons become more popular in the Late Middle Ages?

6. What does “couched” mean when referring to the spear?

_________________________________________________________________________________

7. What two types of bows were most widely used during the Middle Ages?

a. b.

8. List the names of the types of armor described…

________________ links of steel circles woven into a metal tunic

________________ overlapping metal triangles that layer the body

________________ many layers of quilted linen

________________ solid steel body armor made to fit the knight…

which came in two varieties: _____________________ and _____________________)

9. Identify each of these types of shields(based on the reading, write on the arrow)…
10. What was the central-most building at the center of the castle complex?

___________________________

11. Label the merlons and crenels on the wall below…

12. What were three ways that castles were defended from attack(besides the basic walls)?

a.

b.

c.

13. What were four devices used by attackers during a siege?

a. b.

c. d.

14. Why did weapons such as the musket and cannon alter warfare forever?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

13. What ancient weapon reemerged near the end of the Middle Ages as a counter to
heavy cavalry?

________________________