Early Medieval Culture - Essay Example

Research of early medieval warfare Introduction Medieval era is believed to be between 5th to 15th centuries. It was an extremely violent era in English history. A war between France and England took place for 116 years. It took place in between the year 1198 and the year 1340. During this period, warfare was extremely crucial in the medieval era. War used to be fought on the field with soldiers and horses. In this era, however, siege was more common than open battles (Boffa, 2004). In Europe during this era, cultural, technological, and social developments forced a historic transformation in the warfare character including the military tactics, artillery and the cavalry role. The medieval era brought fortification since it brought the castle emergence Europe which then spread to other regions like south western Asia. The document below researches the medieval warfare reviewing the tactics and weapons which were commonly used during this era. Discussion War in the medieval era was the role of the knights. They were trained from their young age to fight both from the horseback and fighting on foot. They were the combat pinnacle of that era. Cavalry warfare was dominant in the medieval era. It was believed that this was the most effective tactic in that era. It is a strategy where the knights used to fight on the horses’ back. It was an unbeatable tactic (Clements, 1998). The knights used to wear expensive custom fitted with armor. The armor would also stop a lance strike as well as deflect off arrows. The knight’s horses were singularly important. A good war horse had to be exceptionally trained since an untrained horse can easily throw a knight down in the battle field. The horses were also supposed to be well armed. It is worth noting that war tactics were changing with time. Around 14th and 15th centuries, the European warriors developed very powerful combat style. This style proved to be very victorious on the battlefield both in personal defense and suppressing riots. The fighters were supposed to be exceptionally trained (Barbier et al, 2014). They would artfully duck, dodge and trap the opponents. They utilized graceful footwork alongside graceful techniques. Their techniques were supposed to be ruthless and very efficient. Their main objective in the battle field was to put down their opponents within the shortest time possible. If a trained medieval fight would meet an unskilled or semiskilled fighter, it took him about 10 seconds to finish him. The book illustrates that the fighters did not use light techniques and every strike was meant to damage. They required power first for bringing the opponent down fast (Kautz, 2000). They were skilled in a manner that even if the opponent wore a leather, plate or chain armor they would manage to harm the opponent inside the suit. The medieval weapons were only sharp three to five inches and the rest was quite dull. The training, however, enabled the fighter to use even the dull part almost the same as the sharp part. Although, it was possible to retreat from the war without having lost, majority of armies would not agree to retreat. The medieval conception about the battles was like a trial where God is the judge. Both sides asserted that their god was with them. Fighting was, therefore, perceived as a means of determining the side that had a just cause of involving themselves in the battle (Boffa, 2004). There were various tactics the medieval fighters employed to win over their opponents. This is both in terms of weapons and the skills being used in the battlefield. One of the strategies which were used in that era was the use of the chemical weapons. These were standard weapons which were used together with the Greek fire. When an army was attacking their opponents in the medieval era, their main focus was to set the camp of their opponents on fire. The chemical weapons helped the attackers to burn any wooden material used for defense by the opponents(Kautz, 2000). However, in most camps the fighters were fond of using wet hides since they were difficult to catch fire when burning arrows were cast there. Fire was a very effective fighting tool in the medieval warfare. If the camp was covered with wet hides chemicals were used to ensure that the camp catches fire. The chemicals which were mainly used included petroleum, tar barrels, sulphur and quick lime. When these chemicals acted as a catalyst to make the fire burn intensely hence burning even the materials which do not catch fire easily. Fire acted as an effective tool of besieging opponents’fighting tools. It not only gave the attackers a way to enter in the opponents camp but also to kill others, destroy their arms hence making them vulnerable (Barbier et al., 2014). Another strategy that was being used by the attackers to gain entry into their opponents’ camp was through mining or undermining the opponents’ defensive walls. A mine entailed digging a tunnel which would destabilize the fortifications and castles of the opponents. This was the only effective tool that would be used when the castles were made of stones thus they could not be burned. The tunnels were excavated under the outer walls hence offer the attackers the opportunity to access the fortification or to make it weak hence collapse. This implies that the tunnel could serve as a way of accessing the camp where the attackers would use to enter in the camp and attack (Penelope, 2014). It was also a means of facilitating the collapse of the walls hence offer chance of accessing the camp. When the digging was in progress, props or wooden posts were used to support the tunnel from collapsing. The tunnel was dug near the wall so as to save the attackers energy. If the defenders would realize the schemes of their opponents, they would employ effective means which would counter the undermining from succeeding. One of the measures of countering the undermining progress was sitting on the castle all the time. This would make the mining very difficult hence counter it. If the defenders would fail to realize the schemes of the attackers, the attackers would access the camp through this tunnel. Similarly, the attackers would light fire in this tunnel which would burn the supporting props. Once the props would burn down, the tunnel would become weak and collapse. The medieval fighters employed bloody mess tactics (Barbier et al., 2014). They employed a decentralized nature of power which meant that the drill and training were only reserved for the knights as well as people who could afford mercenaries, wealthy lords and veteran footmen. There were numerous types of weapons which the knights were employing in the battle field. These weapons were used on the basis of the fighters’ ranks and status. The feudal system was responsible for determining the nature of weapons to be used by different categories of fighters. The feudal system is a combination of military and legal customs. It flourished in the medieval era specifically between 9th and 15th centuries. The system referred to the reciprocal of military and legal obligations among the warrior nobles (Boffa, 2004). It was revolving around the lords, fiefs and vassals. These groups of people played a significant role in planning the warfare in the medieval era. The knights were the ones who used the most expensive war equipment. They were fighting on horses and had to have the armor. The peasants’ weapons were usually adopted from the farm tools. The lords and the nobles were obligated to train the fighters as well as provide weapons based on their ranks. The knights were the most reliable fighters because of their skills and weapons. Other soldiers in the lower classes were helping the knights to fight. These soldiers mainly used weapons such as bow, axes, flail and arrows. One of the weapons which the medieval fighters were using was the sword. It was a metal instrument that could help in stabbing and cutting (Powell, 2010). It was the most iconic weapon that was used in the medieval period. It also served as a symbol of conflict and warfare. The knights were however, using a special sword known as an arming sword. It was believed to descend from the Viking swords of the invaders. It was a standard military sword mainly for the knights and was supposed to be accompanied by a shield. Most of the arming swords were doubled-edged and had a length of 30 to 32 inches as shown in fig 1 below. Fig 1 Long sword is another weapon that was being used in the medieval era. It gained prominence in the late medieval era approximately from 1350 to 1550. The grip of the sword could as long as one foot. This assisted the fighters to grip with both hands. The design of this sword and its use was entirely offensive (Penelope, 2014). Another weapon that was very prominent in the medieval era was the dagger. It was exclusively used for thrusting or stabbing. It was perceived as a secondary defensive weapon. Their difference with a knife was that the daggers were double-edged sword unlike the knives which were single-edged as the figure two below indicates. It was rarely used as warfare’s primary weapon. The dagger was used mainly for stabbing the face or between the plate armor. Figure 2, medieval fighters training with a dagger The morning star was another weapon that was being used in the medieval period. It resembled a mace but had small spikes on its head. It was used by both the cavalry and the footmen. One of the common types of the morning star was the holy water sprinkler (Powell, 2010). The English developed this weapon in 16th century with a more cylindrical head and long nail-like spikes. An art of a morning star A flail is another weapon that was common in the medieval era. It does not have evidence of its much use in the medieval period. The weapon consisted of a shaft that was connected by a chain of weighted head (Penelope, 2014). They were swung to gain maximum centripetal force so as to crumple the armor of the opponents. One flail could contain two or more light weighted heads as the figure below illustrates. The left man is with a flail while the other man is with a club Another type of weapons which were used included the counterweight trebuchets. They appeared in the 12th century (Powell, 2010). It was a siege engine that could hurl a 100 kilogram projectile at a very high speed for a distance of more over 300 meters. In the early versions of this biological warfare, the bodies which were infected with diseases and plagues could be flung into cities. These weapons can be termed as the most accurate catapults which have ever existed. Armor was effective fighting equipment in the medieval era. There were different types of armors. Chainmail was one type of the armors. It was created by interlocking iron rings which were common in that period. It originated from eastern part of Europe in the 6th century. Additional plates were slowly added to these armors to protect all vulnerable areas (Murphy, 2003). As the armor developed, splints and hardened leather were used so as to protect the body parts which were mobile like legs and arms so as to make the fighters to move with greater freedom. Finally, the leather and the iron got combined to form metal plates sewn into leather garments. Conclusion The above discussion reveals the warfare techniques and some of the weapons which were commonly used by the fighters in the medieval era. The knights were the most trained fighters which were used in the medieval era. They used sophisticated weapons and were armored completely including the horses they were riding on. The horses were supposed to be well trained also. The other fighters were meant to help the knights when in the battle field. The lords and the fiefs were helping in training and providing fighters with arms. The fighters also used various techniques to attack such undermining and lighting fire in the camps of the opponents. References Boffa, S. (2004). Warfare in medieval Brabant, 1356-1406. Rochester, N.Y: Boydell Press. Clements, J. (1998). Medieval swordsmanship: illustrated methods and techniques. Boulder, Colo: Paladin Press. Engineering the Medieval Achievement. n.d. The Longbow.A Collection of Information on Engineering during the Middle Ages. London: McMillan. Barbier, M.K., O'Brien, P., & Ball, S. (2014). War in History. International Journal of relations, 22 (4), 19-27 Kautz, P.,(2000). Medieval and Renaissance Knife Fighting History. Medieval Knife Fighting 1(1), 7-15 Murphy, D. B., (2003). Bringing Medieval History to Life Historical European Martial Arts. Ontario History and Social Science 24 (1), 34-41 Penelope, N. (2014). Warfare and politics in medieval Germany. Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association 10, 101-102.  Powell, J.,(2010). Weapons & warfare. Pasadena, Calif: Salem Press. Read More