Medieval Fortifications Breakdowns in centralized states led to the rise of a number of groups that turned to large-scale pillage as a source of income. Most notably the Vikings, Arabs, Mongols, and Magyars raided significantly. As these groups were generally small and needed to move quickly, building fortifications was a good way to provide refuge and protection for the people and the wealth in the region. These fortifications evolved over the course of the Middle Ages, the most important form being the castle, a structure which has become synonymous with the Medieval era. The castle served as a protected place for the local elites. Inside a castle, people were protected from bands of raiders and could send mounted warriors to drive the raiders from the area, or to disrupt the efforts of larger armies to supply themselves in the region by gaining local superiority over foraging parties that would be impossible against the whole enemy host. Fortifications provided safety to the lord, his family, his peasants, and his local vassals. They provided refuge from armies too large to face in open battle. Heavy cavalry which dominate an open battle was useless against fortifications. Castles were often surrounded by large moats or were located in the middle of rivers in order to prevent a large land attack. Because there was one walkway leading up to the castle, those in the castle could easily defend attackers by shooting arrows through narrow windows, or throwing stones, rotten food, dead animals, or even feces.
Siege Warfare: siege towers and belfries Designers of castles paid particular attention to defending entrances and protecting gates with drawbridges. Wet skins of freshly slaughtered animals were draped over gates and other wooden structures to stop the potential spread of fire. Moats and other water defenses, whether natural or manmade, were also vital to defenders. In the European Middle Ages, virtually all large cities had city walls. The more important cities had citadels, forts, or castles inside them, often built against the city walls. Attackers would try to get over the walls using scaling ladders, trebuchets, siege towers called belfries, and grapples. A belfry was used for gaining access to a castle, generally at the level of the battlements. It was typically constructed in wood, on several stories - as many as necessary to reach the battlements. Each story offered a location for attack - bows and crossbows in the lower levels, and armed men in the upper level, ready to drop a sort of drawbridge and gain access to the castle ramparts. The belfry was normally wheeled, so that it could be moved up against the castle walls, and like all exposed wooden engines of war it would be covered in the hides of freshly slaughtered animals and regularly dowsed in water to keep it fireproof. Attackers might try tunneling under the walls to gain access, but more often they would try to undermine the walls to bring them down. In a siege, one army typically attacks an enemy within a stronghold: either a castle or a fortified town. Medieval towns were generally surrounded by defensive walls, just like castles. Building siege engines was a time-consuming process, and could seldom be effectively done without preparations before the campaign. Sieges could take months, or even years, to weaken or demoralize the defenders sufficiently.
Cavalry Perhaps the most important technological advancement for medieval warfare in Europe was the invention of the stirrup, which had been unknown to the Romans. It most likely came to Europe with the Arabs in the 600s CE, although it was not fully adopted by Europeans until the 900s. In the Medieval period, the mounted cavalry held sway on the battlefield. Heavily armored, mounted knights represented a formidable foe for peasant draftees and lightly-armored freemen. A knights horse was knight s most prized possession. Medieval knights would usually have more than one horse, which were all trained with a specific purpose in mind. Knight s horses were specifically bred from good horse stock that had been identified as having the ideal attributes needed to be Medieval knight horse. Most were invariably short-backed and broad-chested stallions that were usually picked for their strength, stamina and speed. Only very wealthy medieval people such as knights could afford expensive horse armor. Medieval horses were very vulnerable to attack from foot soldiers, who would stab them in the belly or try to chop their legs. To defeat mounted cavalry, infantry used a tightly packed phalanx of men, techniques developed by the Greeks and Macedonians. Horses likewise wore armor, and knights used bows and arrows or long swords to attack enemies.
Psychological Weaponry Ancient armies had used sophisticated psychological weapons, and psychological warfare continued throughout the Middle Ages in Europe. For example, Alexander the Great would create armor suitable for a man of several times normal size. He would then leave a few samples laying around the scene of his victories against the Persians. Persians would find this armor and were soon spreading stories of Alexander's superhuman giant soldiers. Western Europe did not stretch to this level of sophistication, but it did engage in some psychological warfare, spreading rumors for example, sometimes with success, effectively turning a military defeat into a political victory. Other examples of psychological warfare include making loud noises (an old Celtic practice) and catapulting the severed heads of captured enemies back into the enemy camp. Defenders in castles under siege might prop up dummies beside the walls to make it look like there were more defenders than there really were. They might throw food from the walls to show besiegers that provisions were plentiful (Dame Carcas, a Frankish woman, supposedly gave her name to Carcassonne after feeding the last few scraps of food in the besieged city to the last pig and then tossing over the walls as a present to the Franks.)
Battering Rams Alternatively to other siege warfare practices, attackers could try to get through the doors using a battering ram. A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times to breach fortification walls or doors. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against the target, the momentum of the ram damaging the target. Some battering rams were supported by rollers. This gave the ram much greater travel so that it could achieve a greater speed before striking its target and was therefore more destructive. Such a ram was used by Alexander the Great. In a more sophisticated design, the ram was slung from a wheeled support frame so that it could be much more massive and also more easily swung against its target. Sometimes the ram's attacking point would be reinforced with a metal head. A capped ram is a battering ram that has an accessory at the head (usually made of iron or steel, traditionally shaped into the head and horns of a ram) to do more damage to a building. Many battering rams had protective roofs and side-screens covered in materials, often fresh wet hides to prevent the ram being set on fire, as well as to protect the ram's operators of the ram from enemies firing arrows down on them. In the image defenders are trying to set the ram alight with torches and have also put a chain under the ram. The attackers are trying to pull on the chain to free the ram - the same scene could have been depicted in Roman, Visigothic or Medieval times. When a castle was being attacked, defenders attempted to foil battering rams by dropping obstacles in front of the ram just before it hit a wall, using grappling hooks to immobilize the log, setting the ram on fire, or sallying out to attack the ram. Battering rams had an important effect on the evolution of defensive walls.
Greek Fire Liquid fire is represented on Assyrian bas-reliefs. At the siege of Plataea in 429 BC the Spartans attempted to burn the town by piling up against the walls wood saturated with pitch and sulphur and setting it on fire, and at the siege of Delium in 424 BC a cauldron containing pitch, sulphur and burning charcoal was placed against the walls. In the late 600s CE, the same substances were utilized in weaponry, and two later ingredients - saltpetre and turpentine - made their appearance. This ultimate form of chemical warfare was called Greek fire. Greek fire was a burning-liquid used as a weapon of war by the Byzantines, and later by Arabs, Chinese, and the Mongols. Incendiary weapons had been in use for centuries: petroleum and sulphur had both been in use since the early days of the Christianity. Greek fire was vastly more potent. Similar to modern napalm, it would adhere to surfaces, ignite upon contact, and could not be extinguished by water alone. Byzantines used it in naval battles to great effect because it burned on water. It was responsible for numerous Byzantine military victories on land as well as at sea. Rumors of its power spread, which led to many enemies preferring surrender, so many battles never took place at all. It was the ultimate deterrent of the time, and helps explain the Byzantine Empire's survival until 1453. There was no defense. As the Lord of Joinville noted in the thirteenth century "Every time they hurl the fire at us, we go down on our elbows and knees, and beseech Our Lord to save us from this danger." Men were known to simply flee their posts rather than face Greek fire.
Morningstar The Morningstar first came into widespread use around the beginning of the fourteenth century, and the term is often applied to to a medieval weapon consisting of a spiked club resembling a mace, usually with a long spike extending straight from the top and many smaller spikes around the particle of the head. The spikes distinguish it from a mace, which can have, at most, flanges or small knobs. It was used by both infantry and cavalry; the horseman's weapon had a shorter shaft than a foot soldier s. The mace, a traditional knightly weapon, developed independently, became all-metal with heads of various forms, while the Morningstar retained its characteristic spikes, with a usually wooden shaft, often found in longer two-handed forms measuring up to six feet or more, was popular among drafted peasant troops. Although it is often assumed that the Morningstar was a crude peasant weapon, this is not entirely correct. There were two types in existence, differing in quality of workmanship. The first was the well-crafted military type used by professional soldiers, made in series by expert weaponsmiths for stocking in town arsenals. The second and much simpler type would have been hand cut by peasant militiamen, rather than turned on a lathe, from wood they had gathered themselves and fitted with nails and spikes by the local blacksmith.
Mace During the Middle Ages, metal armor and chain mail protected against the blows of edged weapons and blocked arrows and other projectiles. Solid metal maces and war hammers proved able to inflict damage on well-armored knights, as the force of a blow from a mace is large enough to cause damage without penetrating the armor. One example of a mace capable of penetrating armor is the flanged mace. What makes a flanged mace different from other maces is the flanges, protruding edges of metal that allow it to dent or penetrate even the thickest armor. This variation of the mace did not become popular until significantly after knobbed maces. Maces, being simple to make, cheap and straightforward in application, were common weapons. Peasant rebels and cheap conscript armies often had little more than maces, axes and pole arms. Few of these simple maces survive today. Most examples found in museums are of much better quality and often highly decorated.
War Hammers The war hammer consists of a handle and a head. The handle may be of different lengths, the longest being roughly equivalent to the halberd, and the shortest about the same as a mace. Long war hammers were pole weapons meant for use against riders, whereas short ones were used in closer quarters and from horseback. Later war hammers often had a spike on one side of the head, thus making it a more versatile weapon. War hammers were developed as a consequence of the ever more prevalent surface-hardened steel surfacing of wrought iron armors of the late medieval battlefields during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The surface of the armor, by that point, was as hard as the edge of a blade, so a blade tended to ricochet. The war hammer could deliver the full force to the target. War hammers, especially when mounted on a pole, could damage without penetrating the armor. In particular, they transmitted the impact through even the thickest helmet and caused concussions. A blade or spike tended to be used against other parts of the body where the armor was thinner, and penetration was easier, than through the helmet. The spike end could be used for grappling the target's armor, reins, or shield, or could be turned in the direction of the blow to pierce even heavy armor. Against mounted opponents, the weapon could also be directed at the legs of the horse, toppling the armored foe to the ground where he could be more easily attacked.
Spears Spears were one of the most common personal weapons from the Stone Age until the advent of firearms. They may be seen as the ancestor of such weapons as the lance, the halberd, the bill and the pike. One of the earliest weapons fashioned by human beings and their ancestors, it is still used for hunting and fishing. Its influences can still be seen in contemporary military arsenals as the rifle-mounted bayonet. Spears can be used as both ballistic and melee weapons. Spears used primarily for thrusting may be used with either one or two hands and tend to have heavier and sturdier designs than those intended exclusively for throwing. Those designed for throwing, often referred to as javelins, tend to be lighter and have a more streamlined head. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the spear and shield continued to be used by almost all Western European cultures. Since a medieval spear required only a small amount of steel along the sharpened edges (most of the spear-tip was wrought iron), it was an economical weapon. Quick to manufacture, and needing less smithing skill than a sword, it remained the main weapon of the common soldier. The Vikings, for instance, though often portrayed with axe or sword in hand, were armed mostly with spears, as were their Anglo-Saxon, Irish, or continental contemporaries. Spears were either designed to be kept in hand (thrusting spears), or to be thrown (throwing spears). Within this simple classification, there were a remarkable range of types.
Longbows A bow is a weapon that projects arrows powered by its elasticity. As the bow is drawn, energy is stored as potential energy in the limbs of the bow and transformed into kinetic energy as the string is released, the string transferring this energy to the arrow. A longbow is a type of bow that is tall (roughly equal to the height of the person who uses it). This allows its user a fairly long draw, at least to the jaw. A typical military longbow archer would be provided with between 60 and 72 arrows at the time of battle. Most archers would not loose release arrows at maximum rate, as it would exhaust even the most experienced man. A modern war bow archer does not like to try for more than six a minute. Not only are the arms and shoulder muscles tired from the exertion, but the fingers holding the bowstring become strained. Ranged volleys at the beginning of the battle would differ markedly from the closer, aimed shots as the battle progressed and the enemy neared. Arrows were not unlimited, so archers and their commanders took every effort to ration their use.
Crossbow A crossbow is a range weapon that shoots projectiles (called bolts or quarrels) consisting of a bow mounted on a stock. Historically, crossbows played a significant role in the warfare of Europe. A trigger system, (usually made of iron or steel from medieval times onwards), was used to retain the force of the cocked string in the nut and then release the nut to spin and the string to shoot the bolt. Complicated iron triggers that could be released with little strength are known in Europe from the early 1400s. As a result, crossbows could be kept cocked and ready to shoot for some time with little effort, allowing crossbowmen to aim better. With a crossbow, archers could release a draw force far in excess of what they could have handled with a bow. The disadvantage is the greater weight and clumsiness compared to a bow, as well as the slower rate of fire and the lower efficiency of the acceleration system, but there would be reduced elastic hysteresis, making the crossbow a more accurate weapon. *fun fact: Pope Innocent II banned the use of crossbows against Christians in 1139.
Counterweight Trebuchet The counterweight trebuchet appeared in Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean Sea in the twelfth century. It could fling three hundred pound (140 kg) projectiles at high speeds, at times including corpses infected with various diseases including the black plague, in an attempt to infect the people under siege, as a medieval variant of biological warfare. Trebuchets were far more accurate than other forms of medieval catapults. Because of the time required to load the sling and to raise the counterweight, a large trebuchet's rate of fire was slow, perhaps not more than a couple of shots an hour. This was due both to their size and the mass of their counterweights. Smaller trebuchets can fire a couple of times a minute. The payload of a trebuchet was usually a large rounded stone, although other projectiles were occasionally used including dead animals, beehives, the severed heads of captured enemies, small stones burned into clay balls which would explode on impact like grapeshot, barrels of burning tar or oil, Greek fire, pots of burning lime, prisoners of war, hostages, and captured spies. Trebuchets were powerful weapons, with a range of up to about 300 yards/ 270 m. Castle designers often built their fortifications with trebuchets in mind; the range of many trebuchets was in fact shorter than that of a longbow in skilled hands, making it dangerous to be a trebuchet operator during a siege.
Stiletto A stiletto is a short knife or dagger with a long slender blade of various designs primarily used as a stabbing weapon. Its narrow shape, ending in a rigid pointed end, allows it to penetrate deeply. The stiletto, also called a misericorde ("mercy"), began to gain fame during the High Middle Ages, when it was the secondary weapon of knights. It was used to finish off a fallen or severely wounded heavily armored opponent. The pointed, stout blade could easily pass through most mail or find its way through gaps in a knight's plate armor. A severely wounded opponent, who was not expected to survive, would be given a "mercy strike" (French coup de grace), hence the name misericorde. This weapon could also be used as a means of killing an active adversary, as during a grappling struggle. The blade could be used against an opponent's face, or thrust through holes or weak points in armor, such as under the arm, with the aim of piercing the heart. The weapon was known from the 12th century and has appeared in the armaments of Germany and England.
Long Sword The longsword is commonly held in combat with both hands, though some may be used single-handed. Longswords are used for hewing, slicing, and stabbing. The specific offensive purpose of an individual longsword is derived from its physical shape. All parts of the sword are used for offensive purposes, including the pommel and crossguard. The longsword, with its longer grip and blade, appears to have become popular during the 14th century and remained in common use, as shown through period art and tale, from 1250 to 1550. The longsword was a powerful and versatile weapon. For close personal infantry combat, however, the longsword was prized for its versatility and killing capability. Combat with the longsword was not so barbaric and crude as is often portrayed. Codified systems of fighting existed, with a variety of styles and teachers each providing a slightly different take on the art. The longsword was a quick, effective, and versatile weapon capable of deadly thrusts, slices, and cuts.
Medieval Chain Mail Chain Mail was the earliest form of metal armor worn by the average soldier during the Medieval times and era. Medieval Chain Mail was a flexible armor, which was made from interlinked metal rings. The word 'Chain mail' was an English combination of two words. 'Chain' meaning a series of metal rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament and 'mail' from the French word "maille" which is derived from the Latin "macula" meaning "mesh of a net". In the early Medieval feudal period a knight wore a cloth or leather tunic covered with iron rings or scales, and an iron cap with a nose guard. At the beginning of the 12th century he adopted chain mail, with a hood of the same material for the head. It is believed that Chain Mail was invented by the Celts. Chain Mail history dates back to antiquity and was adopted by the Romans after they realized its potential after fighting the Celts. A variety of materials were used to make Chain Mail including brass and iron. However, the most popular material was steel. In the 14th century, plate armor began to replace the Medieval Chain Mail worn by knights. However the Medieval Chain Mail was not completely discarded by the Knights who continued to wear a shirt of Chain Mail beneath plate armor to protect the joints and the groin. Chain Mail armor provided protection against being cut by the opponents blade. It was effective against the sharp points and blades of the spear, axe and sword. It helped to prevent the skin being pierced stopping the fatal infections which often followed such injuries. Medieval Chain Mail armor was ineffective against heavy blows from a blunt weapon. Plate armor was extremely expensive and the average soldier during the times still used Chain Mail as their most effective form of protection, but, over time, due to weapons created with the sole intent of piercing chain mail, full plate armor (see the picture to the left) replaced chain mail (to the right). By the 1500s, when gunpowder reached Europe and the musket was first widely used, the use of Chain Mail declined.