This is part two of the primer on Medieval Military History. It deals with the period known as the High Middle Ages. For my purposes this is roughly 1066 to the Battle of Courtrai in 1302. I choose Courtrai because it's the first major defeat of cavalry, and signals the beginning of the end for massed cavalry battles. It also comes at a time when armor and weapons are beginning to change.
Equipment:
This period is the great period of Chivalric romance, of knights and jousts, and all that good stuff. The armor changes pretty radically from 1066 to 1300, so I'll try to trace the developments.
In 1066, the armor was much the same as it was in the Early Period. However, the knights gradually began to add more armor. They attached a mail coif and mail mittens to the hauberk. The hauberk was shortened from knee length to about mid-thigh length. Chausses were then added. These were like mail stockings that protected the leg from about the groin down to the feet. Good illustrations of this sort of mail can be found in the Maciejowski Bible and the Manesse Codex. I'll try to add pictures to this thread later.
By about 1300, a new piece of armor was added - the coat of plates. This was, essentially, a surcoat with plates of steel riveted to the inside. It was worn over the mail, thus providing more protection against the lance thrusts that were common at the time.
Helmets began to change as well, moving towards what is called a "great helm." The first step was adding a face plate to the conical helms we saw in the early period. This plate covered the face, but it didn't extend the full way around the head. The next step was enclosing the head entirely, creating the great helm. This is one of the more common images of knights from the period. The typical great helm resembled a big cylinder, with two slits for the eyes, and breathing holes near the mouth. If you've seen Monty Python's black knight, he is wearing a great helm, albeit not a particularly historical example. Like earlier helms, the great helm contained a liner and chinstrap to secure it.
The primary weapons in use at this time were the sword and the lance. Swords had become more common, and knights were expected to own one. The swords were no longer pattern-welded, as metallurgy had improved from the early period. Sword typology takes a big turn in this period, but it still remains mostly dedicated to cutting rather than thrusting. The iconic sword of the period is the Oakeshott Type XII. This is a sword with a tapering blade, that comes to a sharper point than the earlier swords, but not a needle sharp point. The blade has a fuller running 3/4ths the length of the blade, rather than the whole length. This balances cutting and thrusting, as it leaves the last fourth of the blade in a diamond cross section, which is stiffer. The cross guards extend outwards in this period, and the pommels become the familiar wheel or disc shape that we are familiar with. (Though they're not limited to that shape).
Lances changed during this period as well. At the beginning of the period, in 1066, lances are just spears that men carry on horseback. The lance was also used in many different ways at the beginning of the period. Looking at the Bayeux tapestry, you can see that there are at least three different ways to grip the spear - you can hold it at ear level like you're going to throw it, you can hold it underhand, trying to thrust it in that way, or you can "couch" it, which means to tuck it under your arm to secure it. As the period progressed, couching the lance became the preferred method to use it. As a result, the lances began to grow longer and heavier, making them awkward to use in any other way. They were shaped to be balanced when couched, and to fit snugly under the arm. By 1300, couching the lance reigns supreme in terms of technique.
Couching the lance is important, because it came with the development of stirrups. With a firmer seat on his horse, the knight was able to transmit the full weight and force of himself and his horse into his opponent - and not be thrown off in the process. The saddles changed to reflect this, developing high cantles at front and back to give the rider a firm seat.
One other development in this period is the invention of the crossbow. Throughout most of this period, crossbows are made of wood, or sometimes would backed with horn and sinew. Later, the prods would be made of metal, but not in this period.
Tactics:
Tactics during this period are very difficult to discern as the historians tend to favor looking at heroic chivalric duels rather than the global view of the battlefield. However, what we do know is that this is the time of the massed cavalry charge, and of individual glory on the battlefield. The primary method for the knights was very simple - charge at the enemy and run him over. As the knights were heavily armed and armored, this tended to work. This is not to say the commanders during this period were stupid or tactically inept - they simply did did what worked, and what worked was a frontal assault most of the time.
The high middle ages also sees the rise of siege warfare. Prior to the early 12th century, most castles are made of wood, and while they might be formidable, they aren't what we expect from a castle. During the 12th century, castles develop rapidly, becoming large, imposing stone affairs. Castle architecture is complicated, but there are some important things to remember.
Firstly, castles tend to be built in locations where they can control the landscape. That is, the knights living in the castle can control roads and supplies, making it impossible for an invading army to simply ignore the castle.
Secondly, castles tend to be built in very defensible locations. They are built on the tops of hills, on cliffs where they are only accessible from one side, on islands, etc. The goal was to make the enemy work hard to even get up to the walls of the castle, much less lay siege to it.
Thirdly, castles tend to have a very small garrison. Because they have defensible terrain, stone walls, etc, they are often very thinly manned. There are records of castles having as little as 12 defenders. This really shows how tough it is to break into a castle.
Castles tended to have some important design features which I should highlight here:
Arrow Loops - Castles had slit-like windows that allow archers to stand back into towers and shoot out at defenders, but which made it difficult for anyone to shoot in at them.
Murder holes - Most cases had holes in the gatehouse through which they could pour boiling oil, or red hot sand, or throw down rocks, or shoot bows.
Towers - the towers on castles were carefully designed, in most cases, to provide fields of fire. Each tower had a radius through which weapons could be fired effectively. These fields of fire would overlap with the next tower's field of fire, making them mutually supportive, and letting them cover the whole area around the castle.
Before the advent of gunpowder, castles were not often taken by force, but they sometimes were. Most of the time, the defenders were starved out, or the attackers were let in by a traitor. Sometimes the attackers would undermine the walls - dig under them, burn the supporting timbers of the mine, and let the ground collapse, thus collapsing the wall. But this technique took a long time, was dangerous, and wasn't always effective.
The siege weapons used into this period include the trebuchet. The trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a counterweight to propel a stone. It consists of a long pole with a sling at one end and a bucket of rocks at the other. This pole sits on top of a supporting structure, a bit like a see-saw. They sling end would be lowered to the ground, leaving the bucket of rocks hanging in the air. A rock would be put in the sling, and then the apparatus would be released. The bucket of rocks would fall, and that would cause the other end of the arm to rise up rapidly, flinging the rock at the target. Though these were powerful weapons, they rarely battered down a castle's walls.
Major Players:
French, English, German States (to a lesser extent), "Spanish" (really the kingdoms of Castille and Aragon for the most part), Venetians, Genoese, Papacy, Sicily.
Special Note:
This is also the time of the Crusades, and of the Reconquista in Spain. So, if you want to borrow from the crusades or the reconquista, then the high middle ages is the period you're looking at.
Equipment:
This period is the great period of Chivalric romance, of knights and jousts, and all that good stuff. The armor changes pretty radically from 1066 to 1300, so I'll try to trace the developments.
In 1066, the armor was much the same as it was in the Early Period. However, the knights gradually began to add more armor. They attached a mail coif and mail mittens to the hauberk. The hauberk was shortened from knee length to about mid-thigh length. Chausses were then added. These were like mail stockings that protected the leg from about the groin down to the feet. Good illustrations of this sort of mail can be found in the Maciejowski Bible and the Manesse Codex. I'll try to add pictures to this thread later.
By about 1300, a new piece of armor was added - the coat of plates. This was, essentially, a surcoat with plates of steel riveted to the inside. It was worn over the mail, thus providing more protection against the lance thrusts that were common at the time.
Helmets began to change as well, moving towards what is called a "great helm." The first step was adding a face plate to the conical helms we saw in the early period. This plate covered the face, but it didn't extend the full way around the head. The next step was enclosing the head entirely, creating the great helm. This is one of the more common images of knights from the period. The typical great helm resembled a big cylinder, with two slits for the eyes, and breathing holes near the mouth. If you've seen Monty Python's black knight, he is wearing a great helm, albeit not a particularly historical example. Like earlier helms, the great helm contained a liner and chinstrap to secure it.
The primary weapons in use at this time were the sword and the lance. Swords had become more common, and knights were expected to own one. The swords were no longer pattern-welded, as metallurgy had improved from the early period. Sword typology takes a big turn in this period, but it still remains mostly dedicated to cutting rather than thrusting. The iconic sword of the period is the Oakeshott Type XII. This is a sword with a tapering blade, that comes to a sharper point than the earlier swords, but not a needle sharp point. The blade has a fuller running 3/4ths the length of the blade, rather than the whole length. This balances cutting and thrusting, as it leaves the last fourth of the blade in a diamond cross section, which is stiffer. The cross guards extend outwards in this period, and the pommels become the familiar wheel or disc shape that we are familiar with. (Though they're not limited to that shape).
Lances changed during this period as well. At the beginning of the period, in 1066, lances are just spears that men carry on horseback. The lance was also used in many different ways at the beginning of the period. Looking at the Bayeux tapestry, you can see that there are at least three different ways to grip the spear - you can hold it at ear level like you're going to throw it, you can hold it underhand, trying to thrust it in that way, or you can "couch" it, which means to tuck it under your arm to secure it. As the period progressed, couching the lance became the preferred method to use it. As a result, the lances began to grow longer and heavier, making them awkward to use in any other way. They were shaped to be balanced when couched, and to fit snugly under the arm. By 1300, couching the lance reigns supreme in terms of technique.
Couching the lance is important, because it came with the development of stirrups. With a firmer seat on his horse, the knight was able to transmit the full weight and force of himself and his horse into his opponent - and not be thrown off in the process. The saddles changed to reflect this, developing high cantles at front and back to give the rider a firm seat.
One other development in this period is the invention of the crossbow. Throughout most of this period, crossbows are made of wood, or sometimes would backed with horn and sinew. Later, the prods would be made of metal, but not in this period.
Tactics:
Tactics during this period are very difficult to discern as the historians tend to favor looking at heroic chivalric duels rather than the global view of the battlefield. However, what we do know is that this is the time of the massed cavalry charge, and of individual glory on the battlefield. The primary method for the knights was very simple - charge at the enemy and run him over. As the knights were heavily armed and armored, this tended to work. This is not to say the commanders during this period were stupid or tactically inept - they simply did did what worked, and what worked was a frontal assault most of the time.
The high middle ages also sees the rise of siege warfare. Prior to the early 12th century, most castles are made of wood, and while they might be formidable, they aren't what we expect from a castle. During the 12th century, castles develop rapidly, becoming large, imposing stone affairs. Castle architecture is complicated, but there are some important things to remember.
Firstly, castles tend to be built in locations where they can control the landscape. That is, the knights living in the castle can control roads and supplies, making it impossible for an invading army to simply ignore the castle.
Secondly, castles tend to be built in very defensible locations. They are built on the tops of hills, on cliffs where they are only accessible from one side, on islands, etc. The goal was to make the enemy work hard to even get up to the walls of the castle, much less lay siege to it.
Thirdly, castles tend to have a very small garrison. Because they have defensible terrain, stone walls, etc, they are often very thinly manned. There are records of castles having as little as 12 defenders. This really shows how tough it is to break into a castle.
Castles tended to have some important design features which I should highlight here:
Arrow Loops - Castles had slit-like windows that allow archers to stand back into towers and shoot out at defenders, but which made it difficult for anyone to shoot in at them.
Murder holes - Most cases had holes in the gatehouse through which they could pour boiling oil, or red hot sand, or throw down rocks, or shoot bows.
Towers - the towers on castles were carefully designed, in most cases, to provide fields of fire. Each tower had a radius through which weapons could be fired effectively. These fields of fire would overlap with the next tower's field of fire, making them mutually supportive, and letting them cover the whole area around the castle.
Before the advent of gunpowder, castles were not often taken by force, but they sometimes were. Most of the time, the defenders were starved out, or the attackers were let in by a traitor. Sometimes the attackers would undermine the walls - dig under them, burn the supporting timbers of the mine, and let the ground collapse, thus collapsing the wall. But this technique took a long time, was dangerous, and wasn't always effective.
The siege weapons used into this period include the trebuchet. The trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a counterweight to propel a stone. It consists of a long pole with a sling at one end and a bucket of rocks at the other. This pole sits on top of a supporting structure, a bit like a see-saw. They sling end would be lowered to the ground, leaving the bucket of rocks hanging in the air. A rock would be put in the sling, and then the apparatus would be released. The bucket of rocks would fall, and that would cause the other end of the arm to rise up rapidly, flinging the rock at the target. Though these were powerful weapons, they rarely battered down a castle's walls.
Major Players:
French, English, German States (to a lesser extent), "Spanish" (really the kingdoms of Castille and Aragon for the most part), Venetians, Genoese, Papacy, Sicily.
Special Note:
This is also the time of the Crusades, and of the Reconquista in Spain. So, if you want to borrow from the crusades or the reconquista, then the high middle ages is the period you're looking at.
