MEDIEVAL WARFARE

Medieval Weaponry (Arms, Armor, and Training)
 

The primary weapons of the medieval warrior:
(1) sword
(2) dagger
(3) lance
The sword was the weapon most typical of the medieval warrior.  In fact, the right to wear a sword was a distinguishing feature of membership in the warrior class.  In many European countries, right up into the nineteenth century, it remained a privilege of noblemen to wear a sword in everyday life.  However, while an aristocrat might at times put aside his sword, he would rarely be found without his dagger.
Broadsword:  a heavy, two-handed type of sword used only in battle.
Other aristocratic weapons:  battleaxe, mace, morning star, war hammer, ball and chain or battle flail
Use of the Battleaxe:  In some parts of northern Europe (for example among the Vikings) , the battleaxe was used at least as extensively as the sword.
There were also some weapons which  a medieval knight would not use in battle.  (For example:  the pike, club, bow, and crossbow.)
Reasons for Not Using a Weapon:
(1)  The weapon was not well suited for use on horseback. (The pike was a long spear designed for use by a footsoldier.)
(2)  It was regarded as a lower class weapon (pike, club).
(3)  It was not as effective as other weapons available.  (A club was potentially less lethal than an edged weapon such as a sword or battleaxe.)
(3)  It was regarded as unfair or ungentlemanly.  (Although aristocrats might make use of a bow or crossbow in hunting, they would not normally use such weapons on the battlefield.  Since a gentleman was expected to fight his enemy in hand-to-hand combat, these weapons, which could kill a man at a distance, were regarded as unfair.)
Warrior churchmen were a common feature on medieval battlefields.  Despite the fact that churchmen were still banned by Christian law from spilling blood, despite their ability to send a substitute to render military service in their place (called an advocatus), many churchmen still took in battle.  High churchmen (abbots, bishops, archbishops) tended to come from the warrior class and shared their relatives' war-like ethic.  Some tried to rationalize their conduct:  for example, the bishop who plead a split personality.  He said that when he was in his church, he was a cleric; when out on the battlefield, a warrior vassal of his lord.  Some used a club on the grounds that killing with a blunt weapon like that was not actually spilling blood, as would be the case with an edged weapon like a sword or axe.
Armor also constituted a critical part of the medieval warrior's equipment.  It came in two forms:
(1)  Shield
(2)  Body armor
Over the course of the Middle Ages, both medieval weaponry (both arms and armor) underwent an evolutionary process that tended toward greater lethality and greater weight.   Armor grew heavier.  Although heavier armor provided greater protection, there could be trade-offs:  in some cases, it limited both vision and mobility.
Four kinds of medieval armor (in order of development):
(1)  Thick, tanned leather
(2)  Such leather with small metal rings or plates sewn to it
(3)  Chain mail
(4)  Plate armor
Chain mail (often simply called mail):  a flexible, interwoven mesh made of metal which was capable of turning aside or at least slowing the penetration of hand-held metal weapons and stopping arrows from the short bow of the early Middle Ages.
Plate armor:  a suit composed of iron plates molded to fit the human body and joined together to allow some degree of movement.  When one thinks of a suit of armor, one is thinking of plate armor.
Shields:  There was a change in shape from round to kite-shaped (roughly triangular) as the Middle Ages learned that this shape gave greater body protection for less weight.  Later in the medieval period, as body armor became heavier, shields tended to become somewhat smaller - to the point where they could no longer fulfill one of their earlier functions as stretchers for the wounded.
The increasing weight of body armor raised a key question:  how much weight could a person carry and still be an effective fighter?  It has been argued that if a fully armored knight of the later Middle Ages were to fall off his horse, and land on his back, he be relatively  helpless, akin to a turtle suffering a similar misadventure. However, recent research into the use of good suits of plate armor have shown that they could be relatively flexible.
Reasons for the changes in armor which occurred over the course of the Middle Ages:
(1)  Improved metal-working techniques
(2)  Improvement in weaponry (crossbow, longbow) necessitated the use of stronger (and therefore heavier) armor
Crossbow:  although present at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the crossbow did not come into general use until after the First Crusade, around the year 1100.  It fired a bolt or quarrel that had great penetrating power and which, due to its relatively short length, was fairly easy to transport.  It could be fired from behind cover, making it a perfect weapon for castle defense.  In the field, crossbowmen often fought behind a stand-up shield known as a pavisse.  
The crossbow was such a fearsome weapon that in 1139, the papacy issued a decree at the Second Lateran Council, outlawing its use against Christians.  Henceforward, according to the pope, it should be used only against second-rate folks such as Moslems, pagans, and heretics!  This is history's first example of an attempt to prohibit a weapon, on the grounds that it was too terrible to use; and, like most other such attempts, this one failed.
Knightly attitude:  even those skilled in the use of crossbows in hunting tended to hate the use of this weapon which undercut their preeminence on the battlefield.  There are instances in which they rode down their own crossbowmen (e. g. the battle of Crecy, 1346) and crossbowmen captured often had their hand cut off. s
Nevertheless, most European armies made use of crossbowmen in their armies; they were simply too useful in warfare to put aside because of knightly scruples.  Some places, most notably the Italian merchant city of Genoa, trained crossbowmen to serve as mercenaries in feudal armies.
Longbow:  Essentially an English weapon.  In the 13th century, the English, in their conquest of Wales, ran afoul of the heavy Welch bow.  They were so impressed  that they borrowed and improved upon it.  It was this borrowed piece of military technology became the feared English longbow.  The longbow was as powerful as the best crossbows and could fire at a much greater rate.  It was the best missile weapon before the invention of the gun and helped account for England's victories over the French in the Hundred Years War.  The four greatest battles of the war, all of them English victories, were Crecy (1346), Poitiers (1356), Najera (1367), and Agincourt (1415).  At three of these, the English were vastly outnumbered by the French, despite which the longbow proved to be "the great equalizer."  On the other hand, the use of this weapon required considerably more training than use of a crossbow (or later, a gun), and required carrying arrows that were longer and therefore less portable than crossbow bolts.
Various of the entertainments most important to the warrior class actually constituted forms of weapons training.
(1)  Horsemanship:  the horse was the animal most closely associated with the warrior class.  Only a warrior enjoyed the right to fight and hunt from horseback.  Many places, the very possession of a warhorse constituted proof that one was a member of this class.  Consequently, mastery of the horse was a duty, a necessity, a pleasure, and a point of pride. (1)  For many in the warrior class, warfare was a major entertainment as well as an occupation.
(2)  Mock warfare
(a)  Joust - single combat between warriors carried on for sport (not to be mistaken for a duel or trial by battle!)  
(b)  Tournament - a fight which involved a number of men on either side.  Sometimes they fought as teams; sometimes as individuals.
Melee:  an alternate name for tournament; it is still used to refer to a brawl.
Although the joust and tournament were sporting events, they were very dangerous ones and not infrequently, participants were severely wounded or killed while taking part in them. The most famous joust in history occurred in 1559 when the French king, Henry II, was killed during the celebrations for his daughter's wedding.
Jousting vrs. the Duel (trial by battle):  The duel was a serious combat, often fought to the death, for the purpose of settling a quarrel.  A joust was a sporting event, designed to test one's combat skills. 
(3)  Hunting:  Another sport that trained men in the use of weapons.  Either on foot or on horseback, using swords, spears, javelins, and crossbows, medieval aristocrats spent much of their time slaughtering the wild animals which still inhabited the European world.  In addition to relatively peaceful game, like deer and elk, there were a number of animals which could be quite formidible: for example, wolves, bears, and wild boar.
Falconry (or "Hawking"):  The use trained birds of prey to hunt for smaller birds and animals.  It was a form of hunting which was highly favored by medieval aristocrats (and which is still practiced in various parts of the Near East.)
Henry the Fowler:  an example of the passion for hunting displayed by nobles.  When messengers arrived telling him of his election to the imperial crown, rather than thanking them, he scolded them for scaring away the birds he was hunting.
On the Art of Hunting with Falcons:  a book written by an intellectual emperor of the thirteenth century named Frederick II, dealing not only with the life and training of falcons, but also with the many bird and small animals that falcons hunted.  Many historians regard this as the finest scientific book of the Middle Ages.
Throughout the Middle Ages, hunting was a jealously guarded privilege of the aristocracy in many parts of Europe.  Peasants were not allowed to hunt.  If they defied this ban, it was considered to be poaching (illegal hunting), for which there were savage penalties, including branding, maiming or, in certain places, even death.  In fact, the peasant was not even permitted to kill gave on his own land, to protect his crops from destruction.  The famous case of this in literature involved a legendary English hero (we do not know when he live or even if he lived):  Robin Hood.