TYPES OF MEDIEVAL WEAPONS FREE

TYPES OF MEDIEVAL WEAPONS FREE

Feel free to add your own to help make this list a complete and exhaustive ranking. Vote up the items below you consider the most iconic middle ages weapons and pre-modern weapons, and vote down ones you think are overrated.

And many of these weapons have since become famous for their pop culture depictions, use in video games and films, or just general awesomeness. But most men went into combat carrying some kind of either blunt or edged weapon.įrom the Roman gladius to the English longsword, or from primitive spiked clubs to steel war hammers and maces, the evolution of these weapons didn't change their purpose - to efficiently kill enemy soldiers. Bows and arrows were also used, as were siege weapons, and early forms of gunpowder. Sometimes, they combined a few of these traits. They had either sharp edges for cutting, sharp points for thrusting, or heavy heads for crushing. Medieval weapons were usually either swords, spears, axes, pole-arms (essentially spears with axe heads) or hammers. Within each period, the book details how weapons and armor were developed, what weapons were used for different types of battles, and how. During the Middle Ages, the longbow was used en masse. The oldest yew longbow found in England was dated to 27002600 BC. 3,300 BC, was made from yew and measured 1.82 meters (72 in) long. But while there are countless variations on what men-at-arms carried into battle, they mostly fall into a couple of categories. The earliest evidence of a longbow was found in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps alongside a natural mummy known as Ötzi. They needed to be sturdy, easy to make, powerful, light, and not rust or fall apart in bad weather.

Ancient and medieval weapons reflected rapid changes in metalworking, production, and the evolving needs of soldiers.

Types of medieval weapons