This article is devoted to the technology of the armament during the Moyen-âge , taken in its wide historical terminals: cruel times with the Rebirth.

History

The history of the armament to the Moyen-âge is marked by the supremacy of the cavalry, as from the Bataille of Turkey-red cotton where the heavy riders of the army of the Goths overcome the troops of the Roman Légion; this supremacy is completed at the end of the period by the weapons of shooting (arcs with Azincourt, advent of the Gunpowder).

Armament mérovingien

The frank armament was seen a long time like one of the leading causes of military successes of these people to the Early middle ages. In parallel, modern historiography lent great military qualities to Clovis and some of its successors who could more particularly increase the kingdom with the detriment of their neighbors.

Actually, Gregoire de Tours has only this sentence to qualify the first frank successes due to this king: He did many wars and gained certain victories , which would tend to show that Clovis was neither more gifted, nor more lucky than its less known predecessors.

In fact, the armament of the Francs mérovingiens, studied well thanks to many steppings between the Latin archeology and written sources, was not to be very different from that of their contemporary Germanic neighbors. Certain historians even think that it was lower, for example, with that of the Visigoths of Alaric.

Today, the assumption which tends to triumph explains more their resounding successes by the Roman influence which they underwent precociously, which by any technical superiority.

This influence brought in particular more discipline in their rows, which could have weighed heavily on the exit of the important combat. Acquired by the men of Clovis at the time of the victories over Syagrius, or simply transmitted to the frank auxiliaries of the time of his/her father, Childéric, a Roman design of the army appears, for example, in the review of the troops carried out by Clovis which gives place to the episode of the Vase of Soissons. This concern of the behavior thus translates a rigor in the command and undoubtedly it did not go from there differently on the ground.

The armament itself, as for him, is varied and changes little during the period mérovingienne. Thus, about the 7th century, it includes/understands the combat axe, the lance, the sword - either symmetrical with two edges (the Spatha), or short (the Semispatha), or with only one edge (the sax or Scramasax). To a lesser extent, the arc in the shape of “D” and the arrows are attested in many tombs.

Carolingian armament

Under the Carolingian , the armament evolves to what it will be at the time feudal.

First of all, with the increased importance of the cavalry, its cost increases: so in theory all the free men of the kingdom of the Francs owe the military service (the Ost), a compensation system monetarists makes so that only richest leave to the war. It is a major change towards the professionalisation of the men-at-arms in opposition to the Germanic troops of the previous periods.

Moreover, the armament in general specializes: the Carolingian sword lengthens and the alloy in which it is forged improves thanks to a constant evolution of the techniques being used for the steelmaking. This sword is known to be the best weapon of its time (several franques weapons enter the legend: to see Names of swords) and the strict laws prohibit the trade of it abroad. The arc also improves, following the engagements against the Avars, people of the steppes.

At the end of the period, the Viking S sow terror with their long coats of mail and their swords, but those are copied from those of the Carolingians.

The time of the knights

It is with the Bataille of Hastings, in 1066, which a new way appears of holding their lance for the riders: almost with horizontal, to charge. They are there the origins of the equestrian Joute. This play emblematic of the Middle Ages, undoubtedly at the beginning a drive with the combat, does not have however quickly anything any more to see with the war.

Sign times, the “knighthood” (of the name of the French riders) imposes itself in all the engagements, continuing the evolution started under the Carolingians. The knight is characterized especially by his defensive weapons, which are based in a armor of iron plates. The code of the Christian knighthood, which is defined gradually starting from the attempts of the Church to limit the engagements to the 11th century also determines on the whole the way in which the war is approached in occident during the period.

The golden age of the knighthood is the 13th century, during which the knight, armed with the long haubert, of fit of mesh, and of large the heaume a real supremacy has on the battle field. The texts of the time speak about riders splitting and crushing the mass of the allied and enemy rank and file to go to fight the enemy knights only considered. The weapons of hast, only weapons of pedestrian to being able to worry a rider (irons sharp, prickles or blunt fixed on long poles at least height of a man) like the vouge, the guisarme, the godentac and others develop only at the end of the 13th century. It is also at the 13th century that the tournament acquires its form " moderne" the tournament during which two knights separated by a barrier clash face to face armed with a lance generally known as " courtoise" i.e. blunted.

Against the 14th century, the French, emblematic knighthood of the time, runs up nevertheless against the English long arcs with the Bataille of Crécy, then with the Bataille of Azincourt. The latter, by their power and their long range make it possible to bore an armor. Moreover, one line of archers is less expensive to form and maintain that a knight. The irruption of the long arc on the battle field announces in that the end of the knighthood which is due in last analysis to the multiplication of the firearms. Thus, the legend around died of the knight Pierre of Terrail of Bayard, said the “Bayard knight”, occurred the April 29th 1524, to Rovasenda close to Milan, indicates to which point the traumatism was large when any soldier could, using a firearm, to kill the largest warrior of the kingdom. Another " plague of the chevalerie" developed at the 15th century: the return on the battle field of the dense and compact trainings of infantry (practical disappeared since antiquity) made up piquiers, halberdiers and vougiers in periphery of the formation and principal rafters and gunners with hand in the center. The Swiss ones passed main in the application of this strategy and inflicted with the cavalries Frenchwoman, Bavarian and especially Burgundian of severe defeats (battles of Grandson).

Glossary

Here a list of the terms used to indicate the medieval armament. Some of these terms return in a detailed article, while the definition of some others is enough to itself. The various terms appear in each classification suggested (by period, by type of weapon). The terms which indicate part of a weapon are in Italic .

Classification per period

  • Heart : heart of the blade of a sword.
  • Quillon S : parts perpendicular to the blade of the sword, which compose its guard

Early middle ages

  • Angon : launch or frank javelin to iron in form of a harpoon.
  • Cataphracte : (Greek term) armor with scales employed by the Gothic heavy cavalry then Byzantine. That which it door is a cataphractaire.
  • Contus : (Latin term of Greek origin) long lance of rider, handled with two hands.
  • Scramasax or Sax: semi-long knife with only one edge.
  • Scraping-knife: short knife with double edge.
  • Sword: knife with double edge, undoubtedly of origin Celtic and copied by the Roman and the German . The franque sword (Carolingian) is re-elected until the Viking S copy it and exceed it.
    • During this period, the sword is known as long when it measures of 80 cm with 1m. She is inherited the Roman Spatha of the Lower Empire.
  • Francisque : traditional name of the axe of jet of the German Westerners, whom the Francs popularized.
  • Sword: (of Latin gladius ) short sword; semi-long knife with double edge.
  • Small swath: arms with jet light, similar to a lance or a javelin shortened
  • Javelot: launch jet light
  • Lance: generic term indicating an offensive weapon equipped with an iron fixed on a pole. In opposition to the javelin, the lance is a weapon of attack which is not intended to be launched. It is popularized by the Gothic cavalry.
  • Slat (arms): saber right.
  • Dagger: short knife with double edge. A long dagger is a scraping-knife.
  • Rondache : circular shield of form and generally of intermediate size.
  • Saber: long with only one edge, popular knife at the people of the steppe. The saber can be right ( slat , proto-saber ) or curve. During the Early middle ages, its form tends to be curved.
  • Semispatha : Latin name of the short sword.
  • Spangenhelm : German term historiographic indicating the popular composite helmet segmented at the German Eastern ones.
  • Spatha : Latin name of the long sword, used to indicate the long sword Roman late, the sword of the great invasions and the sword mérovingienne.
  • Umbo : Latin term indicating the bump of the shield or the mask-fist .

The low Middle Ages

Classification by type of weapon

the terms can appear several times when they indicate a part of armament pertaining to several types of weapons.

weapons of cavalry and infantry

  • Cataphracte : (Greek term) armor with scales employed by the Gothic heavy cavalry then Byzantine. That which it door is a cataphractaire.
  • Contus : (Latin term of Greek origin) long lance of rider, handled with two hands.
  • Lance: generic term indicating an offensive weapon equipped with an iron fixed on a pole. In opposition to the javelin, the lance is a weapon of attack which is not intended to be launched. It is popularized by the Gothic cavalry.
  • Spatha : Latin name of the long sword, used to indicate the long sword Roman late, the sword of the great invasions and the sword mérovingienne.
  • Sword: knife with double edge, undoubtedly of origin Celtic and copied by the Roman and the German . The franque sword (Carolingian) is re-elected until the Viking S copy it and exceed it. During this period, the sword is known as long when it measures of 80 cm with 1m. She is inherited the Roman Spatha of the Lower Empire.
  • Sword with a hand and half: sword of intermediate size enters the long sword and the sword to two hands, of a weight located between 1.4 kilos and approximately 1.8 kilos being able to be handled with a hand or with two hands.

blunt weapons

weapons of contact
  • Scraping-knife: short knife with double edge.
  • Mercy: scraping-knife having a blade known as " in triangle" (blade with 3 section, 3 edges), conceived to bore the armours of plates which appear at the 15th century, and passes between the rings of a coat of mail.
  • Saber: long with only one edge, popular knife at the people of the steppe. The saber can be right ( slat , proto-saber ) or curve. During the Early middle ages, its form tends to be curved.
  • Scramasaxe or Sax (in certain Latin sources): semi-long knife with only one edge of Germanic origin.
  • Semispatha : Latin name of the short sword of the great invasions.

weapons of Tuck
  • Rapière : long sword appeared towards the end of the Middle Ages, this sword plants in the adversary (resembles the foil)

weapons of size
  • Scimitar: sword of apparât with broad blade.
  • Claymore : sword with two hands used by the " highlanders " Scot. The term can also indicate a sword rather short with a hand, having a hull protecting the hand, invented by the English for their cavalry but abandoned because obstructing the movements of fencing.
  • Swordfish: large sword with two hands
  • Flamberge: large sword whose blade is corrugated.
  • Slat: saber right of the Early middle ages (blade with only one provide a rule of decision)
  • Spatha: to see weapons of cavalry above.

weapons of hast

See also: Weapon of hast

Under the term arms with hast are taken again all the fixed weapons, handle out of wooden prolonged by an iron, generally derived from an agrarian tool. The weapons of hast will give rise to the halberds of the Renaissance.

  • Hitch: arms made up of a large knife bent to cut the bulges of the horses, to bone a knight by tearing off his parts of armours to him,… 14th century at the 16th century.
  • Bardiche : arms originating in Europe with the East, made up of a handle out of wooden which can be long of 2m and of an iron in the shape of lengthened axe.
  • False of war or fauchard: arms with hast inspired by the forgery which the peasants in time of war used. It appears at the beginning of the 13th century
  • Pertuisane: arms derived from the lance, used in Italy at the 15th century.
  • Spade: long lance of infantryman (approx. 6m), used to break the load of the riders. Of origin Macedonian?
  • Vouge : made up of a long large knife (of origin a trencher of stopping) at the end of a handle, used by the infantry (“vougiers”)
  • Guisarme
  • Lance
arms

remote weapons

weapons of jet
  • Angon : left harpoon specific to the Francs, the shape of its iron would be at the origin of the reason for the flower of lily of the weapons of France
  • Francisque: traditional name of the axe of jet of the German Westerners, whom the Francs popularized.
  • Small swath: arms with jet light, similar to a lance or a javelin shortened
  • Javelot: launch jet light

weapons of seat

weapons of shooting
  • arc and particularly the long Arc English
  • crossbow

firearms
  • Arquebus: firearm introduced at the 13th century, then generalized at the 15th century in Occident (see Gunpowder).
  • bombards
  • Couleuvrine: portable firearm invented at the 14th century.

armours

See also: Armor (equipment)

shields
  • Bulwark
  • Rondache: circular shield of form and generally of intermediate size.
  • Targe
  • Umbo : Latin term indicating the bump of the shield or the mask-fist .

See too

Related articles

Sources cruel

  • Iaroslav Lebedynsky, Weapons and warriors at the time of the great invasions: at the 6th century , Paris, France, 2001.
  • Philippe Contaminates (Under the direction of), military Histoire of France , André Corvisier (Under the direction of), Tome 1, Paris, France, 1997.
  • Claude Fagnen, medieval Armement , Paris, 2005, Desclée de Brouwer/Rempart ISBN 2-904365-40-0

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