Supplies and Logistics

 

The usual method for solving logistical problems for smaller armies was foraging or "living off the land" - effectively stealing whatever was needed: animals, crops, wood and so on.

The normal "campaign season" corresponded to the seasons of the year when there would be food on the ground and relatively good weather. This season was usually from spring to autumn. Soldiers were rarely full-time and often needed to attend to their own land at home. In many European countries peasants were obliged to perform around 45 days of military service per year without pay, usually during this campaign season when they were not required for agriculture. By early-spring all the crops would be planted, freeing the male population for warfare until they were needed for harvest time in late-autumn.

Plunder in itself was often an objective of military campaigns, to either pay mercenary forces, seize resources, reduce the fighting capacity of enemy forces, or even just as a public insult to the enemy ruler.

With the advent of castle-building and the extended siege, supply problems became much greater, as armies had to stay in one spot for months, or even years.

Supply trains are as much a feature of Medieval warfare as they are of ancient and modern warfare. Due to the impossibility of maintaining a real front in pre-modern warfare, supplies had to be carried with the army or transported to it while under guard. However, a supply source moving with the army was necessary for any large-scale army to operate. Medieval supply trains are often found in illuminations and even poems of the period.

River and sea travel often provided the easiest way to transport supplies. During his invasion of the Levant, Richard I of England was forced to supply his army as it was marching through a barren desert. By marching his army along the shore, Richard was regularly re-supplied by ships travelling along the coast. Likewise, as in Roman Imperial times, armies would frequently follow rivers while their supplies were being carried by barges. Supplying armies by mass land-transport would not become practical until the invention of rail transport and the internal combustion engine.

The baggage train provided an alternative supply method that was not dependent on access to a water-way. However, it was often a tactical liability. Supply chains forced armies to travel more slowly than a light skirmishing force and were typically centrally placed in the army, protected by the infantry and outriders. Attacks on an enemy's baggage when it was unprotected — as for instance the French attack on the English train at Agincourt, highlighted in the play Henry V—could cripple an army's ability to continue a campaign. This was particularly true in the case of sieges, when large amounts of supplies had to be provided for the besieging army. To refill its supply train, an army would forage extensively as well as re-supply itself in cities or supply points - border castles were frequently stocked with supplies for this purpose.

A failure in logistics often resulted in famine and disease for a medieval army, with corresponding deaths and loss of morale. A besieging force could starve while waiting for the same to happen to the besieged, which meant the siege had to be lifted. With the advent of the great castles of high medieval Europe however, this problem was typically something commanders prepared for on both sides, so sieges could be long, drawn-out affairs.

Epidemics of diseases such as smallpox, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery often swept through medieval armies, especially when poorly supplied or sedentary. In a famous example, in 1347 the bubonic plague erupted in the besieging Mongol army outside the walls of Caffa, Crimea where the disease then spread throughout Europe as the Black Death.

For the inhabitants of a contested area, famine often followed protracted periods of warfare, because foraging armies ate any food stores they could find, reducing or depleting reserve stores. In addition, the overland routes taken by armies on the move could easily destroy a carefully planted field, preventing a crop the following season. Moreover, the death toll in war hit the farming labour pool particularly hard, making it even more difficult to recoup losses.

 

 

 

Medieval Wars: Major European wars of the Middle Ages, arranged chronologically by year begun

• Umayyad conquest of Hispania (711-718)

• Muslim conquest of southern Italy (831-902)

• Byzantine-Seljuk wars (1064–1308)

• Byzantine-Ottoman wars (1299–1453)

• Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars (1354–1422)

• The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars (680–1364)

• The Saxon Wars - (772-804)

• The Spanish Reconquista (718-1492): In which the Moors were driven from the Iberian Peninsula; begun under Pelayo in Asturias, concluded under the Catholic Monarchs (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), of Columbus fame.

• The Crusades (1096–1291): A generic, catch-all term for Church-sanctioned wars against non-Christians or heretics.

• 1096–1099—First Crusade: The only "successful" crusade against the Islamic Near East; Christian states were established throughout the Levant.

• 1101—Crusade of 1101

• 1147–1149—Second Crusade

• 1147-1410—Northern Crusades

• 1187–1191—Third Crusade

• 1202–1204—Fourth Crusade: In which the Western forces sacked Constantinople

• 1209–1229—Albigensian Crusade: In which the Albigensians in southern France were crushed.

• 1217–1221—Fifth Crusade

• 1228—Sixth Crusade

• 1248–1254—Seventh Crusade

• 1270—Eighth Crusade

• 1271–1291—Ninth Crusade

• The Hussite Wars (1420–1434)

• The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453): In which the English were eventually driven out of France;

• The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487): War for the English throne between the Houses of Lancaster and York

 

 

Medieval Battle Equipment & Weapons

 

Bladed Hand Weapons

• Swords

  • Arming Swords

  • Broad Swords

  • Falchions

  • Long Sword

• Daggers & Knives

  • Anelaces

  • Stilettos

  • Poingnards

  • Rondel

Blunt Hand Weapons

• Clubs and Maces

• Morningstarss

• Holy Water Sprinklers

• Flails

• War Hammers

• Horsemen's Picks

 

Polearms

• Quarterstaves

• Spears

• Winged Spears

• Lances

• Pikes

• Corseques

• Fauchards

• Glaives

• Guisarmes

• Halberds

• Danish Axes

• Sparths

• Bardiches

• Pollaxes

• Mauls

• Becs de Corbin

 

Ranged Weapons.

• Franciscas

• Javelins

• Bows, Longbows

• Crossbows

• Arbalests

• Guns

  • Hand Cannons

  • Arquebuses

• Pierriers

  • Traction Trebuchets

  • Counterweight Trebuchets

  • Onagers and Mangonels

  • Ballistas and Springalds

• Artillery

  • Bombards

  • Petards

• Other Siege Weapons

  • Siege Towers (Belfries, Belfrois)

  • Battering Rams

  • Cats and Weasels

  • Chemical, Biological and Psychological Weapons

 

• Armour

  • Chain Mail, Hauberks or Haubergeons, Coifs and Pixanes

  • Plate Armour

    • Head Armour: Helms, Nasal Helmets, Great Helms, Templar Helms, Bascinets, Armets, Sallets, Barbutes, Close Helms, Burgonets, Morions

    • Neck Armour, Aventails or Camails, Bevor, Gorget

    • Body Armour, Brigandines, Cuirasses, Corslets, Plackards, Faulds, Culets

    • Arm and Shoulder Armour

    • Hand Armour: Gauntlets

    • Leg Armour:Tasset or Tuille, Cuisse, Poleyn, Schynbald, Greave, Chausses,

    • Foot Armour: Sabatons or Sollerets

• Horses

• Shields

 

 

 

 

Medieval Military Technology

 

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 Avars in the 600's AD, although it was not fully adopted by Europeans until the 900's AD.

In the Medieval period, the mounted cavalry long held sway on the battlefield. Heavily armoured, mounted knights represented a formidable foe for peasant draftees and lightly-armoured freemen. To defeat mounted cavalry, infantry used swarms of missiles or a tightly packed phalanx of men, techniques developed in Antiquity by the Greeks. Ancient generals of Asia used regiments of archers to fend off mounted threats. Alexander the Great combined both methods in his clashes with swarming Asiatic horseman, screening the central infantry core with slingers, archers and javelin men, before unleashing his cavalry to see off attackers.

The use of long pikes and densely-packed foot troops was not uncommon in Medieval times. Flemish footmen at the Battle of the Golden Spurs met and overcame French knights in 1302, and the Scots held their own against heavily-armoured English invaders.

During the St. Louis' crusade, dismounted French knights formed a tight lance-and-shield phalanx to repel Egyptian cavalry. The Swiss used pike tactics in the late medieval period. While pikemen usually grouped together and awaited a mounted attack, the Swiss developed flexible formations and aggressive manoeuvring, forcing their opponents to respond. The Swiss won at Morgarten, Laupen, Sempach, Grandson and Murten, and between 1450 and 1550 every leading prince in Europe hired Swiss pikemen, or emulated their tactics and weapons.

Welsh & English longbowman used a single-piece longbow to deliver arrows that could penetrate contemporary plate armour and mail. The longbow was a difficult weapon to master, requiring years of use and constant practice. A skilled longbowman could shoot about 12 shots per minute. This rate of fire was far superior to competing weapons like the crossbow or early gunpowder weapons. The nearest competitor to the longbow was the much more expensive crossbow, used often by urban militias and mercenary forces. The crossbow had greater range and penetrating power, and did not require the extended years of training.

At Crécy and Agincourt bowmen unleashed clouds of arrows into the ranks of knights. At Crécy, even 15,000 Genoese' crossbowmen could not dislodge them from their hill. At Agincourt, thousands of French knights were brought down by armour-piercing bodkin point arrows and horse-maiming broadheads. The Welsh longbowmen decimated an entire generation of the French nobility.

Since the longbow was difficult to deploy in a thrusting mobile offensive, it was best used in a defensive configuration. Bowmen were extended in thin lines and protected and screened by pits (as at the Battle of Bannockburn), staves or trenches. The terrain was usually chosen to put the archers at an advantage forcing their opponents into a bottleneck (Agincourt) or a hard climb under fire (Crécy). Sometimes bowmen were deployed in a shallow "W", enabling them to trap and enfilade their foes.

The pike and the longbow put an end to the dominance of cavalry in European warfare, making the use of foot soldiers more important than they had been in recent years. Knights began themselves to rather fight dismounted, using two-handed swords, poleaxes and other polearms, as the improved knightly plate armour made them fairly immune to arrows.

Gunpowder eventually was to provoke even more significant changes. However, a mounted reserve was often kept, and the heavy cavalry continued to be an important battlefield arm of European armies until the nineteenth century, when new and more accurate weapons made the mounted soldier too easy a target.

In the armies of Europe, mounted and unmounted crossbowmen, often mixed with javeliners and archers, occupied a central position in battle formations. Usually they engaged the enemy in offensive skirmishes before an assault of mounted knights. Crossbowmen were also valuable in counterattacks to protect their infantry. The rank of commanding officer of the crossbowmen corps was one of the highest positions in any army of this time. Along with polearm weapons made from farming equipment, the crossbow was also a weapon of choice for insurgent peasants such as the Taborites.

Mounted knights armed with lances proved ineffective against formations of pikemen combined with crossbowmen whose weapons could penetrate most knights' armor. The invention of pushlever and ratchet drawing mechanisms enabled the use of crossbows on horseback, leading to the development of new cavalry tactics. Knights and mercenaries deployed in triangular formations, with the most heavily armoured knights at the front. Some of these riders would carry small, powerful all-metal crossbows of their own. Crossbows were eventually replaced in warfare by more powerful gunpowder weapons, although early guns had slower rates of fire and much worse accuracy than contemporary crossbows. Later, similar competing tactics would feature arquebusiers or musketeers in formation with pikemen, pitted against cavalry firing pistols or carbines.

Cannons were introduced to the battlefield in the later medieval period. However, their very poor rate of fire (which often meant that only one shot was fired in the course of an entire battle) and their inaccuracy made them more of a psychological force multiplier than an effective anti-personnel weapon.

Later on in medieval warfare, one handed cannons were introduced, the rate of fire improved only slightly, but the cannons became far easier to aim, largely because they were smaller and much closer to their wielder. Users could be easily protected, because the cannons were lighter and could be moved far more quickly. Real field artillery did not become truly effective or commonly employed until well into the early modern period. The introduction of the arquebus is reflected in contemporary castle architecture - traditional arrow slits were replaced by (or adapted into gun ports).

Some Medieval Battles

• The Siege of Constantinople (718)

• The Battle of Tours (732)

• The Battle of Brunanburh (937)

• The Battle of Lechfeld (955)

• The Battle of Tara (980)

• The Battle of Maldon (c. 991)

• The Battle of Kleidion (1014)

• The Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)

• The Battle of Hastings (1066)

• The Battle of Manzikert (1071)

• The Battle of Levounion (1091)

• The Siege of Jerusalem (1099)

• The Siege of Lisbon (1147)

• The Battle of Sirmium (1167)

• The Battle of Myriokephalon (1176)

• The Battle of Hattin (1187)

• The Battle of Adrianople (1205)

• The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212)

• The Battle of Bouvines (1214)

• The Battle of Baghdad (1258)

• The Battle of Fishing Town (1259)

• The Battle of Ain Jalut (1260)

• The Battle on the Marchfeld (1278)

• The Battle of Yamen (1279)

• The Second Battle of Homs (1281)

• The Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297)

• The Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302)

• The Battle of Bannockburn (1314)

• The Battle of Dysert O'Dea (1318)

• The Battle of Faughart (1318)

• The Battle of Velbazhd (1330)

• The Battle of Crécy (1346)

• The Battle of Poitiers (1356)

• The Battle of Lake Poyang (1363)

• The Battle of Maritsa (1371)

• The Battle of Kulikovo (1380)

• The Battle of Aljubarrota (1385)

• The Battle of Kosovo (1389)

• The Battle of Nicopolis (1396)

• The Battle of Ankara (1402)

• The Battle of Grunwald/Tannenberg (1410)

• The Battle of Agincourt (1415)

• The Battle of Patay (1429)

• The Battle of Varna (1444)

• The Fall of Constantinople (1453)

• The Siege of Belgrade (1456)

• The Battle of Towton (1461)

• The Battle of Vaslui (1475)

• The Battle of Nancy (1477)

• The Siege of Rhodes (1480)

• The Battle of Bosworth Field (1485)

• The Battle of Knockdoe (1504)

 

 

Longbow Men

 

Arquebus

 

Armour piercing bodkin - a type of arrow head

 

 

 

Mons Meg at Edinburgh Castle

 

The Christian surrender at the battle of Hattin - 1187

 

 

 

 

Medieval Military Communications

 

Battlefield communications before the advent of strict lines of communication were difficult. Communication was done through musical signals (drums and horns), audible commands, mounted messengers, and visual signals such as flags.

Fire beacons were used in many places where there was a network of towers or castles visible one from another. On the border between England and scotland a line of Peel Towers was built for exactly this purpose. In Scandinavia many hill forts were part of beacon networks to warn against invading pillagers. In Wales, the Brecon Beacons were named for beacons used to warn of approaching English raiders. In England, the most famous examples are the beacons used in Elizabethan England to warn of the approaching Spanish Armada. Many hills in England were named Beacon Hill after such beacons. In the Languedoc, where castles were often built on mountain tops, castles were almost invariably in view of at least one one other castle.

Carrier pigeons historically carried messages only one way, to their home. They had to be transported manually before another flight.

By placing their food at one location and their home at another location, pigeons have been trained to fly back and forth up to twice a day reliably. This setup allows Pigeons to cover 160 km round trip.

 

Fire Beacon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medieval Military Organisation

 

The medieval knight was usually mounted and armoured, often connected with nobility or royalty, although especially in north-eastern Europe knights could also come from the lower classes.

The cost of a knight's armour, horses, and weapons was great. This helped transform the knight, at least in western Europe, into a distinct social class separate from other warriors.

During the crusades, holy orders of monks who were also knights were created, including the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights. They were formed to fight in the Holy Land and became the "storm troops" of the Christian crusaders.

Heavy cavalry, armed with lances and an assortment of hand weapons, played a significant part in the battles of the Middle Ages. The heavy cavalry consisted of nobles and wealthy knights who could afford the equipment.

Heavy cavalry made the difference between victory and defeat in many key battles. Their charges could break the lines of most infantry formations, making them a valuable asset to all medieval armies, the equivalent of twentieth century tank regiments.

Light cavalry consisted of lighter armed and armoured men, who could have lances, javelins or missile weapons, such as bows or crossbows. Light cavalry were used as scouts, skirmishers or outflankers. Many countries developed their own styles of light cavalry, such as Hungarian mounted archers, Spanish jinetes, Italian and German mounted crossbowmen.

Crusaders tended to favour heavy cavalry mounted on mares while the Saracens favoured light cavalry mounted on stallions.

Infantry were recruited and trained in a wide variety of manners in different regions of Europe all through the Middle Ages, and probably always formed the most numerous part of a medieval field army. Many infantrymen in prolonged wars would be mercenaries. Most armies contained significant numbers of spearmen, archers and other unmounted soldiers.

In sieges, perhaps the most common element of medieval warfare, infantry units served as garrison troops and archers, among other positions. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, with the advancements of weapons and armour, infantrymen became more important.

In the earliest Middle Ages it was the obligation of every noble to respond to the call to battle from his liege lord with his own equipment, archers, and infantry. This decentralized system was necessary due to the social order of the time, but could lead to motley forces with variable training, equipment and abilities. The more resources the noble had access to, the better his troops would typically be.

Typically feudal armies consisted of a core of highly skilled knights and their household troops, mercenaries hired for the time of the campaign and feudal levies fulfilling their feudal obligations, who usually were little more than rabble. They could, however, be efficient in disadvantageous terrain. Towns and cities could also field militias.

As central governments grew in power, a return to the citizen and mercenary armies of the classical period also began, as central levies of the peasantry began to be the central recruiting tool. It is often claimed that the best infantrymen came from the younger sons of free land-owning yeomen, such as the English archers and Swiss pikemen.

England was one of the most centralized states in the Middle Ages, and the armies that fought the Hundred Years' War were mostly paid professionals. In theory, every Englishman had an obligation to serve for forty days. Forty days (called quarantine) was not long enough for a campaign, especially one on the continent.

Scutage was introduced, under which most Englishmen paid to escape their service and this money was used to create a permanent army. Almost all high medieval armies in Europe were composed of a great deal of paid core troops, and there was a large mercenary market in Europe from the early twelfth century.

As the Middle Ages progressed, both the Papacy and Italian cities began to rely mostly on mercenaries to do their fighting rather than the militias that had dominated the early and high medieval period in this region. These would be groups of career soldiers who would be paid a set rate. Mercenaries tended to be effective soldiers, especially in combination with standing forces. In Italy they came to dominate the armies of the city states. While at war they were considerably more reliable than a standing army, but in peacetime they proved a risk to the state itself (as the Pretorian Guard had once been in Roman times).

Mercenary-on-mercenary warfare in Italy led to relatively bloodless campaigns which relied as much on manoeuvre as on battles, since the condottieri recognized it was more efficient to attack the enemy's ability to wage war rather than his battle forces,, and attempting to attack the enemy supply lines, his economy and his ability to wage war rather than risking an open battle, and manoeuvre him in a position where risking a battle would have been suicidal.

Knights were drawn to battle by feudal and social obligation, but also by the prospect of profit and advancement. Those who performed well stood to increase their landholdings and advance in the social hierarchy - this was a major factor in the Crusades in the Holy Land and also European crusades such as the Albigensian Crusade - the War against the Cathars of the Languedoc.

For the mounted knight Medieval Warfare could be a relatively low risk affair. Nobles avoided killing each other, rather preferring capturing them alive, for several reasons for one, many were related to each other, had fought alongside one another, and they were all members of the same elite culture; for another, a noble's ransom could be very high, and indeed some made a living by capturing and ransoming nobles in battle.

Huge ransoms could be demanded for captured knights and more still for high nobles and kings. Some knights made their fortunes by fighting. William the Marshall being the best known example. Even peasants, who did not share the bonds of kinship and culture, would often avoid killing a nobleman, valuing the high ransom that a live capture could bring, as well as the valuable horse, armour and equipment that came with him. On the other hand it was quite common, even at the height of "chivalric" warfare, for the knights to suffer heavy casualties during battles. Christendom was shaken when King Peter II of Aragon was killed fighting on the side of his vassal Raymond of Toulouse at Muret in the Languedoc.

Clergymen played a major part in battles - from their planning to building siege engines (a clerical specialty), encouraging the troops and taking part in the fighting. We have many accounts of senior clergy leading battles and not only during the crusades. They are also depicted in contemporary art - popes, cardinals and bishops, wearing full armour and wielding weapons. The role of military bishops is commemorated today by the presence of four bishops on a chess board. Clerical combatants are depicted in medieval art and according to tradition favoured the mace as a weapon (a mace could kill without shedding blood which the Church considered desirable).

On the other hand swords feature more heavily than maces in the arms of England bishops

 

Bishop of LondonBishop of St-AlbansBishop of WinchesterBishop of Exeter

 

Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller, the shock troops of Christian armies, were monks in the fullest sense- they took the same vows as other monks in addition to their vows as knights. If caught by the enemy they were almost always executed while other knights were usually ransomed. The reason was that they were such fanatical fighters that it made sense to put them permanently out of the war whenever possible.

The practice of carrying relics into battle is a feature that distinguishes medieval warfare from its predecessors or from early modern warfare. The presence of relics was believed to be an important source of supernatural power that served both as a spiritual weapon and a form of defence; the relics of martyrs were considered by Saint John Chrysostom much more powerful than "walls, trenches, weapons and hosts of soldiers" - another reason for so many lost battles.

In Italy, the carroccio or carro della guerra, the "war wagon" , was an elaboration of this practice that developed during the 13th century. A Carroccio was a four-wheeled war altar drawn by oxen, used by the medieval republics of Italy. It was a rectangular platform on which the standard of the city and an altar were erected. Priests held services on the altar before the battle, and the trumpeters beside them encouraged the fighters to the fray.

The carro della guerra of Milan was draped in scarlet cloth and drawn by three yoke of oxen caparisoned in white with the red cross of Saint George, the city's patron, it carried a crucifix so massive it took four men to step it in place, like a ship's mast.

 

 

 

Knights Templar

 

 

Bishop Odo wielding his mace against an Anglo-Saxon knight at the Battle of Hastings (From the Bayeaux Tapestry)

 

Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy a bishop, recognisable by his mitre, riding to battle with other knights at Antioch on 28th June 1098. He is carrying a Holy Lance.

 

A War Waggon

 

carroccio della guerra - A religious war waggon

 

The Prince Bishop of Durham displayed (and still displays) his bishop's mitre within a ducal coronet, reflecting his temporal power. Behind the shield are a crozier and a sword.

 

 

 

Women at War

 

Contrary to popular belief, women often engaged in medieval warfare. If the Chatelaine happened to be at home while their husband was away and their castle was besieged, it was routine for her to command the defences.

Here are some examples of notable Medieval femail warriors:

• 8th century: Shieldmaidens fight at the Battle of Bråvalla on the side of the Danes.

• 722: Queen Aethelburg of Wessex destroys the town of Taunton.

• 750: Veborg, as well as many other Shieldmaidens, participate in the Battle of Bråvalla in Sweden.

• 783: Saxon women throw themselves barebreasted into battle against Charlemagne's forces. Among them is Fastrada, who became Charlemagne's fourth wife.

• Early 9th century: Cwenthryth fights Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, for control of her abbey estates.

• 880: Ermengarda defends Vienne.[20]

• 912-922: Reign of Ethelfleda, ruler of Mercia. She commanded armies, fortified towns, and defeated the Danes. She also defeated the Welsh and forced them to pay tribute to her.

• Mid 10th century: Queen Thyra of Denmark leads an army against the Germans.

• 971: The Scandinavian ruler of Kiev attacked the Byzantines in Bulgaria in 971. When the Norsemen had been defeated, the victors discovered shieldmaidens among the fallen warriors.

• Early 11th century: Freydís Eiríksdóttir, a Viking woman, sails to Vinland with Thorfinn Karlsefni. When she faced hostile natives while pregnant, she exposed her breasts and beat her chest with a sword. This caused the natives to run away.

• 1040-1090: Sichelgaita of Salerno second wife of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, accompanies her husband on military campaigns, and regularly puts on full armor and rides into battle at his side. At the Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081) she rallied Robert's troops when they were initially repulsed by the Byzantine army.

• 1046-1115: Lifetime of Matilda of Tuscany, the principal Italian supporter of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy.. She is sometimes called la Gran Contessa ("the Great Countess") or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa.

• 1071: Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut is captured fighting in the Battle of Cassel.

• 1072: Urraca of Zamora, Infanta of Castile, defends the city of Zamora against her brother, Sancho II of Castile.

• 1075: Emma de Guader, Countess of Norfolk defends Norwich castle while it is under siege.

• 1090: A Norman woman Isabel of Conches rides armed as a knight.

• 1121:Urraca of Castile fights her half-sister, Theresa, Countess of Portugal when she refuses to surrender the city of Tuy.

• 1131-1160: Melisende of Jerusalem ruler of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem is one of the rulers involved in the Second Crusade.

• 1136: Welsh princess Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd leads an army against the Normans. She is defeated and killed.

• 1141: Matilda of Boulogne raises an army to continue the fight for the crown of England, after her husband, King Stephen is captured by the Empress Matilda.

• 1145: Eleanor of Aquitaine accompanies her husband on the Second Crusade.

• 1172: Alrude Countess of Bertinoro ends a siege of Aucona by leading an army into battle and crushing imperial troops.

• Late 12th century: Eva MacMurrough conducts battles on behalf of her husband, the Earl of Pembroke.

• 3rd May 1211. The chatelaine of Lavaur, Gerauda (or Geralda) de Lavaur, was murdered by Catholic Crusaders because of her part in resisting their siege of Lavaur during the Cathar Crusade. Click here to read more about the siege of Lavaur

• Mid 13th century: Eleanor of Castile accompanies her husband on his crusade. According to legend, she saves his life by sucking poison from his wound when he was injured.

• 1264: Eleanor of Provence raises troops in France for her husband during the Baron's War.

• 1271: Isabella of Aragon dies at Consenza on the way back from the Crusades.

• 1290: An illustration of a woman named Walpurgis is shown training in sword and buckler techniques

• 14th century: Jane, Countess of Montfort leads troops into battle. Countess Jeanne de Penthievre is among her antagonists.

• 1326: Isabella of France invades England with Roger de Mortimer, and overthrows Edward II, replacing him with her son Edward III, with her and de Mortimer acting as regents.

• 1334: Agnes Dunbar successfully defends her castle against a siege by the Earl of Salisbury.

• 1335: The Scots defeat a company led by the Count of Namur. Amongst the Count's casualties was a female lancer who had killed her opponent, Richard Shaw, at the same moment that he had killed her. Her gender was only discovered when the bodies were being stripped of their armour at the end of the engagement. "The chronicler Bower seems to have been at least as impressed by the rarity of two mounted soldiers simultaneously transfixing one another with their lances as with the fact that one of them was a woman."

• 1364-1405: Tamerlane uses female archers to defend baggage trains.

• 1383: Eleanor of Arborea, ruler of Sardinia, conducts a defensive war against Aragon.

• 15th century: Maire o Ciaragain leads Irish clans in rebellion.

• 15th century: Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine, leads an army to rescue her husband from the Duke of Burgundy.

• 1429: Joan of Arc leads the French army. Yolande of Aragon supports her. Pierronne, a contemporary of hers, also hears voices and fights for the king of France.

• 1461: Queen Margaret of Anjou defeats the Earl of Warwick in the Wars of the Roses.

• 1461: Lady Knyvet defends Buckingham Castle at Norfolk against Sir Gilbert of Debenhem

• 1471: Queen Margaret of Anjou is defeated in battle at Tewksbury.

• 1472: Onorata Rodiana from Cremona, Italy is mortally wounded in battle. She had disguised herself as a man to become a soldier.

• June 27, 1472: Jeanne Hachette rips down the flag of the invading Burgundians at Beauvais, inspiring the garrison to win the engagement

 

Eleanor of Arborea

 

Isabella of France

 

Joan of Arc

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crusaders atAntioch

 

Fall of Acre, the Crusaders' last stronghold in the Holy Land, in 1291.

 

Taunting was an integral part of siege warfare

 

A siege using early cannon to fire stone balls to destroy the top of the castle walls.
Here, the defenders have used barrels filled with stones as a temporary repair to their defences.

 

a rather basic and precarious belfry

 

Counterwieght trebuchets

 

A war-waggon

 

A war-wagon adapted to carry a field gun

 

The city of Ai is captured and its King is hanged - Joshua 8:23 - Pictures from the Maciejowski Bible ~1250
Medieval pictures represent contemporary fashions and weaponry - not those approriate to the period represented.

 

 

 

Siege of Constantinople

 

Cannon used at the siege of Rouen (19 January 1419)

 

An early gun. Bellifortis Besançon (BM, 1360)

 

Göttingen, Staatsbibliothek, Codex. MS. philos. 63 (15th century)
The besiegers are trying to pull down the drawbridge. Others appear to be canouflaged as bushes,
presumably to get near to the walls.

 

Philippe Augustus and Richard the Lion-Heart recieving the keys to the city afterthe siege of Acre - 12th century
This is a French illustration so bolsters the role of the French King.
As a military commander Philippe was in reality several leagues below Richard.

 

A model belfry showing how it could opperate at several levels,
with a ram at the bottom, draw bridges all the way up, and crenallations at the top.

 

Another style of belfry, with defensive metal plates at different levels.

 

Another belfry - showing how the skins of freshly slaughtered animals were used to protect against fire.

 

Design for a belfry

 

Belfries and a ram in action

 

Mittelalterliches Hausbuch von Schloss Wolfegg. Detail

 

The Trojan horse - an early example of the use of psychology in warfare

 

Counterweight Trebuchets

 

Ancient Roman siege machines were more technologically advanced than their medieval counterparts

 

A siege ladder features in the crest of the arms of Grey.

 

Greek stamp showing the use of Greek Fire at sea

 

Women were not trained as warriers, but often participated in defending their cities when needed
(as at Toulouse in 1218, where the women of the city were credited with killing Simon de Montfort)

 

Ram from a Treatises on Engines and Weapons, Italy- c. 1510 MS Hunter H220 38vd

 

A belfry, from a Treatises on Engines and Weapons, Italy - c. 1510 MS Hunter 220 (U.2.1) H220 10rd

 

A Tortoise (under which miners would undermine walls).
Apollodori-Poliorcetica (Excerpta), detail of folio 26 verso - H220 26vd

 

A ram

 

Mounted Crossbow

 

 

 

Yet another belfry

 

A large crossbow

 

A Mangonell

 

Another style of ram, mounted on a slider, moved by pulling ropes

 

Manuscript drawing of a gonne, or hand cannon from the 1400's

 

Bombard 1400s

 

This castle has a walk-way giving access to an external water supply.
The style is similar to the one at Carcassonne.

 

Joan of Arc at the siege of Orleans.

 

A counterwieght trebuchet

 

A counterwieght trebuchet

 

The taking of Château Gaillard - Vigiles du roi Charles VII

 

 

 

Recommended sites for Further Information

 

Medievality
http://www.medievality.com/

Knights and Armor
http://www.knightsandarmor.com

Warfare during the Crusades
http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/categories/crusadeswarfare.htm
A collection of translations of primary source material, articles and reviews on the period.

Medieval Sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies
http://the-orb.net/

Cunnan
http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Main_Page

Mostly Medieval
http://www.mostly-medieval.com/

Flags of the Crusades 1099-1291
http://flagspot.net/flags/crusade.html

Medieval Fiefdom
http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/
An educational site about living and working in eleventh to fourteenth century England, produced by high school students.

The End of Europe's Middle Ages
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/
A large tutorial site designed to assist those students engaged in Renaissance, Reformation and Early Modern studies who lack a background in medieval European history.

The History of Costume
http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/COSTUME3_INDEX.HTML
Illustrations from Braun & Schneider - c.1861-1880

Eyewitness to History
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/mefrm.htm
Important events described by eyewitnesses, with introductory explanations. Includes the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle on the 12th-century English civil war, Marco Polo describing Kublai Khan in battle, and the discovery of America by Columbus.

The Normans, A European People
http://www.mondes-normands.caen.fr/angleterre/index.htm
Comprehensive coverage of the history, culture and heritage of the Normans in France, the British Isles and Italy. Includes biographies, genealogies of rulers, a gazetteer of Norman buildings, places to visit and bibliographies.

The Year 1000
http://www.mille.org/scholarship/1000/1000-pg.html
Medieval attitudes to the end of the previous millennium and argues for an apocalyptic viewpoint, Center for Millennial Studies.

Archery articles
http://margo.student.utwente.nl/sagi/artikel/
Selection of articles from the Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries.

De Re Militari Society homepage
http://www.deremilitari.org/
An academic association examining medieval warfare and military history. Features information on the society as well as original articles and book reviews.

The Society of Ancients
http://www.soa.org.uk/
The International Amateur Society for Ancient and Medieval Wargamers

ORB
http://the-orb.net/bibliographies/castles.html

 

Os Jacques são massacrados em Meaux (1358) (FR 2813), fol. 414v, Grandes Chroniques de France, France, Paris, XIVe s. (70 x 65 mm)

 

 

 

 

Recommended Videos

 

 

Siege of Rochester 1215

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EAB6ZGAqDw

 

Trebuchet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR26RMI9T8c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN18I-RBVm4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1EAA7pkEJ4

 

Ladders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1GQ0HTRpIk

 

Siege towers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXsYJD3BJlQ

 

Long bow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGcm-J1ggfw

 

Cross bow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxN0FZkYk78 – mid range

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziq5zm4uO-Y - heavy

 

 

 

 

Siège de Melun par Robert le Pieux, roi de France. Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V, Paris, XIVème siècle

 

« Bataille entre les Francs, commandés par le roi Clotaire II, et les Saxons ». Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V. France, Paris, XIVème siècle. 65 x 65 mm. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

 

Bataille de Roncevaux entre Roland et Marsile (778). Grandes Chroniques de France France, Paris, XIVe s

 

Massacre de Sarrasins. Grandes Chroniques de France, Paris, XIVe s. Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

 

 

« Combat singulier entre le roi Clotaire II et Bertoald ». Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V. France, Paris, XIVème siècle. 65 x 65 mm. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

 

Assassinat de sigebert Ier. Grandes Chroniques de France vers 1375-1380. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris.

 

 

 

Medieval Warfare-c1250 Granger

 

 

The Master de Saint-Ferriol takes a breather

 

 

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