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Researched by Derek L.
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Research Summary
Definition
Medieval Times is the period when knights would roam across the lands,
kings would rule castles, and battles were conducted without gun powder.
Germanic Tribes
The Germanic people came from Scandinavia in northern Europe. They
began coming into central Europe about 1000 B.C. Few Germanic people could
read or write. By the A.D. 200’s they occupied regions in the Rhine and
Danube river basins along the northern and northeastern boundaries of the
Roman Empire. Few Germans adopted the civilization of their Roman neighbors.
The Germans traded with Roman merchants, learned to farm, and accepted
Christianity as their religion.
Most Germans were rough ignorant people. They were called barbarians (uncivilized people) by the Romans. Laws in the tribes were based on tribal customs and superstitions. Each tribe was run by a governor. Tribesmen were fierce looking, big, bearded, and clothed in animal skins or coarse linen. The Germans lived by hunting and a crude type of farming. They worshiped Scandinavian gods like Odin and Thor. During the A.D. 400’s the Germans invaded the Roman’s territory. When the tribes invaded Europe, the Middle Ages began.
Story of Castles
The first castles were made out of wood. They would have a wooden tower
built on a flat-topped mound (also known as a motte). Thirteenth century
castles had no keep (a tall tower) but had two sets of curtain walls (one
wall in an other). This was called a concentric castle. Castles controlled
territory ten miles around. A wooden fence called a palislade, walls, a
moat, or a ditch usually surrounds Castles. These provided protection against
enemy attacks.
Castle Defense
In the castle wall there were usually arrow slits which were very narrow
on the outside of the wall but much bigger while going into the wall so
an archer could fire through the slit and enemies couldn’t climb through
the slits. Another defense was that when an attacker was coming up stairs
(which were always spiraling upward and going clockwise) his right arm
(his sword arm) is stopped by the central pillar, so the defender has room
to strike with his weapon.
Training a Knight
After training at home for years, a young boy might go to the lord’s
courtyard to be trained as a knight. They would be trained usually at seven
years of age. Young knights to be were called pages. Pages would first
run errands and begin learning about horses, armor, and weapons. Pages
would also learn to handle hawks for hunting. When the page would turn
fourteen years of age he would become a squire. The squire would then be
apprenticed to a knight. When a squire would practice with a lance he had
to hit a swinging quatrain then he had to ride past quickly or get hit
by the weighted bag. When using a bow, squires would aim at barrels or
shields.
Dubbing
Dubbing is when a squire was accepted as a knight by his master. The
knight who trained the squire would tap him on each shoulder with a sword
and remind him of the ideals he should fight for. Squires dressed in red
(for his blood), white (for purity), and brown (the return to Earth on
death) for the dubbing ceremony.
Armor
Armor was developed from chain mail (linked iron rings) to full plate
armor. Mail was tough and flexible but if someone was hit with a heavy
weapon it could still break bones even if it didn’t tear the chain mail.
Chain mail only weighed about 33 pounds. Stronger weapons were made and
as result stronger armor was made. Solid plates of steel or even hardened
leather became increasingly popular to protect against swords with sharp
points and narrow needle like arrowheads. Rich men ordered armor from famous
workshops in Germany or Italy. They sent their measurements or items of
clothing, to make sure it fit perfectly. Less wealthy knights probably
bought “off the peg” from local armorers, who had stocks of ready made
pieces. Thirteenth century knights had mail on his hands, legs and feet.
Colorful outer garments (called a surcoat) may have provided protection
from the rain or heat. The knights of 1350 had a coat of plates over mail
and gutter shaped plates on his arms and legs. 1400 knights wore armor
made almost entirely of uncovered steel plates. Shields were hardly
ever needed. Often shields were only used in tournaments. Helmets were
the only piece of armor in early ages that was made out of metal plates.
Plate armor could be shaped. Steel plates followed fashion. Armor making centers produced their own styles. The steel plated armor usually only weighed 45 to 55 pounds, that’s less than a modern infantryman carries on his back. A knight could run, lie down, or even turn cartwheels while wearing full armor. Knights boasted of vaulting into his saddle or climbing the underside of a scaling ladder. A knight wore underwear beneath his armor, and could untie two laces under his mail skirt when he wanted to relive himself. However, the armor got extremely hot inside because body heat could not escape. Knights who got trapped in a crash of men often suffocated.
Helmets
Helmets were the first piece of armor to be made out of pure steel
plates. Helmets started with a nose guard to protect the face from slashing
blows. By 1200 knights had helmets fitted with a face mask. Soon the helmet
covered the whole head and had eye slits and breathing holes. This
was called the great helm. The helmets that were developed after the great
helm were lighter and had a beavor. Which is a steel plate that goes under
the helmet to protect your chin.
Arm Defense
The arm defense is called a vambrace. Shoulder defense was important
because if someone was hit in the shoulder it could ruin their career as
a knight. The pauldron is the shoulder plate. The early knights protected
their arms with mail sleeves that reached to the elbow. The mail sleeves
came to the wrist by the twelfth century.
Gauntlets
The first knights didn’t protect their hands. Hands were first protected
by mufflers (which were extensions of mail sleeves). Mufflers were used
for about 150 years. Soon after the mufflers came the leather gloves with
whalebone or steel plates covering them.
Cuirass
The cuirass is the main body armor section (like the chest and back).
Its name comes from a French for leather, ”cuir”.
Leg Defense
A horseman’s knee is a good target for foot soldiers because if he
was hit there it could cripple him for life. In the twelfth century is
when they first started with leg defense, which was laced mail strips along
the leg. When plate armor was first introduced the knee was the first thing
to be protected.
Weapons
Weapons were what knights used to battle other knights. Swords were
usually the knights main weapon. A few different types of sword are falchions,
hand and a half (which is sometimes called a bastard sword), short swords
and regular swords. Swords also sometimes have cross guard that protect
your hand from slicing swipes. Footmen usually had pikes (a thinner slender
type of lance), glaives (a long handled axe like spear), a pollaxe (had
an axe head with a hammer or a beak on the back) or a spear.
Sharp weapons seemed to skid off plate armor so they started to make
that would crush armor like war hammers or maces.
Horses
A knight usually had about three horses for different uses. Destriers
were a knight’s best horse and his war horse. Destriers could cost 800
times more than a carthorse or mule which is another type of horse a knight
might have. Palfrey which is a knight’s horse he would use if not in battle.
Siege Warfare
Siege is when an invader wanted to take over a castle. They would
use different techniques for a siege like mining under wall and collapsing
the wall, launching assault over the wall, or break down the wall using
siege engines.
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