Medieval Weapons

The following description appeared in a 1997 calendar, entitled Medieval Women.  The calendar was published by the Workman Group and the title described the women as the following:  “The Strong, The Resilient, The Accomplished.” One of the writings from this calendar told the story of those Medieval women who went to war in full armor, bearing swords and pole arms just like their masculine brothers.

“During the 9th and 10th centuries, noblewomen were often directly involved in war.  Emma, granddaughter of the Capetian king Robert the Strong, headed the defenses of Laon in 927, and led a siege against Chateau Thierry in 933 that resulted in its surrender: Aethelflaed of Mercia ruled part of England from 911 to 918 and defended it from the Vikings.  The medieval custom of siege warfare, in which an attacking army tried to invade or starve out a walled fortress, frequently meant that noblewomen had to be left in charge while their warrior husbands were outside the walls, conducting the battles.

For later medieval queens, especially those married to kings of distant countries, survival could mean a great deal of military strife.  Margaret of Anjou, married to the simpleminded Henry VI of England in 1445 educated her young son in “nothing else but cutting off heads and making war.” After the young prince was killed in the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, Margaret was put in the Tower of London for five years; she died in penury in 1482.

Average women might also expect to experience war; but they were often victims instead of warriors.  Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from a small town in France, broke the mold in the early 15th century by becoming a military leader.  She led the French army in several successful battles against the English army in the last stages of the Hundred Years’ War. When the English captured her in 1431, she was tried and burned for heresy.  Thomas Basin mourned her death his History of Charles VII:

“Joan was sent by God to save the kingdom and the people of France.”

Although wearable armor weighs from 35 to 60 lbs.,  the modern woman would look stunning in the ultimate Medieval costume.

 Our earliest ancestors were the first users of chainmail.  Can you imagine a woman sitting in her cave with a fish needle and thread from the entrails of animals making her mate armour to protect himself?  This is very likely the way the first type of  chainmail developed.  Fishbones, animal bones, and perhaps small rocks were sewn into a hauberk or shirt for the hunter’s protection in his exploration in seeking food and protecting himself and his family.

Very quickly sophisticated chainmail appeared when metals were produced in the earliest societies, such as Persia.  It has often been debated whether the Celts or Persians were the first to sew bronze rings on animal skins.  By the 12th century every knight worth his salt had a hauberk of chainmail.  It became a very sophisticated form of protection.  The Crusading armies wore chainmail and so did their enemy, the Saracens.  There is a surviving hauberk which was constructed by the early Vikings.

Today chainmail is a very popular piece of armor for reenactors, costumers and gamers.  Anyone who has ever explored the types of maille or chainmail available has noted that there are many different types and prices.  There are several metal choices, such as aluminum, high tensilve and mild steel.  It also comes either butted or rivetted with round rings, flat rings with construction of either dome rivetted or wedge rivetted. 

Obviously the most important factor for many of us is the cost of the chainmail.  The butted maille is the most economical and it is the perfect choice for a starter set,  or a knock-out costume.   It is available in aluminum, high tensile steel and mild steel construction.  I have spoken with some reenactors who are involved with swordplay who state that a quality manufacturer, such as GDFB, makes a mild steel butted coif and hauberk that holds up very well.

Rivetted chainmail is the most desirable and historically accurate.  The Dome Rivetted is the most affordable of this type of construction. 

The ultimate and the most historically accurate set of chainmail is the Wedge Rivetted.  It is most like the chainmail of the Crusades.  It naturally is the most durable and will withstand the most stress by weapons. 

Buy whatever you can afford and join the battle.  It is a great hobby and it is great for esteem.

Often there is much speculation amongst historians and combat enthusiasts as to which warriors were most dominant in the world prior to the age of gunpowder. There were warriors in all the societies around the world, but determining the most powerful warriors is a much more difficult task. It’s worth noting that a warrior’s prowess in battle was not always indicative of their weaponry and armor. Though of course, warriors who had access to steel weapons and metal armor would have a significant edge over those that didn’t, but wearing heavy armor and wielding a large sword would cause that warrior to be much slower on the battlefield as well. The best warriors had both speed, power, and defense, which gave certain weapons and armor types an advantage against most others.

In terms of weapons, there’s nothing simpler and more effective than the standard sword and shield. This weapon combination provides superior defense with a balanced offense, and is near impossible to penetrate with the proper technique. Chainmail is also one of the best armors to wear, as it is lightweight, but still places a sheet of metal between the wearer and weapon edge. Chainmail could even be effective as a helm in the form of a chainmail coif.

While cultures around the world were still using bows and arrows and throwing spears at each other, the Japanese were developing some of the most advanced warfare tactics in the world.  Japanese swordsmen, called samurai, were some of the most feared warriors the world over.  Despite being known as devastating warriors, samurai, in Japanese, means to serve.  While some samurai were mercenaries, most were found to be in the service of a lord or even the emperor himself.  It was a samurai’s duty to protect his lord at all costs.  In some respects, samurai were like the knights from European nations of old.  Japanese weapons were well balanced and deadly, representing superior craftsmanship.  Japanese armor, which the samurai wore into battle, was just as durable and resilient as the suits of armor worn by crusaders of old. 

The samurai were known to wear masks and helms with menacing horns, designed to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies.  On the battlefield, the samurai fought like demons, which caused many of the samurai legends that still exist today. 

In medieval times, there were dozens of different kinds of armor that were worn by soldiers, knights, and mercenaries.  With each improvement in armor quality, there was a bit of a tradeoff for maneuverability.  However, a trained soldier could learn to maneuver while wearing heavy armor, making them some of the deadliest foes on the battlefield. Medieval armor starts at leather and moves up to full plate.  Leather armor, the most common armor, was made of hardened pieces of leather, and could protect against slashing weapons in close combat but not much else.  The next step up, studded leather, had metal studs covering the leather, which provided added protection but not a lot.  From studded leather armor moved to ringmail and chainmail.  This armor was made up of several hundred links of chain or rings, and provided the protection of metal with better movement than full plate.  Plate armor is what most knights wore, and is as its name implies, is comprised of hardened plates of metal.  This armor provides maximum protection, and sometimes, knights would also wear a chainmail hauberk underneath plate armor which would make them near indestructible.  In fact, to defeat a knight in full plate armor, one would often have to tire them out or find a way to strip their armor.