Medieval Warfare: Strategies, Sieges, and Soldiers, The Art of Combat in the Middle Ages

By Fouad Sabry

What is Medieval Warfare

Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. Technological, cultural, and social advancements had forced a severe transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery. In terms of fortification, the Middle Ages saw the emergence of the castle in Europe, which then spread to the Holy Land.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Medieval warfare

Chapter 2: Armour

Chapter 3: Cavalry

Chapter 4: Lance

Chapter 5: De re militari

Chapter 6: Man-at-arms

Chapter 7: Ancient warfare

Chapter 8: Early modern warfare

Chapter 9: Battle axe

Chapter 10: Light cavalry

(II) Answering the public top questions about medieval warfare.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Medieval Warfare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: May 31, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Medieval warfare

Warfare in the Middle Ages is referred to as medieval warfare. The nature of combat has undergone a significant transition since antiquity due to advances in technology, culture, and society. New military strategies and the roles of cavalry and artillery had to be developed (see military history). The castle emerged as a form of fortification in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, and it later extended to the Holy Land (modern day Israel and Palestine).

Medieval campaigns were planned strategically, including how to sustain soldier morale, plan troop movements, and mount numerically superior offensives.

If you're calm, strike a bell. You must be war-ready if you desire peace.

Vegetius, De re militari, preface to book 3.

Possibly around the latter half of the fourth century, Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus penned De re militari (Concerning Military Matters).

A number of tribes rose to prominence in Europe as a result of breakdowns in centralized rule, turning to widespread looting as a means of subsistence. Vikings, Arabs, Mongols, Huns, Cumans, Tartars, and Magyars among others conducted extensive raids. Building fortifications was an excellent approach to give refuge and protection for the populace and the wealth in the area because these groups were typically small and needed to move fast.

The castle, which has come to be nearly associated with the Medieval era in the public eye, was the most significant type of these fortifications as they evolved during the Middle Ages. The local elites used the castle as a safe haven. They may deploy mounted soldiers to force the enemy from the area or to thwart bigger armies' attempts to resupply themselves in the area by establishing local advantage over foraging teams that would be unachievable against the entire enemy army when within a fortress.

In the Middle Ages, besieging forces employed a wide range of siege machines, such as catapults like the mangonel, onager, ballista, and trebuchet, as well as climbing ladders, battering rams, and siege towers. Another strategy used in sieges was mining, in which tunnels were excavated beneath a portion of the wall and then quickly collapsed to undermine the wall's support. Another tactic was to bore through the enemy's defenses, but because to the thickness of the castle walls, this wasn't nearly as successful as other approaches.

A range of defensive countermeasures were developed as a result of improvements in the conduct of sieges. Particularly, medieval fortifications grew more powerful and dangerous to attackers, as seen by the development of concentric castles during the Crusades, increased usage of machicolations, and the manufacture of hot or incendiary substances. At this time, defending against a siege also required the use of arrow slits, covert doorways for sallies, and deep water wells. Designing drawbridges, portcullises, and barbicans to guard gates was a priority for castle builders when fortifying gateways. To ward off fire, wet animal skins were frequently stretched over gates. Defenders also relied heavily on moats and other water defenses, whether they were natural or artificial.

Through the Middle Ages, Almost all significant cities had citadels and city walls, with Dubrovnik in Dalmatia serving as an excellent and well-preserved example, castles or forts.

In the event of a siege, great care was taken to secure a reliable water supply inside the city.

Some instances, To get water into the city, long tunnels were built.

In some instances, like the Ottoman occupation of Shkodra, Engineers in Venice had created and built cisterns that were fed by rainwater and directed through a network of conduits in the houses and walls.

Complex systems of tunnels were used for storage and communications in medieval cities like Tábor in Bohemia.

Teams of skilled sappers would rival this in terms of their mining abilities, who occasionally served besieging armies.

Up until the development of gunpowder-based weapons (and the higher-velocity bullets that resulted), the logistics and power balance favored the defender. Gunpowder's invention made traditional defense strategies increasingly ineffective against a determined siege.

The medieval knight was often a mounted and armored soldier, frequently associated with nobility or monarchy, though they might also originate from the lower classes and even be slaves (particularly in north-eastern Europe). The knight, at least in western Europe, progressively evolved into an unique social class apart from other soldiers due to the high cost of their armor, horses, and weapons, among other factors. Holy orders of Knights engaged in combat in the Holy Land during the Crusades (see Knights Templar, the Hospitallers, etc.).

The light cavalry often comprised of troops who were less heavily armored and armed and who carried lances, javelins, or missile weapons like bows or crossbows. Light cavalry in the Middle Ages was mostly made up of affluent commoners. Later in the Middle Ages, soldiers who had trained to be knights but could not pay the expenses involved with the title would also be included in the light cavalry as sergeants. Light cavalry served as outflankers, skirmishers, and scouts. Many nations created their own light cavalry regiments, such as the English currours, Italian and German mounted crossbowmen, Spanish jinetes, and Hungarian mounted archers.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the infantry was recruited and trained in a wide range of ways in various parts of Europe, and it very certainly always made up the largest portion of a medieval field army. In lengthy battles, many infantrymen would be hired guns. The majority of armies had sizable numbers of spearmen, archers, and other foot infantry.

Every noble had a duty to answer to the call to arms in the early Middle Ages with his arsenal, archers, and soldiers. Due to the socioeconomic structure of the time, a decentralized system was required, but it might result in disparate armies with varying skills, equipment, and training. The quality of the noble's troops would normally increase with his or her access to more riches.

The feudal armies typically included a core of highly experienced knights and their household men, mercenaries recruited for the duration of the campaign, and feudal levies carrying out their feudal obligations, who were typically little more than rabble. However, they might be effective in challenging terrain. Cities and towns could also have militias.

Central levies of the peasantry started to be the main recruiting technique as central governments gained power, ushering in a return to the citizen and mercenary armies of the classical era. The younger sons of free landowner yeomen, such the English archers and Swiss pikemen, were thought to produce the best infantrymen. In the Late Middle Ages, England was one of the most centralized states, and the troops who fought in the Hundred Years' War were primarily paid professionals.

Theoretically, every Englishman was required to serve a forty-day term of time. For a campaign, especially one that took place on the continent, forty days was insufficient. The scutage was then introduced, whereby the majority of Englishmen paid to be released from their military obligations, and this money was then utilized to build a permanent army. However, the majority of high medieval armies in Europe were made up of paid core soldiers, and the continent had a sizable mercenary market at least as early as the early 12th century.

Italian cities started to rely more heavily on mercenaries as the Middle Ages went on, as opposed to the militias that had dominated the early and high medieval period in this region, to carry out their fighting. These would be career military units that were paid a defined wage. Mercenaries typically made good soldiers, particularly when combined with standing armies, but in Italy, they grew to dominate the city-state armies. This presented an issue since, although they were much more dependable than a standing army during times of war, they also presented a threat to the state as a whole, much like the Praetorian Guard had in the past.

Since the condottieri recognized it was more effective to attack the enemy's ability to wage war rather than his battle forces, they engaged in relatively bloodless campaigns that relied more on manoeuvring than on battles. They did this 500 years before Sir Basil Liddell Hart and attempted to attack the enemy supply lines, his economy, and his ability to wage war rather than taking a chance in an open battle. Machiavelli regarded this deceptive strategy as cowardly.

Weapons

There were numerous varieties of hand-held and ranged weaponry throughout medieval times:

Melee

Battleaxe

Horseman's pick

Blades

Arming Sword

Dagger

Knife

Longsword

Messer

Blunt weapons

Club

Mace

War hammer

Polearm

Halberd

Lance

Pitchfork with weapons, the military fork

Pollaxe

Spear

Ranged

Bow

Longbow

Crossbow

Throwing axe

javelin and spear throwing

Sling

Armour

Body armour

Leather

Fabric

Chainmail

Brigandine

Plate

Shield

Helmet

Guns and the Siege engine

Battering rams

Catapult

Trebuchet

Ballista

Siege tower

Animals

Camels in warfare

Dogs in warfare

Horses in the Middle Ages and in Warfare

War elephant

War pigs

One aspect of medieval warfare that sets it apart from its forebears or early modern warfare is the custom of bringing relics into combat, which may have been motivated by biblical allusions.

The utilization of supply trains was practically unheard of throughout medieval warfare, This required soldiers to obtain food supplies from the region they were traversing.

This implied that widespread troop looting could not be prevented, and was actively encouraged in the 14th century with its emphasis on chevauchée tactics, where mounted forces would plunder and burn enemy land to demoralize the opposition while denying them supplies.

Soldiers had to provide for themselves during the medieval era through foraging, raiding, or buying. Nevertheless, military leaders frequently offered food and supplies to their troops, either in place of or in addition to paying the soldiers' salary, and sometimes even at a profit.

Two distinct types of water surround Europe, each of which had an impact on the design of ships and, consequently, on combat. Large tides were absent from the Mediterranean and Black Seas, which were also generally calm and had consistent weather. Weather was more unpredictable and stronger in the waters off the north and west of Europe. In naval engagements, the weather gauge, or the benefit of a following wind, was crucial, especially to the assailants. Europe was typically dominated by westerlies (winds blowing from west to east), providing the west's naval powers an advantage.

Early on in the medieval era, ships were largely utilized for troop transportation in combat. Naval combat in the Mediterranean throughout the Middle Ages resembled that of the late Roman Empire: galley fleets would engage in missile exchanges before attempting to board bow first so that marines could engage in on-deck combat. Early modern naval warfare continued in this manner, as shown, for instance, at the Battle of Lepanto. Roger of Lauria, Andrea Doria, and Hayreddin Barbarossa were well-known admirals.

Although they were occasionally used, galleys were not appropriate for the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean because of their greater cold and turbulence. Bulkier, mostly sail-powered vessels were constructed, though the long, lowboard, Viking-style longship, which was rowed, was still in use well into the 15th century. They continued to operate primarily in the north for the conveyance of soldiers to engage in combat on the decks of the enemy ship (as, for example, at the Battle of Svolder or the Battle of Sluys).

The towers in the bows and sterns of late-medieval sailing vessels gave them the appearance of floating fortresses (respectively, the forecastle and aftcastle). Although the massive superstructure rendered these warships highly unstable, the 15th century's overwhelming victories over the more maneuverable but somewhat lower boarded longships over the high-boarded cogs put an end to the debate over which ship design would prevail in northern European combat.

Although the advent of weapons marked the beginning of significant changes in naval warfare, the nature of ship-to-ship fighting only gradually evolved. The first ships had small wrought-iron cannons, often operated by just one or two men, that were mounted on the open decks and in the fighting tops in the 14th century. Before boarding, they were intended to harm, kill, or just shock and frighten the opposition.

Guns' capacity to cause serious damage to the vessel as opposed to merely their crews increased as they became more robust to