The couched lance.
Early 14th-century knights charge in formation with lances “couched” under their arms. To keep their line, they rode at a trot before charging as they neared the enemy.
Bloody business.
When a dagger was used the opponent was often grasped around the neck before the fatal blow was struck. This often meant stabbing at the face or, as in this late 15thcentury example, cutting the throat. Like sharply pointed swords, such daggers could also pierce mail.
Death or glory.
Two riders slammed together at about 60 mph (96 km/h); this made the pointed lance lethal. In this early-15th-century picture a knight’s lance has passed by his opponent’s shield and punched through his armor. The figure on the left has a heavy-bladed cutting sword called a falchion. A pole-ax, a staff weapon used on foot, lies on the ground.
Cutting a path.
This early 14th-century manuscript shows rather pointed swords but still with sharp cutting edges. Surviving skeletons show that the force of a blow could cause terrible injuries and cuts to the bones.
Over the walls.
This early 14th-century picture shows the 11thcentury Crusader Godfrey of Bouillon attacking fortifications. His men are using scaling ladders, which was always dangerous because the defenders would try to push them away. Archers provide covering fire.
At siege.
Both the attackers and the defenders of this castle are using siege engines to hurl missiles at each other.
The sword was the most important knightly weapon, a symbol of knighthood itself. Until the late 13th century the double-edged cutting sword was used in battle. But as plate armor became more common more pointed swords became popular, because they were better for thrusting through the gaps between the plates. The mace, which could concuss an opponent, also became more popular. Before drawing his sword or using his mace, however, a mounted knight usually charged at his opponent with his lance lowered. Lances increased in length during the medieval period and, from about 1300, began to be fitted with circular vamplates to guard the hand. Other weapons such as the short ax could be used on horseback, while long-handled staff weapons, held in both hands, could be used on foot.
Castles were built as defense against enemy attacks. The first obstacle for the enemy was a ditch all the way around the castle, which was sometimes filled with stakes to slow a man down and make him an easy target. Moats – ditches that were often filled with water – were less common: they kept attackers from mining (burrowing) under the walls. Towers jutted out from the walls so that defending archers could shoot along the walls to repel any attackers. Small gates allowed the defenders to rush out and surprise the enemy. The castle was also used as a base from which knights rode out to fight an enemy or ravage his lands.
An enemy attacking a castle would make a formal demand for the people inside to surrender. If this was rejected, he would try to take the castle by siege. There were two methods. The first was to surround the castle, keep people from leaving or going in, and starve the defenders into submission. The second was to use force. Attackers could tunnel under the wall and come up inside, or undermine the wall and bring it down. Alternatively, the attackers could try to break the walls down with battering rams, catapults, or, from the 14th century on, cannon. They could also try to get over the wall using scaling ladders or a moving tower fitted with a drawbridge that could be let down on the top of the wall.