Medieval battle

Schiltrons

British Medieval battle 11 Min Read

The origin of the term Schiltron, also variously spelled schiltrum or schiltrone, is obscure. A strong body of opinion holds that it translates as a shield-round or shield-ring, but whilst at first sight attractive this interpretation is not supported by the evidence. Shield-rings as used by Saxon and Norse warriors were a defensive formation protected by an interlocking ‘wall’ of…

Newsletter

Get the latest from Weapons and Warfare right to your inbox.

Follow Us

Most Recent

Medieval battle Mongol 23 Min Read

The Last Throw of the Dice

The Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar, also known as the Third Battle of Homs, was a Mongol victory over the Mamluks in 1299. Mongol operations in the Levant, 1299-1303, showing the location of the Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar (3rd Homs) After the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Holy…

Medieval battle 3 Min Read

“BATTLE OF THE MASTS”

A reconstruction of an Arab dromon-shūnī The shūnī was a general classificatory name for an Arab galley though it is often referred to as a type on its own. Her equivalent was the Byzantine dromon. # The real name of Konstans II (641–68) was Flavios Herakleios, but he was crowned…

Medieval battle 44 Min Read

A Year of Disasters

1429   RED Territories controlled by Henry VI of England    PURPLE Territories controlled by the Duke of Burgundy    BLUE Territories controlled by Charles    YELLOW Main battles    RED Dots English raid of 1415    BLUE DOTS Joan of Arc’s route to Reims in 1429 The coronation of Henry…

Medieval battle Spain 15 Min Read

ALARCOS, 19 July 1195

Lying between Christian Toledo and Muslim Cordoba, the plains around Calatrava were strategically crucial during the decades on either side of 1200. That is why the Knights of Calatrava had fortified the site and constructed other castles in the region. In 1195, caliph al-Mansur won a victory at Alarcos, and…

Crusades Medieval battle 21 Min Read

Varna 1444 Part I

Pinned against the Black Sea coast, the crusaders had little recourse other than to fight their way out of their predicament. King Ladislas’s charge against Mehmed’s heavily defended position was suicidal. Hungarian and Polish crusaders marched into Bulgaria in 1444 determined to defeat the Ottoman army. The opponents met at…

Battle Medieval battle 24 Min Read

Varna 1444 Part II

Despite this clear numerical advantage, the sultan was not taking any chances. He knew Hunyadi to be an extremely talented commander, and he also knew from experience how wary his troops could be particularly when facing heavily armored Christian knights. At the base of the hill, Murad ordered a trench…

Most Popular

Tamerlane and the Golden Horde

TAMERLANE (1336–1405). Turkic chieftain and conqueror. He was not Mongol, but sought to trace Mongol…

The Battle of Tannenberg 1410 Part I

Background Two conflicts formed the bookends, so to say, of the fourteenth century in Prussia.…

Armies of the Battle on the Ice 1242

Imposing: This form the helmet of this knight comes from illustrations of the the so-called…

Schiltrons

The origin of the term Schiltron, also variously spelled schiltrum or schiltrone, is obscure. A…