Taelor Owen
History 241
16 April 2014
Professor Durbin
"The Renaissance at War" by Thomas F. Arnold
Yale historian Thomas F. Arnold uses a group of related theses to compose an overall thesis. He takes a big situation like the Renaissance and is able to explain it piece by piece, making it much easier to understand. Each chapter in the book is dedicated toward a different change in technological and military tactics in order to explain the overall renaissance.
The first chapter titled "The New Fury," discusses the effect of the gunpowder revolution and the proposal of artillery on European sieges and fortifications. In this chapter, Arnold explains and defines several different renaissance artillery. A chart is given to describe the weights and ratios of different artillery. He also includes a drawing of a small wrought-iron culverin of the late fifteenth century. We are also informed of the ranges of different artillery and how many horses or oxens it took to carry different combinations of artillery.
Chapter 2, "The New Legions," is about how infantry changed to satisfy the needs of gunpowder weapons. Military drums were an invention designed to provide a strict measure for pike men and musketeers to march in unison while flanking fire for one another. Arnold informs us that guns were not the sole cause of all the changes that were occurring. They were much less methodical than crossbows that were able to puncture armor. The advantages to guns at this time were the cost, speed, ease, and shock factor. Therefore, it was much more beneficial to equip armies with the new weapons.
In Chapter 3, "The New Caesars," is informative about the changes to the roles of nobles and military commanders. The medieval military segregati...
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...re it happened. What I liked the most about the book overall is how it is more tailored toward telling a story than being long-winded like a textbook.
After reading The Renaissance At War, I feel a lot more educated about the Renaissance. It involved a lot more than new paintings, sculptures, and literature. In high school and other history classes I've taken, the focus has been mostly on that. This book gives great insight to all the artillery and technological advances that are used in war. I did not realize something as small as the matter of gunpowder could make such a significant impact on history and military tactics. The Renaissance is defined as "new birth." All of the technologies in this book contributed to the Renaissance movement. These advances included the usage of gunpowder, different movements of fortification, the job description of the general.
The period of the Renaissance changed a man's view of man. The Renaissance was a new life changing way for everyone in the middle ages for both men and women. A very important quote from the document “People saw themselves in a new way”. The build up of how the Renaissance started and this time is called the middle ages and was a period of time which stretched from 500 ce to about 1350 during the middle ages the Roman Catholic church and the Pope were primary players.For over 300 years Renaissance spread from Italy to Western Europe.The way it spread was like a car moving from place to place. The main question the document is asking is “How did Renaissance change man’s view of man “? One major key term in that question is Renaissance and “this means rebirth”. My main thesis is the way the renaissance has changed man’s view of man and
This is a brief paragraph or two on each of the major siege weapons. For the not just the besiegers but also the defenders. Please note most of these weapons were not used alone and often had many different versions of the same weapon.
Overall, this text book is a useful guide in grasping a better understanding of all the elements that influenced military technology throughout the Middle Ages. The broad range of material, in a condensed form make this book a good starting point to begin research within the topic of medieval military technology. If the reader can go through the book without getting lost in the minute details, then they will be left with a book that has encompassed a broad argument that builds a good foundation for further work within the field.
Melton, Jack W. and Lawrence E. Pawl. “Basic Facts Concerning Artillery.” Civil War Artillery. 2009. 17 January 2010. .
At the beginning of the Middle Ages, battle was still fought by men usually with swords, spears, and axes because they fought so close to each other. In medieval times, there were many different weapons, which were used for many different reasons. Some reasons would be for war, hunting, farming and building. The same types of materials were used, but they designed into different types of weapons and armor. As you read, you will learn how as time pasted that either the armor or the weapons changed to be more protective and or more powerful. I will be covering in this paper the many types of weapons, a specific weapon, and last the armor they used to protect themselves.
The invention of gunpowder found its way into the artillery cannons in the fourteenth century, but this job was very dangerous because of the unpredictable reaction of the fired explosives. The early production of gunpowder was hampered by the cannon’s slow rate of fire, inability to travel swiftly, lack of aiming capability, and confusion on the mixture. The barrels were one to three inches in diameter and some were even mounted on the bottom of carriages. The development of gunpowder is momentous in history, because it marks the invention of modern warfare.
When in combat, both sides had the same kind of artillery. Soldiers used muskets and small handguns and generals on the other hand would ride on horseback with a sword and pistol. Another type of weaponry that was used were cannons. Even though cannons were much more powerful, muskets were easier due to the fact that they were portable and fired rounds quicker.
Long distance weapons were essential to European combat. The main long distance weapons used by Europeans during that time were the longbow and the crossbow. Each form of weaponry had its unique advantages and their pejorative. The long bow (shown in figure 1) was the original form of distance weapons. The term ‘bow’ means to be made from wood, iron or steel. The Welsh, who inhabited England, were the first people to use longbows. Longbows were 6-7 feet long and had a range of 250 yards, and still had the ability to pierce a knight’s armor (Byam 12). A well trained archer could shot 10- 12 arrows in a single minute. Despite these pro’s the longbow had a lot of disadvantages as well. One draw back was only skilled archers, who were costly to train, could use a longbow. Another disadvantage was it didn’t have a ready loaded arrow (Edge 34). The crossbow (shown in figure 2) on the other had been emphatically different. The crossbow had a span of 2-3 feet and could kill a knight on horseback with one shot, because of good aim (Byam 30). Crossbows had ready loaded projectiles, while the longbow didn’t and the crossbow could be used by anyone since it didn’t require any skill. The crossbow did have a down side though, it had slow reloaded because of a crank and it was expensive. Crossbows were also used for other thi...
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...
When we take a look back at all of the Crusades that took place in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we see that the Crusades brought many new ideas and inventions to the rest of the world. Most of the contributions that the Crusades have made have been to warfare, arms and armor. The weapon has evolved over time and began with “the rock and the club proceeded through the sling and boomerang, bow and arrow, sword and axe, to gunpowder weapons of the rifle and machine gun of the late nineteenth century” . Throughout the Crusades we saw the introduction to new ideas such as siege towers, fortifications, pitched battles, ranged weapons, polearms, and blunt hand weapons. The question that I will be focusing on throughout my paper will be, how the warfare of the Middle Ages, specifically the Crusades, impact warfare of the modern day? I will be looking at both the Muslims and the Christians and will be covering the time period from 1000-1300.
The Renaissance (A Very Short Introduction) written by Jerry Brotton has been illustrated into six illustrations: A global Renaissance, The humanist script, Church and state, Brave new worlds, Science and philosophy and Rewriting the Renaissance. Since this book is a history book, it is quite tough to read. This book is all about the past history which is related to the Renaissance. Honestly, I do not even have clear understanding on what is called “Renaissance” until I read this book. On page 9, under the subtitle of “Where and when was the Renaissance?” I finally found the meaning of Renaissance: the revival of classical culture. This word is come from Italian word which is rinascita. Then, French historian, Jules Michelet had come out with the definition of Renaissance. He define Renaissance as decisive historical period in European culture that represented a crucial break with the Middle Ages, and which created a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world. He also promoted the Renaissance as representing a certain spirit or attitude, as much as referring to a specific historical period. But then, his Renaissance only took place on 16th century even though he had defined it from the previous century. There was also Jacob Burckhart, Swiss academic defined it as an Italian 15th-century phenomenon. By read it further, I found that these two persons read the vision of the Renaissance like a version of their own personal circumstances. Then again, there was also an Oxford-educated don, Walter Pater defined on this word. Similarly, in further reading, all these three thinkers had created 19th –century idea of the Renaissance as more of a spirit than a historical period.
The Renaissance, also known as the Middle Ages, is very historic because of the wealth and power that it held. Through economic and political aspects, it flourished into the ripe environment that it is known of today. Although the culture
Through the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, as well as political literature and diplomatic advancements, the Renaissance significantly influenced modern politics. This has been proven through the conversion evidences of Charles VII and Louis XI, The Prince and Discourses on Livy by Machiavelli, and the diplomatic developments made by Machivelli and Henry VII. In the end, despite the era being only three hundred years and happening several centuries ago, the Renaissance was a key point in the modern world’s political history.
The Renaissance is a term that means rebirth. The renaissance marked a renewed interest in many things such as the arts but also brought about change in the areas of class structure; trade; invention and science. These changes have influenced nearly every social class and industrialized society in the modern world. This paper will show how this unique period in our history impacts our society today.
The system and technique of supplying an arrow with kinetic energy through the tension of limbs has been improved with the crossbow. The big catapults took up once again the principle of throwing stones. It all changed with the invention of the gunpowder. Cannons, guns and handheld weapons assumed the role of bow and arrow. Now, the warlike intention behind the long-distance effect went even more into the foreground.