Under Siege
In the Middle Ages the lords and kings of Europe fought for dominance. They built castles as a symbol of military might and protection of the castle’s ruler. Invading armies or lords could not rule or conquer the area without the castle. Because castles were designed to keep even the most determined enemy out, attackers had to develop new weapons to get in. The battle between the castle defenders and the attackers became known as a siege. A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static defensive position. Medieval campaigns were generally designed around a succession of sieges. Sieges involve surrounding the target and blocking the reinforcement or escape of troops or provision of supplies, typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications. They used siege weapons like bows, artillery, and cannons to attack. How bows and arrows, artillery, and cannons were used to attack enemy castles.
Bows and arrows were used to attack from a distance. New styles of bows were invented in the Middle Ages that could shoot farther and with greater force than earlier bows. Archers from Wales and England were famous for using longbows, which were as tall as the bowmen firing them (Findon).
Long bows are made from a variety of wood, to one end of which a strong cord is permanently attached. The other end of the cord is formed into a loop, and to use the bow the stave is bent into a curve and to use the bow the stave is bent into a curve and the looped end of the cord slipped over the other end into a prepared notch. Staves have been made of virtually ev...
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...hoot fire into the castle to burn the wooden structures. For maximum damage inside the castle they would use stone throwing machines like the trebuchet and catapults. Not only would they shoot hundred pound stones to crush structures; they would lob human and horse carcasses to spread disease and lower morale of the defenders, as well as pots filled with burning oil to burn the defenders and the castles inside. They would try and not damage the walls too severely, so they could take the castle over and use the walls to defend against future attacks. However, with returning soldiers bringing back gunpowder from the Middle East would be the beginning of the end for castles being the symbol of military strength. With siege cannons being able to obliterate castle walls the size and amount of cannons owned by a lord or king became dominant factor for military strength.
The Seige of 1216 and Dover Castle "THE SIEGE OF 1216 BROUGHT ABOUT LITTLE REAL CHANGE TO DOVER CASTLE.
Many people may have heard of the story of Beowulf, but not know who the Anglo-Saxons were. According to an article on BBC History, the term Anglo-Saxon refers to settlers from the German regions of Angeln and Saxony. The Anglo-Saxons made their way over to Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire around AD 410 and the period lasted for 600 years. During this period there where many rises and falls of bishops and kings, as well as many important battles. The Anglo-Saxon warriors had a variety of weapons and armor to defend them. This includes spears, scramaseaxes, swords, shields, helmets, and body armor.
In medieval Europe there were many different weapons and types of fighting. It depended on the time period they fought in. “A soldier's choice of armor depended on the time during which he lived, the type of fighting he did and his economic situation” (Blackwell 1). Some types of fighting were hand-to-hand, which were swords, axes, and many more. Another type would be projectiles, like crossbows, javelins. The last one would be firearms which guns and others. “Many medieval soldiers wore armor to protect themselves from the weapons of their enemies” (Blackwell 2). Siege weapons such as catapults helped armies break into castles and towns. Most soldiers carried some blades in addition to their swords. “A dagger had a hilt like sword and a double-edged blade that was typically between 6 and 12 inches long” (Blackwell 1). Medieval soldiers used many weapons for hand-to-hand combat. All knights carried a sword with them and were expected to be skilled at swordplay. If you could afford swords then there was always something cheaper like the Quarterstaffs, which are long...
The Met museum said that the most popular used weapons were “spear, sword, axe, and the bow and arrow.” These weapons and tactics of fighting then became the backbone of weapons today, such as guns. Spears, bows and arrows allow knights to fight from a distance, such as hand grenades and guns used in today’s military.
...e went into motion. Possible projectiles of the trebuchet were living prisoners, jugs of Greek fire, rocks, and animals. Another large weapon of siege was used primarily in storms, the battering ram. In its early stages, the ram was no more than a hefty beam with a mass of metal attached to the end. Men would hoist the cumbersome boom onto their shoulders and run into a wall or door as many times as needed until the surface under attack gave way. In the Middle Ages, it was developed into more of a machine, for the ram hung from the center of a tent under which the men operating the ram could hide. The ram could be swung like a pendulum much more easily than having to constantly run back and forth. Also, castle guards often poured hot oil or other things onto the ram and its engineers. The tent, which was on wheels, protected the men and the battering ram as well.
Warfare is defined as military operations between enemies. The second definition is an activity undertaken by one country to weaken or destroy another (The Merriam Webster Dictionary). In Beowulf, warfare is extremely important for it is a way for a man to prove his strength and courage against others. War is also to protect others, and in Beowulf, the anonymous author seems to be rooting for, rather than against, warfare due to the many battles that Beowulf encounters.
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...
Two books with a similar time period were those of The Nibelungenlied and Beowulf, both placed in 6th century Europe, one based in England and the other in Germany. Both cultures had a history of war, almost a passion for it. The English had no fear for what they might battle, and knew the consequences like every skilled knight should: "However great an army we take, the Queen has such dreadful ways that they would all have to die through her arrogance." (The Nigelungenlied, Ch. 6, pg. 54) But knights had to know the risk involved in being one of the best, and the sacrifices that needed to be made to put their country on top. And it has been shown that both cultures took pride in their work: "Then the king ordered eight gold-bridled horses to be led onto the floor, into the enclosure; on one of them was a saddle skillfully decorated, ornamented with jewels." (Beowulf, lines 1036-1038).
Gunpowder and the invention of the cannon meant the end of primeval warfare. These inventions marked the end of the use of knights and the siege. Once the cannon was invented in the early fourteenth century, by the German monk Berthold Schwarz , knights and city walls didn't stand a chance. If the enemy went into a siege, all the general had to do was bring in their cannons, and blast a hole in the wall allowing his men to get through. Then the victory went to the best trained army. The primative version, was rather large and heavy, but the tube projected rocks and other objects which could easily render a knight, or a city wall helpless, and at the mercy of the army. These developments truly marked the end of the primative warfare.
In this essay, I will uncover the countless insights that can be learned about the characters in Beowulf, as well as the society as a whole, based on the weapons the characters choose to use in battle. During the Anglo-Saxon time, roughly between 400 and 1066, swords were considered the most precious weapon someone could own. Although it is not certain who wrote Beowulf, and when, many people believe it was composed in the middle to end of the Anglo-Saxon period. Analyzing the different weapons, and significance of each, in Beowulf, and comparing them to the weaponry at the time, provides the readers with a great deal of insight into the society during this period. The use of weapons in Beowulf not only provides the readers with insight into
Living in the medieval time period was not as glamorous as it is often portrayed; peasants and serfs led hard lives, however, kings, lords, and knights lived lavishly and at the expense of those under them. In this paper you will read about all of these lifestyles, as well as the castles in which these lords and kings lived in. Mainly castle designs, fortifications, and siege tactics will be revealed to you; yet there are several sections, dealing with the lifestyles of the above mentioned, leading up to that.
Continuing on, we start to see new military tactics and advanced, modernized warfare beginning in the First Crusade. European siege tactics would not work ag...
During the Mesolithic period (20,000BC-7, 500BC) and Neolithic (7,500BC-3, 500BC) period illustrations of bows from that time appear on cave walls and rock faces. Several different kinds of bows were drawn, there were many long and short simple segment bows with more of a circular shape, but there were also more complex bow shapes, which suggests that they were composite bows. Composite bows were found in north Eastern Europe and Asia. The composite bow was a result of great need because wood wasn’t available in the regions where it was found. It was mostly used in North America, parts of South America and what is now Russia and ...
The first castles built (Motte and Bailey) were made of wood and quick to build, but they were burnt and worn down easily, so the next castles were made of stone. (Square keeps) They were tall, strong, large and lasted long, but attackers would surround the castle and wait for ages for the people inside to come out. The third castles (Shell Keeps) were even stronger, but because they were made of heavy stone, they might collapse. So finally, the fourth castles (concentric) were built and they were the strongest, largest most defensive and most expensive castles built.
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.