Medieval Warfare Tactics

A catapult has been used all throughout history as a siege engine. A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. A catapult was one of the approximately 10 weapons used in siege warfare during an assault on a castle or fortification. Some other weapons used in both ancient and medieval siege warfare included the well known trebuchet, the classic battering ram, and the siege tower. All of these devices and their relatives were used both in ancient and medieval times in large numbers, and to their users utter enjoyment, and they remained effective for ages, despite an opponent's usually inefficient ways of trying to impede the seige weapons

This second edition of DeVries and Smiths’ book, Medieval Military Technology, encompasses many of the weapons, fortifications, vessels, machines, and armour developed throughout the medieval period, to provide a brief cultural history of the relationship between military technology and medieval society. DeVries and Smiths’ purpose in compiling this book was to lay out their argument in a way to which the reader can understand the purpose of medieval military and its relationship to society. The central

The wooden towers of a motte and bailey castle were removed and replaced with stone, because the towers were hollow, it was called a shell keep. Castles with a shell keep were better than the early Norman ‘motte and bailey castles’ because it was an expensive way of strengthening the motte, the fragile wooden fence around the motte was replaced with a stone wall. The castle engineers during the Norman period of time did not trust the motte to support the enormous weight of a stone keep, but the a common solution to that problem was to replace the wooden stakes enclosing the castle with a stone wall then building wooden buildings backing onto the inside of the wall. This construction was great because it meant that the walls could be thinner and lighter. The shell keep castles were less popular and were relatively short lived, the style stopped being popular very quickly. Castles like York castle Clifford tower have a stone

Medieval warfare is warfare in the middle ages or the time period before the 18th century. (McDonald, James 2010). Advancements in weapons caused for more gruesome and bloody war. The use of swords, spears, axes and arrows caused for many fierce and bloody battles. Advancements in intelligence made for better tactics, strategies, travel and more important more victories.

The castle would usually be built on higher ground to see enemies coming from below. This would also help to build a moat, the drawbridge would be the only pathway from the land to the castle. The castle would have multiple stories from basements to dungeons. The toilet would be built at the bottom story to let the waste go down into the water below.

Castles began to be built with stone instead of timber and became stronger to withstand sieges. For example, castles included drawbridges and other features such as ditches, rivers and moats were built to encircle the castle. As the construction of castles improved and new innovations were integrated, concentric circle castles emerged in the 12th century. These were castles with an inner wall and an outer wall, hence the name, concentric, which means a circle inside another circle. The inner wall was higher than the outer wall which allowed archers to shoot over the outer walls and the outer wall was thicker to have a strong first line of defense. More important structures were built within the inner wall and the multiple walls construction made the castle more durable during the event of a siege or an attack. When an attack occurred, the concentric design of the castle resulted in many attackers getting struck in the middle of the inner and outer walls. The soldiers defended the castle took advantage of the situation and the attacker would be bombarded with traps, hot liquid and murder

Alchemists experimented with mixtures of natural ingredients, trying to find a substance that might allow people to live forever. They also searched for a way to make gold out of cheaper metals. By the 10th century, the Chinese had made the first weapon that used gunpowder: the flamethrower. Early flamethrowers contained gunpowder mixed with oil. The Chinese used them to spray enemies with a stream of fire.

The first castles were very simple wooden structures (Murrell 4). Building those castles out of wood was not a good idea for many reasons (Dawson). The doors were very weak, and they were very easy to break down ("Defending a Medieval Castle"), and serfs worked tirelessly for years building them (Dawson). There were also no moats in early castles, which was a which hurt the military stability of the castles. One of the most common ways castles were attacked was the attacker would dig a mine that went underneath the walls of the castle, and then the whole attacking army could walk in (Hunt 30).

The Medieval period was dominated by the feudal system and the role of the Medieval knights and their servants. Articles about their life, living conditions, clothing, weapons, training, armor, tournaments and jousts of the Medieval Knights can be found in this section. When we think of the Medieval times the first thought often takes us to the Medieval knights and their ladies. It was the duty of a Medieval Knight to learn how to fight and so serve their liege Lord according to the Code of Chivalry. But this was an extremely violent era in European and English history. Weapon practise included enhancing skills in the two-handed sword, battle axe, mace, dagger and lance. A Knight would be expected to guard a Castle and support his liege lord in Medieval warfare. Details of the life of Medieval knights in a castle, together with castle warfare, are covered in the section about Medieval Castles.

What are castles? Castles are immense building in the medieval times. They were built by an important person or a ruler such as a king. The castle was to protect the people from inside out, castles were both a home and a fortress What were they used for?

By The Middle Ages, one understands a relatively long historical period extending from the end of the Roman Empire to the 1500's. The conquest of The Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, and synthesis of Germanic and Roman ways of life formed the civilization which we call medieval (medieval-from Latin words; medium (middle) and aevum (age)). Medieval civilization was greatly influenced by the Muslims in Spain and The Middle East, and by Byzantine Empire and Christians in Southeast Europe.

With the introduction of gunpowder, cannons became the most prominent weapon for sieges. The idea of the cannon is not to fire projectiles into the opposition’s fortress or territory, but to directly strike the defensive walls. As proximity to the defensive walls increases, the effectiveness of the cannon increases. Through these innovations, the cannon became a significant tool used in the

The Burg Eltz is an early German castle that focused more on looks and the good medieval life of a royal rather than the hard lines and toil of a defensive fortress. Castles are considered to be large, fortified private residences. Castles started showing up during the 9th and 10th centuries. These fortifications provided a home base from which attacks could be launched, or as protection from enemy raids. Also, the structures served as symbols of power and centers of administration. Castles were first constructed from timber and earth, but had their walls replaced later on by stone. Even though gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the 14th century, it was not powerful enough to significantly affect the construction of new castles until

The Middle Ages is a medieval time period in Western Europe that lasted from 500 to 1500 C.E. The Middle Ages began as a result from the collapse of the Roman Empire which began in 31 BCE, and fell in 476 C.E. In around 300 C.E. the emperor of the Rome divided the land for easier control. This began the decline of Rome. The Western half of Rome fell to Barbarian invaders, while the eastern half lived on as the Byzantine Empire. The Early Middle Ages began shortly after the western half fell. After the Roman Empire lost its position as the center of power, Western Europe fell into a time of chaos and warfare. There were a lot of attacks by Vikings, Magyars (hungarian nomads), and Muslims. The invasions caused disorder, and suffering, and the government system developed into feudalism.The High Middle Ages followed, the Early Middle Ages, and was the time period in Western Europe from around the 11th century to the 13th. The Middle Ages are referred to as the “Dark Ages” because of the disorder, hopelessness of the time. It is accurate to refer to the Middle Ages (500-1500) as a whole as a” the Dark Ages”.The Early Middle Ages meet the qualities of a dark age due to the, lack of government, education, and dysfunctional economy. However, the high middle ages was a time of improvement for these issues.

Bulwark seemed to mostly be a small fort surrounded by a six foot wooden stockade. At each corner of the walls stood a small watch town that looked