Middle Ages: Weapons Essay

The new weapons used in WW1 included: The Rifle used by every country involved in the war, The machine gun, Gas bombs which included chlorine in the early stages of the war then mustard gas in the later stages of the war, Flamethrowers, a Zeppelin or blimp which was a massive aircraft used by the Germans, Tanks 1st used in the battle of Somme, Planes which could dispense bullets at an incredible rate, drop bombs and even support a cannon, and submarines with torpedoes, to make easy pickings on the biggest ships. The rifle, machine gun, and the airplane were invented before WW1 but were upgraded into war machines that were devastating for soldiers.

The results of this weapon were gruesome so it became a bad guy weapon because of how well it worked and how much blood was

The musket revolutionized weaponry during the Elizabethan era. This weapon was a muzzleloader which means in order to load the gun, the user must put the musket ball in at the end of the barrel (Britannica). It was approximately five feet long and weighed 20 pounds (Britannica). The musket had a matchlock system on it that used a lit match to light gunpowder on fire and the explosion caused a musket ball go sailing out (Norman & Pottinger 168). The musket balls weighed 57 grams and came in calibres between .69 and.75 inches in diameter.(Britannica) The musket balls could fly up to 175 yards, which is almost the length of the 2 football fields (Britannica). The early muskets were not very accurate but England was able to fix this and allow them to hit a person at 80-100 yards (Britannica). The musket will go down in history as one of the most famous weapons of the Elizabethan

During the Revolutionary War we do not see much advancement in weaponry, but we do see a wide array of weapons such as Artillery, Rifles and Muskets, Pistols, Swords and Sabres, Ship classes, and even Submarines. Although there was not a huge technological leap in weaponry, the weapons were very interesting and effective at the time.

The Middle Ages which was known to be a very violent era in our world consisted of multiple weapons. The weapons that were used in this era were determined by the social class that you belonged to. These classes consisted of the lower class which would be the foot soldiers and then the knights. The weapons these two classes had though differed from one another. What types of weapons did each class have and how would these weapons have looked back in the middle age time period?

One key weapon in the middle ages was the sword. A sword is a long, sharped edged piece of forged metal that is used for a cutting or thrusting weapon. The basic purpose and physical properties of swordsmanship have remained fairly consistent throughout the centuries, but the actual techniques have varied throughout cultures and time. Most people in the middle ages admire the sword as being one of the most important weapon.

Amongst the most lasting of factors stemming from the Civil War are the weapons that were developed. Before the Civil War, the weapons used were highly unreliable, and were not advanced enough to provide the needed defense for a young nation such as our own. Innovative minds created many interesting ways to demolish their enemies without ever having to fire a shot or go into full combat through different types of bombs that were in disguise. Among the advancements in the Civil War were the torpedo, the carbine rifle, the minie` ball, several models of rifle-muskets, rocket launchers, rocket bombs, "Greek Fire," and a wide array of other secret weapons.

In wars prior to the Civil War, soldiers wielded weapons such as the musket which shot only one bullet at a time. Though these types of weaponry could shoot as far as 250 yards, they were inconvenient and wasted time. To even aim at the target accurately one had to be 80 yards away. Similarly to muskets, rifles were inconvenient because they took a while to reload because the bullet was almost the same size of the barrel and again, wasted time. Bullets with a pointed tip were created in 1848 by Claude Minie. Because the diameter of the bullets were smaller than the barrel, soldiers could put them into the gun quicker and more effectively. With Minie’s bullets, rifles were simpler to reload but still had to be reloaded with one bullet at a time. That unprotected gap of time made soldiers more vulnerable so in 1849 a repeating rifle called the Volitional Repeater was patented by Walter Hunt. They were popularized in 1863 during the Civil War. By this time many models were being sold but the most common one was the Spencer Carbine which could shoot seven bullets in just 30 seconds. These, like most Civil War era weapons, were produced and used by the North, but not

Weaponry also played a role in the Elizabethan society and contributed to the end of feudal times.

In the Medieval times a sword was a knight’s most important weapons. The fact was found on this website: http://medievalweaponsrds.weebly.com/fun-facts.html. In Medieval times, the armor would vary with leather, chain mail, and plate armor, all coming as technology advanced and blacksmith’s skill increased. Over the Medieval period, weapons were advancing and the elegant rapier began to be obsolete as the musket became popular. A battle was brewing during these times with Queen Elizabeth just trying to survive the war and King Phillip trying to take over England. The advancement of armor, that was made different throughout the Middle Ages, and having a variety of weapons gave England an advantage against the Spanish in Battle.

Humans have used weapons in warfare, hunting, law enforcement, and criminal activity for thousands of years. Weapons also serve many other purposes in society including use in sports, collections for display, and historical displays and demonstrations. As technology has developed throughout history, weapons have changed with it.

The discovery of gunpowder changed war from being fought with medieval weaponry and battle tactics to more modern day weapons and tactics because the gunpowder powered weapons are more deadly. Weapons that use gunpowder to launch projectiles have a greater range than melee weapons and are more powerful than bow and arrows. Also, cannons are more powerful and have a greater range and accuracy than catapults and they also can be reloaded faster than catapults. Gunpowder weapons changed war because they are stronger, more accurate, have a greater range and are able to be reloaded faster than medieval weaponry.

Handheld weapons represented a large portion of the weapons used during 16th Century warfare (Iannuzzo). Most commonly used was the sword. Throughout the middles ages, metals were developed to withstand more abuse and thus became more effective (Iannuzzo). The metals now had to strong enough to pierce through the newly developed armor of the time (Revell, "Armour"). The use of carbonized iron, which was heated, beaten, and cut the process repeated many times over to form a solid and durable and lighter than previous swords. The double edge sword was far superior in strength and sharpness of the other swords of the time (Grolier). The 16th century also brought forth the use of flamberge sword that had an undulating cutting edge, that was believed to be able to easily pierce the armor, but was too awkward for battle and was eventually abandoned. By this time the Great sword, sometimes over six feet in length, were being deployed. This sword was deadly only because of the pure size of it. The great swords required enormous strength just to hold and even more to be effective. Eventually the great sword became too awkward to use in battle just as the flamberge. These two inferior swords took a back seat to the smaller and more agile estoc sword. The estoc had a

The common weapon in war was the spear. Conventional spears were seven feet long with a iron head and was used to be thrown and also to jab. Shields were plain and round, made of wood with an iron center. Only the rich and noble used swords, which were made of iron with steel edges. The Vikings were more heavily armed than the Anglo-Saxons, and they relied on chain mail and helmets as protection, and most people used a short stabbing swords as protection, although some used either a lance or a double-edged sword. (Ross, http://www.britainexpress.com).

During the Mid-15th century gunpowder stared to get better. Austrians and the Spanish had begun to use pikes and guns together. This flexibility allowed them to experiment with muskets on the battlefield; one of the uses of them was muskets on the sides, and the pikes in the middle. It was believed that the pike was a superior killing weapon, and the muskets were only useful to scare the enemy. To counter the pike and musket formation, a form of carbine was invented. This was used by people on horseback. The use of horseback carbines was so useful; the use of the lance went extinct within 100 years (Pike, J. 2014).