Essay on The Evolution of the Art of War between 1400 and 1600

By the time of the Crusades in Medieval Europe, Knights were nothing out of the ordinary. A knight's training began at around four or five. It involved them learning how to ride a pony. Around the age of eight, the young trainee would be sent to be a page for a lord or a relative with influence. At this point, they would refine their swordsmanship, improve their horse skills, and would be taught more about their religion. At the age of 14, pages were eligible to become a squire, where they continued their sword fighting skills. They would accompany a knight into a battle, care for him, care for his horses, and would simply hope to be chosen to

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain looking for a shortcut to Asia. The King and Queen of Spain put the money up for the cost of the journey. He was looking for trade goods that he could sell back in Spain, he took a Catholic priest with him to spread the word of God to the native people of the new lands. These explorations will change the world more between 1400 and 1800, trade, travel, weaponry, and ideas will result in changes that will be seen around the world.

The European middle ages refers to a time between 476 and 1500 AD. The people of Europe saw a whole new take on warfare tactics bringing about the use of fortresses or castles which led to the creation of siege weapons such as the catapult, the use of mounted knights leading to the creation of new armor and weapons, and by the end of the middle ages the use of gunpowder led to the creation and usage of the first cannons.

The Reformation and the Counter-Reformation were major motivating factors in early modern Europe leading to exploration of new lands. This began with Martin Luther’s break from Catholic doctrine in 1519. By the time the Reformation came onto the European stage,

In 1517 Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation, he gave his 95 thesis to the Roman Church, people began coming to America. The Reformation also helped establish the Constitution of the United States.

Knights are one of the most mistaken figures of the medieval era due to fairytales and over exaggerated fiction novels. When medieval knights roamed the earth, it was known that they were only human and, like humans, had faults. These knights did not always live up to the standards designated by society. However, in The Canterbury Tales, the knight is revealed as a character that would now be considered a knight in shining armor, a perfect role model in how he acts and what he does. Modern day people see them as chivalrous figures instead of their actual role as mounted cavalry soldiers. As time passes, the idea of what a knight is changes from a simple cavalry soldier to a specific type of behavior.

The first thing we are covering is Training and Armor. They were very different in many ways. The Knights

At first knights and soldiers in the armies were of little social status. “Many knights in fact possessed little more than peasants” (Spielvogel 244). War was looked as kind of a barbaric act in the beginning and many knights could be found fighting each other. While some of this was tolerated, as they were seen as “defenders of society”, the Catholic Church decided that there should be some ground rules. At the start of the eleventh century, the church urged knights to take an oath to protect churches, and to not harm noncombatants. These rules allowed for battles to follow a civil path and to be carried out in a noble way.

Both the reformation and the “Age of Discovery” had large effects on society, culture, and politics throughout the 1500s. The reformation started in the early 1500s as the church was looking for a new identity. This new identity was thought as the people at the time wondering what exactly God wants from us to be able to be saved and go to heaven. There were two main religious ideas born in this time frame. Those were Lutherism and Calvinism.

The 100 Years’ War was given a misleading name, as this conflict between England and France was not a war that lasted one hundred years, it was rather a series of related clashes that lasted just over a century. However, the fact that this conflict lasted more that one hundred years meant that many new tactics and weaponry came into play that changed the concepts of warfare forever. During this one hundred years, tactics changed from the system of feudal armies dominated by heavy Calvary, to the first attempt at some sort of ‘standing army’. The evolution in the types of tactics and weapons that nations used caused the battlefields of Europe to be covered in blood, as the more advanced the weapons, became, the more casualties amounted. The 100 Years’ War was the first time that strategy was used in order to command troops on the battlefield, and it was during this time that the fabrication of early martial handbooks also came into the battle. One of the more famous authors of one of these books was “the great Swabian practitioner and teacher, Johannes Liechtenauer” . Unfortunately, there are no French texts concerning martial handbooks that predate 1570, meaning that in order to look at tactics, sources from surrounding nations at the time have to suffice. Another thing that evolved extremely rapidly during the 100 years’ war, was the escalation of the types of weapons used during conflicts. Inasmuch there were 100 years of outright fighting, each side had a chance to

There were many different types, such as jousting, combat on foot, and combat on horseback. They were entertainment for lords and ladies, and good fighting practice for knights. The knight could improve his skills and combat to prepare for the next war. Knights could also prove their abilities against fellow knights and establish their superiority over each other.

Knights were mercenaries who were hired by kings or vassals to protect or fight for them. Most often they were depicted using swords and shields however, they used other weapons as well . Knights came from many different cultures however the focus will be on the English knights for the sake of simplicity. King Arthur Likely the most well known knight may not be who he seems.

During sixteenth century Europe a wave of religious dissatisfaction swept the European continent. There were cries for the restructuring of the Catholic Church. These cries grew into more than just a simple remodeling of the Catholic faith they grew into the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther is credited for the reformation movement against the Catholic Church that began in 1517.

1. General: During the early European renaissance, military and political influencer Niccolo Machiavelli published several influential works, including The Prince and The Art of War. His work 's greatest impacts were expanding on the brutal nature of realpolitik and realism to maintain peace within a highly competitive system and promoting the war manpower shift from mercenaries to citizen militias with buy-in. Many nation-states use his political and military ideals as a basis for their own statecraft and military organizations.

The “Art of War” and “De Re Militari” two military treatises were written one continent and around five centuries apart by authors that came from two vastly different backgrounds and cultures. Both authors penned treatises intended to inform and educate commanders about war yet the underlying theme is not victory but to ensure the survivability of their soldiers in battle. Sun Tzu and Vegetius differ on their ideas of this specifically on the relationship the military holds between the governing body as well as relations with the civilian population. However, what they do come together on ideas of efficient battle that minimizes Soldier loss as much as possible.