Medieval Weaponry

Executive summary about Medieval Weaponry by Lise Hull

Prehistoric peoples, often called the Stone Age cultures, made wide use of stone, shaping axes and grinding tools, and creating spears and arrows in order to eke out their survival. During the Bronze and Iron Ages, we see the development of metal tools and weapons which persisted through the Middle Ages, albeit dramatically altered over time. While the castle was, arguably, the most formidable weapon of medieval warfare, generally when we think of weapons we think of something much smaller, movable, and able to wreak havoc and death on an opponent. During the early Middle Ages, double-edged swords, axes and metal-headed spears dominated. Simple to construct and easy to wield, these weapons remained popular, in various forms, throughout the Middle Ages.

As the first millennium approached, new and more devastating weapons appeared. Known in Norman Europe, the crossbow probably developed alongside one of the earliest forms of siege engine, the ballista. During the 12th century, the three most prevalent weapons were the sword, the battle-axe and the spear, however, the crossbow rapidly gained popularity. Combined with the increased prevalence of horse warfare and the introduction of massive siege engines, these hand-held weapons allowed invaders like the Normans to overawe less technologically-advanced peoples.

Siege engines were critical participants during any major onslaught on a castle. Types of this include the ballista, the mangonel, and the trebuchet.

During the early 14th century, the course of weapons technology was forever changed with the introduction of gunpowder, which made possible the development of cannons and guns. Initially, cannons were designed as long metal cylinders and fired "gun-arrows", but they quickly evolved into versatile killing-machines which could launch balls weighing 200 pounds. Though the cannon and handguns rapidly gained popularity, the simpler weapons remained in the monarch's arsenal during the late Middle Ages.

Siege Engines and Weapons

This siege could last months. Attacking armies needed a way to speed up the process of the siege. The siege tower was a fortifed building on wheels that could be rolled up against the walls of the castle under siege.
The Catapult was one of the earlies siege weapons. It hurled objects at castles and brought down castle walls. In the early middle ages this was a siege machine that could haul all sorts of object both directly at the castle walls and over the castle walls at the people within. It was often built in the attacking armies homeland then transported to the place of the siege.
In the late middle ages the trebuchet came to the forefront as the weapon of choice for sieging castles. Siege weapons were only one resource that an army had when sieging a castle.
Counter measures that castles took in defense against sieges:
1. Stronger and thicker walls were built. These walls could sustain more punishment from siege engines.
2. Concentric walls were built around the castle. This made it more difficult for siege engines to hurl objects at the castle. If the outer wall was breached the siege engines had to be brought inside these walls in order to attack the inner walls. It served the purposes of making it difficult for enemy troops, enemy siege towers and enemy battering rams to get close to the castle walls. It also made it near impossible for the sieging army to dig a tunnel under the castle.
3. Higher castle towers were built. It was a great advantage to have the castle towers higher than the siege towers that attacked.