Medieval Weapons
Weapons are the tools of today and the death of tomorrow. At one time all weapons were tools. They were a means of survival among a harsh planet and cruel animals. The age of knights changed the true meaning of these tools forever. They now possessed the power of life and the power of death. Europe was an ever-growing bushel of civilizations. These civilizations were always under threat from other growing civilizations. At this point tools became weapons. Weapons are the tools of life, and the objects of death. The year is 1232. Somewhere in northern Europe, a Saxon castle is under attack. In the fields for miles around, thousands of soldiers viciously fight. Metal strikes metal, arrows strike flesh, rock strikes rock. No matter how good these soldiers are, weapons will ultimately decide the battle. These weapons can be divided into three categories. Melee, or hand-to-hand weapons, includes clubs, swords, daggers, saxes, hand axes, and some spears. These weapons are classified today as wedges, because they cut through things. Small-scale missile weapons include other spears, bows and arrows, throwing axes, and crossbows. These weapons were classified as levers, because they have a fulcrum, a
Weapons are an intricate part of history, as well as the future. Weapons of the middle age began to show the signs of their user and his attitude. While a knight would usually use a sword for a good clean cut and a quick death, others may use a more painful weapon such as a flail. This causes great pain with a sure death to come. The Middle Ages were the beginning of a new era in weaponry and they will continue to influence it today. The knights of the Middle Ages may have died without realizing that they were not just fighting for a kingdom, but the right of who they were leaving the future of the world too. The second class of weapons is that of small-scale missiles. There are far fewer of these than melee weapons, because the first missile weapon to be invented, the bow and arrow, remained in effective use all through the Middle Ages, so no more were invented. When Europeans overcame the cowardice associated with use of the bow and arrow, it became one of the most important weapons of medieval times. The arrowheads, or piles, as they are correctly called, were long and narrow, and could be barbed or not. As for the bow, it was an average of five or six feet long, and consisted of a curved piece of wood and a taut string. In general, bows are very uninteresting, but they are very important. The only major variation on the bow and arrow was the crossbow, also known as the arblast. It was made of a short bow set at a right angle to a straight stock, which held the intricate mechanism that drove the crossbow. A soldier using the crossbow had to use all his strength to load the crossbow with a quarrel, the crossbow's equivalent of an arrow. Even though the Pope condemned the crossbow, it still became even more important in combat than the regular bow and arrow. The earliest melee weapons were clubs. Existing from Neanderthal times, these simple thick sticks were quickly replaced by blade weapons. However, some tribes continued to use clubs as throwing weapons. Others gave clubs to their leaders as batons of command. Still other tribes placed spikes on the ends of the clubs, turning them into maces. Soon enough, maces evolved into morning stars. These were much like maces, except there was a chain between the handle and the spiked head. These turned out to be cumbersome, and for the most part, ineffect
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1568
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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