Fighting, Armouring and Blacksmithing

It wouldn't be the Middle Ages without knights valiantly vying with one another in tests of skill of arms! The training, armoring and maintenance of the noble, combatant classes was an integral part of the feudal system of government. Essentially, the peasant classes spent their lives supporting the nobility in exchange for the protection of the knights and the right to work some land for themselves.

Archery was considered so important in medieval England that yeomen were required by law to practise their skills. As the French discovered at Agincourt, archery was good for more than just bringing down a plump pheasant for dinner. The English longbow was state of the art when it came to archery. The effort required to draw these massive bows was so great that experienced archers actually had their bodies deformed through years of training. The crossbow, on the other hand, required little skill to use with relative effectiveness. However, it's slower rate of fire and the expense of the crossbows themselves limited their effectiveness.

The knight was a marvel of weapons and armor technology, coupled with years of training in the skills, tricks and techniques of hand to hand combat. Against any opponent (other than another knight) he was well nigh invulnerable, and capable of dishing out enormous damage. Of course, the downside was that all the eqipment and the cost of maintaining a knight, his gear, his horses and his men-at-arms was almost prohibitive. Economically it made sense to go to all this effort, but as technology improved, and production costs of armor and equipment such as crossbows and gonnes reduced the knight ceased to be a good return on investment. Leaders shifted to using highly trained bands of mercenaries and smaller units of guards for personal protection rather than rely on expensive (and sometimes fickle) nobles.

The armor of the knight was in a constant state of evolution throughout the Middle Ages. From barely more than a shield and a spear in the Dark Ages to the magnificent (and horrifically expensive) full plate armor of the 15th century there were numerous developments and iterations. Maille, boiled leather, horn, scale, leather and plate steel were all fashioned by experts (armorers) into remarkably protective, and surprisingly wearable suits. Forget the stories of knights falling over and not being able to get up because of the weight of their armor! A trained knight can run, jump, roll over and do most of the things he can do in normal clothing in 25kg or more of armor. For example, Peter's armor weighs between 28kg and 34kg (depending on how much he wears), and he can still do the splits, kick head high and do a one-handed push up.

Along with the armorer, the blacksmith was central to the combatant culture, especially as a farrier. Armies took along blacksmiths with them to repair and make weapons and shileds, build seige weaponry and shoe horses, as well as doing the normal day to day work they would do in a village, such as make and repair tools, everyday items and solve engineering problems.

Archery - teaching
Armouring
Blacksmithing
Leather Working
Combat Training		Hammer

Last updated on 21 September, 2007

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