Weapons and Arms in the Middle Ages In my observations of the Medieval time period I found the weapons to be brutal, and atrocious. From war hammers to napalm to the arquebus, this was by far the most in-humane advancement in weapons apart from modern day. The Medieval time went from about the 11th century to the 14th. During this time survival depended on the power of the certain ruler people served under. The power of the ruler depended directly upon his army and the army upon their weapons. This is why we see such rapid advancement of the weapons in Medieval times. In this time "might" was right. "A knight or any other warrior is only as effective as his skills and the quality of his weapons" (Medieval Weapon Links). This
These were just a few. The sword was used around the globe as the primary melee weapon. This particular weapon was made by pounding out a strip of metal, shaping it and then cooling it. Lastly, the blade was sharpened on a stone grinder. (List of Medieval Weapons) The melee weapons, though very efficient, had one major flaw, they was simply too short to be used for anything but hand-to-hand fights. This is where the polearm came into use. The polearm was used to extend the reach of a ground soldier. Here is an excerpt from The Once and Future King about polearms. " . . . every man carrying a spear or a pitchfork or a worn scythe blade on a pole (polearms)."(White145) It was simply a melee weapon mounted on the end of a large pole. The first polearm developed was the "spear". It was also used to hunt. The spear usually consisted of a sharpened metal spearhead that resembled a dagger fastened to the end of a wooden pole. This was one of the oldest polearms and was an ancestor to the lance and pike. The "lance" was a little different. It was primarily used for horse-to-horse combat tovh knock the other person off his horse. Later, it was used in jousts which were a competition in the king's courtyards. "With a blood-curdling beat of iron hoofs the mighty equestrians came together. Their spears wavered for a moment within a few inches of each other‘s helm-each had chosen the difficult