This is, in part a review of quality medieval weapons and knight’s armor of historical times. The Middle Ages were a dark time that saw a lot of turmoil from diseases and warfare. Knights would pledge their allegiance to the king and fight in wars. They would also show their skills of battle in tournaments which were both entertainment and a source to weed out the highest skilled knights.
We’ve compiled a list of medieval weapons and equipment from Wikipedia and it includes:
Axes
Bow and Arrow
Catapult
Clubs
Mace
Spears
While armor is not technically a weapon, its development was both driven by weapon technology and a driving force for that same technology in return.
During the Renaissance, foot soldiers were a weapon of sorts. Foot soldiers were sent out as expendable resources before the knights would engage in battle. A knight has to choose a weapon to ride to battle. and when he does so he needs to consider the strength of the weapon as well as it’s size and weight. Too large and/or too heavy could make it hard to wield and tire him out too quickly. He picks a one handed sword often as the optimal mix of all three considerations. The trebuchet was only the most frightening of the weapons early European warriors employed in siege warfare.
Related to medieval weapons are samurai swords, katanas, fantasy daggers ninja weaponry and more. These are not historically tied but in todays’ culture often get lumped together.
See our Secrets of Lost Empires: a discourse on the Medieval Siege where we will cover not only medieval weaponry but also that of the Romans, Greeks, Vikings and more.
A good book we’ve found on medieval weapons
Medieval Siege Weapons - by Dr David Nicolle, Sam Thompson
Medieval clothing and armour can be seen today in such films as Lord of the Rings where you can see swords and replica weaponry suitable for reenactors and collectors.
A bit about Alonso:
Alonso Oyarzun was born in Montreal and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Upon returning to Edmonton, a friend encouraged him to come to Vancouver to pursue a career in stunt work. Stunts quickly parlayed into acting and Alonso landed his first role on the series Stargate: SG1. He was hooked, that was 1997 and, as they say, the rest is history.
Alonso starred in the miniseries BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA. He is a huge fan of medieval weapons and loves to watch films such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, 300, and Beowulf.