Interesting Weapons that People Used in the Middle Ages

What weapons did medieval knights and soldiers use? You are about to find out!
People used a variety of weapons in the Middle Ages. Wealthy people used lances, while poor people used spears. Bows were a prevailing type of weapon because people used them for hunting. They also performed well in a war. Battle axes were competent on the battlefield, as well as morning stars and maces. Morning stars are a type of mace. Not all maces are morning stars, but morning stars are maces. Daggers were handy, and many people carried them as backup weapons. They could fit through the cracks in plate armor.
What was the difference between jousting lances and war lances? What is a misericorde?

Interesting Medieval Weapons: Lances

Knights used lances in jousting. They used a different type of lance for war. Lances were for the elite because they were expensive because the materials and styles were more complicated. Generally, the cavalry benefitted from lances. People did not throw lances because they needed them. However, sometimes they shattered anyway. They often had a handle so their hands would not slide around on the shaft.

Tapestry of the Battle of the Battle of Hastings, note the lances

People made the lance shaft with wood, such as oak or ash. They made the top with metal. Sometimes there was a spike at the bottom that balanced it out. Lances used in jousting were heavy and blunt so they unhorsed their rider, rather than kill them. However, war lances were lighter and very sharp because people wanted their war lances to puncture armor and kill opposing riders.

Spears

Spears were cheap and simple to make, and easy to use. People could use spears against mounted riders, as well as footsoldiers. Spears were easy to use. People could cut, stab, and thrust with them. Some soldiers could throw their spears accurately, especially if they had practice.

They could even trip horses. People could make spears in a variety of ways. The simplest form was just a piece of sharpened wood. However, they sometimes wanted to make the spears more deadly; spearheads could be metal or other hard materials. Some materials included iron and bronze. Even the spearhead could change shape! The most common tip shapes were triangles or leaves.

Interesting Medieval Weapons: Battle Axes

Kids shouldn’t play with axes. In the Middle Ages, people used axes in war. In fact, some people preferred battle axes to swords and believed they were more dangerous, too (see my post about swords here)! Battle axes were devastating on the battlefield because people could swing them with incredible force and break through armor. They also took less effort to master. It is simple! All you have to do is chop at your enemy, and if you have enough strength, you chop off their limbs or head.

Blunt force even worked on knights who actually wore armor (in general people couldn’t afford armor, it was the rich/nobles who did). The handles were either wooden or metal, and the axeheads were metal. Blacksmiths made so many that they ended up with near perfect designs through trial and error. Many people wanted them. When people were willing to pay extra money, blacksmiths could add spikes or designs to the axes. Spikes widened the range of ways to use it.

Bows

Medieval people used bows and arrows to hunt and took them to war to fight. The men with spears often protected the archers so the archers could shoot other people. Many people made their bows with yew wood because it was ideal for making bows. There were also many types of bows.

Crossbowmen from the Lutheran Pssalter

Two of the most common were longbows and crossbows. Longbows could shoot a very long way. However, they were also hard to master, partially because they took a lot of physical strength and practice to shoot accurately. However, longbowmen could shoot a lot faster than crossbowmen.

Crossbow depicted in The Catalan manuscript Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Crossbows were easier to master and didn’t take much stamina and power to use correctly. Their bolts went pretty far, but they could not shoot fast. Luckily, they were cheap to make, so they were readily available to weaker men and boys who could not use a longbow.

Interesting Medieval Weapons: Daggers

Daggers are small, light, and deadly. They could fit between the cracks in plate armor, so daggers were even lethal to fully armored knights. Because they were so small, they worked as a backup weapon on the battlefield. They were also good in tight spaces. Generally, people made their daggers double-edged. There were also instruction books about how to use daggers.

Hans Talhoffer using daggers

People held their daggers with the blade pointing at the heel of the hand, so they made downward jabs through the armor with them. Daggers could be a symbol of prestige. Therefore, many people had their daggers heavily decorated. The poniard was long and lightweight. Generally, upper-class people wore it. The Rondel Dagger easily fits through gaps in armor. That was how people designed it.

Miséricorde

The miséricorde was a distinguished type of medieval dagger. Miséricorde is French for mercy. People used the miséricorde to give the death blow or mercy stroke to dying men. It was merciful to put them out of their misery, especially if they were already going to die.

Miséricorde

Some wounds can not heal. The miséricorde could go between the armor because it was slender. It was also extremely sharp. Then it would pierce the knight’s body effortlessly and make the death faster. It was kind to bring the miséricorde into battle, just in case.

Interesting Medieval Weapons: Mace

What weapon can smash through armor and bodies? The mace can! The mace was easy to make. Therefore, poor people could afford to arm themselves for war. The head of a mace was metal, while the handle was wooden. However, the wooden handle was durable and stout.

They didn’t want their mace breaking in the middle of a battle! One of the most common types of mace was the flanged mace. The flanged mace had pointed triangular ridges. It was deadly, especially to armored knights because it could hook in the armor or mash inwards in a specific spot. People can’t survive that kind of impact.

Morning Star

What is a morning star? Morning stars are a type of mace. When people think of maces, they often think of a spherical spiked ball on top of a wooden shaft. They are thinking of a morning star. The morning star relied on blunt force and puncture wounds. It was pretty effective against anyone.

Both the infantry and the cavalry could use morning stars. There were two types of morning stars. Professional blacksmiths made the military morning star; they were fancy but also practical. The other type was simple, and it was super easy to make. It was a piece of wood with nails and spikes fastened in.

Did you enjoy learning about medieval weapons? If you had to choose one medieval armament, what would you choose? Let me know in the comments! Also, let me know if you have any questions.