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Medieval Warfare Questions and Answers
- Thread starter Ankari
- Start date
Kahle
Minstrel
1-Most battles would last as long as the light. At night there was the risk of fighting your own men, and the commanders couldn't gauge the progress of the combat. That said, some tricks were employed at night. A sieging force could use fire and torches to magnify the apparent size of their force, and some sieges involved night assaults upon walls, but those were rare. Sometimes invasion forces would land at night, guided to shore by beacons serving as small light houses-lit by traitors/spies etc.
2-Winter caused too many logistical errors, and people had a hard enough time finding food without an army eating everything in sight. Spring and fall were high campaigning times, and though summer was usually too hot, it would be an ideal time to strike at an unprepared enemy and destroy his food supply.
3-Usually the general and his bodyguard would take a tactical viewpoint on a hill or such, behind the archers. There were commonly used signals that each of the sub-commanders would have been familiar with-one horn for archers, two for retreat, etc. That or there was a standard approach to a battle. European knights had a love of the cavalry charge-which they rarely got to do. The archers would fire a barrage or two, followed closely by the cavalry, who were in turn followed by the infantry for the main battle. However, the cavalry charge-and as is said of most plans-they only lasted until that first contact.
4-Most forces were composite. A lone cavalry force could be decimated by archers and pikemen, while unprotected archers would be slaughtered by infantry and cavalry. Most European forces had about a 1:3:2 for cavalry, infantry, archers. Aside from mercenary companies, most infantry and archers would be conscripts. The crusaders in Outremer-the Holy Lands-had to combat the Muslim forces under Saladin, who employed massive numbers of light cavalry who could use both lances and bows to great effect. They would tire the crusading knights and pick at them with their archers while the Christians marched. The standing army came into play very recently in history. That said, the feudal system was designed to provide a monarch with a readily available fighting force. The king would have 20 earls to call upon, each of whom provided 10 barons, who each brought 60 knights-again, this was the ideal, rarely were all these forces available.
2-Winter caused too many logistical errors, and people had a hard enough time finding food without an army eating everything in sight. Spring and fall were high campaigning times, and though summer was usually too hot, it would be an ideal time to strike at an unprepared enemy and destroy his food supply.
3-Usually the general and his bodyguard would take a tactical viewpoint on a hill or such, behind the archers. There were commonly used signals that each of the sub-commanders would have been familiar with-one horn for archers, two for retreat, etc. That or there was a standard approach to a battle. European knights had a love of the cavalry charge-which they rarely got to do. The archers would fire a barrage or two, followed closely by the cavalry, who were in turn followed by the infantry for the main battle. However, the cavalry charge-and as is said of most plans-they only lasted until that first contact.
4-Most forces were composite. A lone cavalry force could be decimated by archers and pikemen, while unprotected archers would be slaughtered by infantry and cavalry. Most European forces had about a 1:3:2 for cavalry, infantry, archers. Aside from mercenary companies, most infantry and archers would be conscripts. The crusaders in Outremer-the Holy Lands-had to combat the Muslim forces under Saladin, who employed massive numbers of light cavalry who could use both lances and bows to great effect. They would tire the crusading knights and pick at them with their archers while the Christians marched. The standing army came into play very recently in history. That said, the feudal system was designed to provide a monarch with a readily available fighting force. The king would have 20 earls to call upon, each of whom provided 10 barons, who each brought 60 knights-again, this was the ideal, rarely were all these forces available.
