The charter of the order from 1129 determined how the brothers should dress. The emphasis in clothing was on simplicity and practicality.
The brother-drapier was responsible for ensuring that the brothers in the East were provided with clothing. Miniatures in 13th-century manuscripts show that the peacetime clothing of the Templar brothers resembles the clothing of ordinary monks.
They wore a long shirt of dark fabric (sarra), girded, reaching to the ankles and with narrow sleeves. Some of the designs show hoods in the same dark color as the rest of the clothing.
On their heads, the Templars often wore a dark skuf - the usual headdress of monks.
The shoes were plain and unadorned.
All the Templars wore beards, and their hair was cut relatively short, although by today's standards, the haircut looks quite long - the hair covered the ears.
Over the shirt, the brothers wore a cloak (habit), characteristic of the Knights Templar. The knights wore a white cloak, symbolizing purity.
The sergeants' cloak was black or brown.
Since the brothers of the order fought and died defending Christianity, Pope Eugene III (1145-1153) allowed members of the order to wear a red cross on the left side of the cloak, symbolizing martyrdom.
Under the shirt, the brothers wore an undershirt, usually shers pulling, less often linen. The top shirt was usually tied with a woolen rope, symbolizing chastity.
The Templar's wardrobe was completed with woolen breeches and woolen gaiters or chausses.
The brothers slept in undershirts, breeches, belted and shod.
Fully undressing was not allowed. It was believed that sleeping in a dressed state strengthens religiosity and militancy, does not allow the body to pamper.
In addition, the knights were dressed in order to be ready to fight at any moment.
The statutes of the order, defining the internal hierarchy, were adopted shortly before the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, probably around 1165.
The statutes describe the armor of the knight brother.
Under armor, the knights wore quilted jackets (haubergeon), which softened blunt blows to chain mail. Over the jacket was worn long chain mail with long sleeves and a balaclava.
The legs were protected by chain mail.
Over the chain mail, the knight put on a white surcoat, which did not allow the metal of the armor to heat up under the hot rays of the Palestinian sun. In addition, the surcoat allowed the Templars to stand out in the general mass of warriors.
In 1240, Pope Gregory IX wrote that knights were required to wear a white cassock (sarae or sarrae) over their armour, so perhaps the surcoat represented this particular cassock.
Wearing a cassock over armor allowed the Templars to easily distinguish each other on the battlefield from opponents and other crusaders, although long clothing inevitably had to hamper movement.
The Templars protected their heads with a helmet (helm), which was worn over a mail balaclava (coif).
In the 1160s, the helmet was open, but by the 13th century, miniatures in books and church frescoes depict the Templars in deaf helmets.

As an alternative to the helmet, an “iron cap” (chapeau de fer) was used - a conical iron helmet with wide iron fields that deflect enemy blows.
Like civilian clothes, the Templar armor was simple, lacking gilding and other decorations.
Unlike secular knights, the Templars did not pursue personal wealth and glory, but fought for the glory of the Lord God and their order.
The weapons of the Templars were common to Western European crusaders. Each Templar had a sword and shield.
A fresco in the Church of San Bevignate in Perugia depicts a Templar holding a triangular shield. white color with a black cross (and not a red one, as might be expected).
In 12th-century frescoes from the Templar church of Cressac-sur-Charan in France, the knight brothers are depicted wearing a white surcoat over armor with a cross on their chest. The shields of the brothers are elongated, triangular in shape.
Since the images are known different types shields, the question arises whether all these types were really used by the Templars. Although, a white field with a red cross unequivocally answers in the affirmative to this question.
In addition, the brothers were armed with a long spear, three knives of different lengths (a dagger, a bread knife and a small knife) and a "Turkish" mace.
The shaft of the spear was made of ash, as its wood was durable and flexible.
The thickness and length of the shaft fluctuated within certain limits. The average length was about four meters.
The rules also allowed the brothers to arm themselves with a crossbow and Turkish weapons: captured or bought in Palestine. Since the Turkish cavalry was significantly lighter than the European one, the Turkish weapons were also lighter.
The rules of the Knights Templar do not contain details of the use of crossbows.
It can be assumed that the brothers had the best examples that existed at that time.
That is, at the end of the 12th century, they had composite crossbows with horn overlays, which were more powerful and at the same time lighter and smaller than conventional wooden crossbows.

The crossbow favorably differed from the bow in that it was much easier to handle, that is, it was much easier to learn how to shoot accurately from a crossbow than from a bow.
In addition, the crossbow was much more powerful than a simple bow. The massive shelling of the enemy by crossbowmen had a disastrous effect, since crossbow bolts successfully pierced any armor.
But these advantages had to be paid for by a much lower rate of fire, since it took a lot of time and great physical strength to cock the crossbow.
In the 12th-13th centuries, crossbows became even more powerful, as a result, it became almost impossible to cock them with your hands. Therefore, various devices appeared that facilitated the platoon.
In the simplest case, the crossbow was equipped with a stirrup, with which the crossbow was fixed with the foot on the ground, and the cocking was carried out using a hook tied to the waist belt. In this case, more powerful spinal muscles were used.
It was impossible to shoot from such crossbows from the saddle, the crossbowman was required to stand steadily on the ground, but in a siege war, the crossbow turned out to be an excellent weapon.
The documents of the order say nothing about the "uniform" of the battlefield, but in 1240 Pope Gregory IX wrote on this subject.
Although the Pope himself was not a soldier, he was the only person on earth with authority over the Knights Templar, therefore, it was in his power to change the charter and customs of the order, including determining what and in what case the brothers should wear.
Instead of a mouthguard, which hampered the movement of the hands and made the knights vulnerable to the enemy, the Pope allowed the brothers to wear spacious shirts with a cross on their chests over the armor. It is not clear what these shirts looked like, as a fresco in the church of San Bevignate depicts Templars in armor without any capes.
It can be assumed that the shirt It was a spacious surcoat without sleeves.
According to the statutes of the order, the armor of sergeants was lighter than knightly armor. Probably the sergeants wore the same quilted underjackets, over which they wore short-sleeved chain mail.
The chain mail shoes did not protect the feet (but it was even more comfortable when walking), and instead of a deaf helmet, an “iron cap” was always used.
The sergeants wore black surcoats with a red cross on the chest and back.
The weapons of the sergeants, in principle, were like the weapons of the knights. On the battlefield, the sergeants carried out the orders of their brother, the Turcopolier, who also commanded lightly armed mercenaries.
The most valuable piece of equipment for a knight was a warhorse. Even if the knight dismounted, the horse determined his status, speed, maneuverability and height above the battlefield.
The charter and statutes of the order determined how many horses each brother could have. Ideally, the knight should have had two war horses, in case one horse was killed in battle.
In addition, the knight needed a riding horse for ordinary riding and pack horses.
Thus, a brother-knight had to have four horses: two war horses (destriers), a riding horse (palfroi) or a mule and a pack horse (roncin).
The knight was assisted by a squire.
The sergeant brothers were entitled to only one horse and were not entitled to squires. However, those brother sergeants who performed special assignments, for example, a flag sergeant, had a spare horse and a squire.
Geldings or mares were used as riding horses, but war horses were necessarily stallions.

In the chivalric novels of the 12th-15th centuries, the warhorse is invariably a very tall animal, but the results of excavations show that the height of the warhorses did not exceed 15 palms (1.5 meters) at the withers. That is, standing on the ground, the knight and his horse were shoulder to shoulder.
Horse harness was also simple and had no decorations. The brothers were forbidden
alter the harness without permission, even if it was about adjusting the length of the stirrup belt to fit.
The statute of the order, adopted in the 12th century, determined the horse bridle, saddle and girth, stirrups and sweatshirt.
A knight and a sergeant were allowed to have one saddle bag in which a flask, cutlery and other personal items were stored, as well as a leather net in which chain mail was transported.
There is no mention of the use of horse armor by the Templars. In any case, horse armor began to spread only at the end of the 12th century.
The Templar horses on the fresco in the Cathedral of San Bevignate are depicted in blankets with Templar crosses. But these are blankets, not armor. Horses without armor were vulnerable, but they could move faster and get tired less.
When in 1308 the Templars who were there were arrested in Cyprus, the property of the order was described. According to the description, there were armor for both knights and horses.
The marshal of the order was responsible for the weapons and armor of the entire order. All gifts, inheritances and trophies passed through the marshal.
Although gifts and trophies were the main source of new armor, the order also had its own armor-making workshops.
The brothers were forbidden to use the products of these workshops without permission.
The marshal also controlled the order's horses. The war horses of the order were heavier than the light horses of the Muslims and even heavier than the war horses of Western Europe. The marshal personally examined the horses delivered to the east and ordered them to be sent to where the horses were most needed.

The brothers did not have the right to choose their own animals, although they could declare that their horse was worthless.
The statutes of the order contained a requirement to acquire both stallions and mares for the order. It is possible that the order was engaged in breeding horses, although no evidence of this has been preserved, while it is known, for example, that the Teutonic Order maintained large stud farms.
The brothers took care of their horses and weapons on their own. They had to take care of the horses and provide them with food.
The brothers also had to take care of their weapons and equipment, not to hit them against hard objects, not to drop them or lose them. There was a punishment for the loss of weapons.
Section 157 of the Catalan version of the charter of the order contains a mention that a certain Marley was negligently expelled from the order for the loss of a sword and bow.
Similarly, a brother who drove, lost or injured a horse or mule was expelled from the order (article 596 of the charter).
Although the Knights Templar were very wealthy, the costs of fighting were even greater, so every effort had to be made to save money.

Military borrowings

crusaders

Completed by: Poskachin Kirill

4D class student, secondary school No. 33

Scientific adviser:

IBCA SB RAS employee

Yakutsk - 2013

Introduction. 3

1. The first armies of the crusaders. 3

2. Military borrowings of the crusaders from the Byzantine army. 3

Conclusion. 3

List of references.. 3

Introduction

The relevance in the study of the history of interaction between the Crusaders and the Byzantines during the period of the Crusades is due to the fact that the Crusades were a phenomenon of great world-historical importance.

Masses of people both in Europe and in the Middle East participated in the crusades to one degree or another and, without a doubt, influenced the fate of many people. Diverse in content and relatively long interaction between East and West affected several dozen states in Europe and Asia, in almost all areas of their life: military affairs, the church and religious thought and worldview, politics, economic structure, public organization, literature and so on.

The Crusades, as well as the events connected with them in one way or another, were the first phenomenon in the second millennium that directly affected the fate of many tens of thousands of people, which led to mass migrations of the population, on the one hand, and to a radical expansion of the horizons of people and the multiplication cultural interaction in all spheres of public life.

The interaction of the peoples of Europe and the East during the Crusades also took place in terms of military exchange. The crusaders, whose first crusade was not organized at the proper level, subsequently borrowed from the developed states of the East, and primarily from Byzantine Empire, a lot of technologies and military ideas, which largely determined the success of their military campaigns.

This determines the content of this work, which is aimed at determining what the Crusaders borrowed from the Byzantine army during the Crusades.

The goal is to conduct a structural analysis of military borrowings of the crusaders from the Byzantine army.

1. Describe the state of the first crusader armies;

2. Determine what the Crusaders adopted from Byzantium during the Crusades.

1. The first crusader armies

In the history of the Western European Middle Ages, one of the largest and most grandiose was the era of the Crusades, covering the time frame from the end of the 11th to the 13th century. This time is characterized by large military expeditions of the Western powers to the Middle East with the aim of seizing the common Christian shrines, which were allegedly given to the desecration of Islam and the liberation of the Holy Land from the so-called "infidels", in particular Muslims.

The crusading movement, which existed for almost two centuries, had a significant impact on the formation of the most significant meaningful features of Western society.

The initiative in organizing the first crusade belonged primarily to catholic church, which at that time was the largest feudal lord. In 1095, at the Clermont Church Council in France, Pope Urban III called on the people to go on a crusade with the aim of "liberating the Holy Sepulcher" and other Christian shrines from the influence of "infidels."

The First Crusade (1095-1099) is of great interest precisely from a military point of view. The political situation in the East shaped for the crusaders good conditions to organize and conduct a trip. In the middle of the XI century most of Asia Minor was under the influence of the Seljuk Turks, whose state broke up into a number of separate, warring principalities.

The first crusader armies consisted for the most part of a poorly organized and poorly armed popular militias. The first crusaders were not an army, but rather a kind of random accumulation of settlers. The chroniclers noted that poor people literally went "in voluntary exile." This, in principle, was the case, from the point of view of the content of the organization of the first crusade, only this exile was rather not voluntary, but forced. The first army of the crusaders in its appearance was very motley and extremely disorganized. The lack of a uniform form and organization of the ranks of the crusaders led to the fact that someone walked on foot, shod in wooden shoes or canvas onuch, twisted with a bast or twine; someone rode in small carts, wheelbarrows, which were pulled by oxen. At the same time, the bulls had to be shod like horses. Along with the adults, there were also children who, every time the detachment approached a city or castle, asked their parents, “Is this Jerusalem?”.

The wagons were loaded with peasant property, rags, with which at night people wrapped themselves and their children from the cold.

The first crusaders were not dressed like warriors, but simply, in a peasant way: on their heads - a woolen cap; on the shoulders of some - woolen caftans, the majority were dressed in long, intercepted by a rag sash or belt, homespun shirts and the same pants.

The weapons of the first crusaders were, for the most part, the usual village equipment: scythes, pitchforks, axes, knives with wide handles; less common were massive clubs or hunting spears.

The problem was also that the first crusaders did not have a single boss. None of those leaders who gathered their armies wanted to submit to the will of another. The pope was considered the only supreme leader, but even he, remaining in Europe, could not fully lead the campaign, and Bishop Ademar, who replaced him, practically did not take any part in the management.

Interestingly, in the First Crusade, the crusader army was reinforced by a detachment of the Byzantine army. At the very beginning of the campaign, a lot of disagreements arose between the crusaders and the Byzantine emperor, due to the fact that the Byzantine emperor expected to use the crusaders for his own purposes, which undoubtedly weakened the crusading movement.

2. Military borrowings of the crusaders from the Byzantine army

Certain military borrowings of the crusaders, both from the Byzantine army and from others, occurred throughout the crusades. In each crusade, you can, therefore, highlight your innovations. This is connected, first of all, with the goals of the campaigns themselves. So the First Crusade had mainly ideological goals, which largely determined the weakness of the crusaders in terms of the military organization of the campaign and its strategy. The subsequent campaigns of the crusaders were initiated for the most part by the rulers of Western European states and carried already political goals, representing well-planned full-fledged military campaigns.

Among the borrowings of the crusaders from the Byzantine army were both technological and organizational, as well as purely weapons.

Quite quickly, the crossbow was borrowed from the Byzantine army. Although crossbows themselves were not new, their constant technical improvements led to the fact that their projectiles became capable of penetrating thick chain mail and even some types of plate armor. Crossbows, being very powerful weapon, although with a not very high rate of fire, proved to be very effective in conducting sieges.

The spread of the crossbow led to changes in the defensive weapons of European armies, which were borrowed from the Byzantine and other armies, eventually forming their own image of crusader armor.

Since crossbow bolts were inert enough to remain deadly even after they bounced off armor, European gunsmiths, following the example of their Byzantine counterparts, reinforced and covered previously poorly protected areas of the body, including the face, with armor. Fighters who had a lower status strengthened their own defense with large shields and wide chain mail hauberks. . The Byzantines were surprised by the amount of armor worn by the crusaders, and not only by the knights, but also by the light infantry.

Armament borrowings were not limited to technological innovations in small arms. During the Crusades, Europeans borrowed such types of melee weapons as broadswords and scimitars, based on the ideas of which the so-called Hungarian sabers subsequently became widespread.

In terms of siege weapons, both sides were approximately equal, using similar technologies. The mangonel with a fixed counterweight and the trebuchet were widely used in those days not only in most of Europe, but also in the Byzantine Empire. Although, it is worth noting that during the sieges of Constantinople, Byzantine stone-throwing machines, nevertheless, turned out to be more effective, but perhaps only because they were installed on towers.

The idea of ​​light cavalry was borrowed from Byzantium by the crusaders: some of the archers were mounted on horses, and some of the infantry was reorganized into light cavalry. In the Byzantine army, light cavalrymen were called trapezit. They usually did not wear armor, and only a few of them preferred to wear hoods, which were reinforced with horn plates protecting the head. Such a rider was armed with a sword, a contarion and several throwing spears about 90 centimeters long. They could also have large round shields. Here it is worth saying that, nevertheless, most of the lightly armed horsemen were mercenaries from among the Turkic-speaking nomads who had their own military organization. A large proportion of the mercenary horse archers were the Pechenegs, who also fought with darts, sabers, spears or small axes. In addition, they often used lasso to pull the enemy from the saddles.

The Crusades contributed to the development of the fleet. Although here one can hardly speak of any borrowing, since the crusader movement did not have its own fleet, however, it is worth noting that it was after the crusades in Europe that the transition from rowing to sailing fleet began everywhere.

Also, according to the testimony of some chroniclers, the compass was borrowed in the East, which subsequently actively entered into widespread use.

It should be noted that some of the crusaders borrowed from the Byzantine army in terms of its structural organization, especially at the beginning of the crusades. Structurally, the Byzantine army consisted of local contingents that were recruited in the respective national regions, foreign formations, in the ranks of mercenaries and elite palace or guard regiments. The Byzantine cavalry, in terms of its structural organization, was divided into heavily armed warriors intended for close combat and horse archers. The heavy cavalrymen were armed in the traditional Middle Eastern style. . The most famous and elite military formation was the palace Varangian Guard. Initially, it consisted of Viking mercenaries, however, by the time of the Fourth Crusade, for the most part it consisted of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries and Frisians with Germans. Here it is worth noting that the crusaders, following the example of the Byzantine army, also often attracted mercenary detachments of various branches of the military into their ranks.

The fortification construction of the Crusaders was also greatly influenced by the Byzantine Empire. This was due to the fact that in the very first days of their stay on the Crusaders, they were faced with the need to quickly create reliable fortifications in mountainous areas, from where dangerous and powerful opponents tirelessly sought to push them to the sea.

For almost two hundred years of their possession of the Levant (1099-1291), the crusaders waged a deliberately lost struggle, clinging to every piece of reclaimed land. It is also important that in this confrontation one of the decisive strategic factors was the small number of conquering feudal lords. This, for the most part, determined the need for architectural innovations that were borrowed from the Byzantine army. They were based on both the very idea of ​​the architectural type of the castle-citadel, and one or another of its strategic, compositional and design features.

During the first hundred years of campaigns, the crusaders managed to build and rebuild about two hundred fortresses and castles, which were unevenly scattered over a small area, which was a narrow six hundred-kilometer strip of the east coast mediterranean sea. Directly in the disposition of the fortifications of the crusaders, a strategic plan was felt, which had the goal of ensuring communications with the metropolis through numerous coastal cities; internal communications in a particular conquered country; reliable defense of the eastern border, especially in those places where there were no natural barriers; domination of the conquerors over the numerous local population in the situation of its feudal exploitation.

The crusaders for a long time kept the borrowed plan of Byzantine fortifications (Marash Arima, Gible, Bonzai, Saon and others) A large number of early castles, which were built by the crusaders themselves, primarily in the South, are practically no different from the Byzantine type. This applies not only to city fortresses located on the plain, but also to mountain castles. Such are Chastel Rouge and Belvoir (see Fig. 2), located near Lake Tiberias, although in the Belvoir castle, which was built by Fulk of Anjou in 1140 at an altitude of 500 m, there is a germ of a different type: within the walls (120 x 160 m ) discovered the ruins of a structure that resembles a donjon. At the castle, a deep moat is carved into the rocky base from three sides. In the castle of Chastel-Rouge, which was built near Tortosa in the first half of the 12th century, a rectangular donjon was already traced, which was surrounded by a wall with rectangular Byzantine-type towers.

Thus, where the crusaders followed the Byzantine plan, they often supplemented it by introducing a new element into the defensive system - the donjon. It is worth saying that at first, as noted in Western traditions, the donjon was located centrally.

First of all, the crusaders sought to capture the coastal cities and fortresses, which were fortified with walls and citadels of the Byzantine type. Apparently, it was this fact that predetermined the borrowing of the Crusaders in fortification construction. In 1101, Assur and Caesarea were taken, and in 1104, Acre and Byblos. These cities were taken by the crusaders quite easily, but sometimes only a long regular siege could lead to the goal.

Here it should be remembered that O experience Syrian war the crusaders, in principle, had no idea at all about regular positional warfare. As a rule, the siege of large coastal cities by relatively insignificant forces of the crusaders continued for a long time and with little success. So Tripoli was taken only in 1109, Beirut and Sidon - in 1110, Tire - in 1124, Ascalon in 1153.

Here the crusaders borrowed a system of double and triple fortress walls, as well as a concentrated composition of the so-called "eagles' nests".

Subsequently, the Byzantine scheme of fortifications was largely replaced by a scheme of mountain castles more adapted to the strategy of conquest, which, however, the Crusaders first met only in Northern Syria and Cilicia. The features of the socio-political system that dominated here reminded the crusaders of their own feudal social order. The cliffs and steep mountain slopes of Cilicia and northern Syria were dotted with elaborate fortresses and castles long before the arrival of the Crusaders. The Crusaders, borrowing new ideas in fortification construction, here combined them with the old ones, which contributed to the development of fortification architecture in general.

Conclusion

The era of the Crusades gave a powerful impetus to the development of military affairs, both in Europe and in the East. A large number of military innovations were due to emerging situations in the process of confrontation between the parties.

It can be concluded that certain military borrowings of the crusaders from the Byzantine army were noted in each crusade and were characterized precisely by its goals and content. So, at first, the ideas of military organization and weapons were borrowed, and at later stages, fortification construction technologies.

It should be noted that all borrowings can and, apparently, should be considered within the framework of cultural integration processes in order to more deeply understand their fundamental meaning and impact on the life of each of the parties.

List of used literature

1. Amro Peace and the Crusades in the Middle East. abstract dis. for the competition uch. Art. cand. ist. Sciences., 07.00.03. - M., 2000.

2. Bogdanovich of military art and wonderful campaigns. military history middle ages. - St. Petersburg, 1854.

3. Military Encyclopedia. - SPb., Ed. , 1912. - V.8. - S. 398-399.

4. History of military art within the framework of political history. - . - St. Petersburg, 1996. - S. 249-250.

6. History of the Crusades. - Kyiv, 1995.

7. Murzenkov historiography XIX - XX centuries. Fourth Crusade abstract dis. for the competition uch. Art. cand. ist. Sciences, 07.00.09., - St. Petersburg, 2005.

8. One hundred great battles. − M. "Veche", 2002

Amro Peace and the Crusades in the Middle East. abstract dis. for the competition uch. Art. cand. ist. Sciences., 07.00.03. - M., 2000.

History of the Crusades. Per. with him. - Rostov n / a 1996.

History of the Crusades. - Kyiv, 1995.

Military encyclopedia. - SPb., Ed. , 1912. - V.8. - pp. 377-388

History of the Crusades. Per. with him. - Rostov n / a 1996.

The history of military art within the framework of political history. - . - St. Petersburg, 1996. - S. 249-250.

One hundred great battles. - M. "Veche", 2002.

Bogdanovich of military art and remarkable campaigns. Military history of the Middle Ages. - St. Petersburg, 1854.

Murzenkov historiography XIX - XX centuries. Fourth Crusade abstract dis. for the competition uch. Art. cand. ist. Sciences, 07.00.09., - St. Petersburg, 2005.

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The battles that marked the period of the Crusades were extremely bloody and more than brutal. The problem of cruelty was aggravated by the practical absence of medicine, as well as the lack of sanitation methods, as well as undeveloped tactics. When it comes to the Middle Ages, it means knights and crusades...

The weapons used in the battles of the Crusades were almost as infernal as any military tool that was then available.

Think about it - it is not surprising that the expression " get into the middle ages» still strikes some people with fear.

The warriors of the crusades, for 200 years - from the end of 1000 to the middle of 1200 - were a mixed composition of peasants, mercenary soldiers and knights, and their combinations of weapons reflected the ways in which each could master his own weapons.

Peasants often had simple weapons - mostly tools used in agriculture(usually axes and clubs, as well as some derivatives based on them), because they could not afford such a luxury as a sword. The knights had more expensive swords, as well as armor, while other knights used bows with arrows and spears.

So what were the most deadly species weapons found during the Crusades, during the Middle Ages?

1. Mace or club

A mace is a type of club with a ball-shaped formation at its top. When it comes to length, it fluctuates between two or three feet (60 to 91 cm). The handle was made of wood, while the spherical pommel was usually made of iron.

The pommel could be smooth and round, or have flanges. Although the mace was an infantry weapon, it was used by some of the cavalry. However, the mace of the cavalryman had a slightly longer handle, such that the rider could reach his enemy.

The purpose of using the mace was to crush the bone of the enemy with a strong blow from the heavy mace. A single blow from a mace could easily shatter the base of a person's skull. Many maces also had flanges to inflict additional damage when hitting the shoulders or body.

While the pommel of the mace shattered the bone, the flanged mace could be used to penetrate flimsy armour, crushing the bones underneath and causing the victim to bleed profusely.

2. Dart (or spade)

Darts and pikes may be simple in design, but they have proven to be effective close combat weapons for thousands of years.

The length of the dart is from six feet (1800 mm), while the length of the pike was somewhat longer - up to 9 feet (up to 2430 mm). The purpose of using the javelin in combat was to keep the enemy at bay by piercing them, or if the infantryman in question had extra javelins or a free hand with a shield, he could throw it at the enemy.

Throwing spears were used not only against infantry, but also against cavalry units - and very effectively.

The purpose of using lances for cavalry and infantry is to pierce, not tickle. A good pike in the hands of a trained person could pierce flesh and shatter bone, killing with one blow.

3. Arrows for a bow

An arrow fired from a bow provided an unpleasant blow to the enemy. Arrows used against cavalry were made with arrowheads to pass through armour, while arrows used against poorly protected infantry were serrated to make removing them from the body the most difficult task.

The people who fought at the Battle of Dorylaeum in 1097 during the First Crusade learned of this when they fought the Seljuk Turks, who fired volley after volley of arrows, in their confrontation.

Although the Crusaders won the battle, the victory came at a heavy price and they learned a valuable lesson about enemy tactics.

The purpose of using archery arrows is to hit the enemy from afar. However, many crusaders will soon learn to place mail as additional protection under their main armour. In this case, the arrows, as most historians say, did not pass through the chain mail and did not harm the warrior.

Although killing is the main goal, many forget that maiming in those days was quite enough to defeat the enemy. However, if the archer could not kill or maim his enemy, he could be a significant nuisance, and could also simply mock the opponent by firing his arrows at him.

4. Trebuchet - " scales with yoke»

Trebuchet (or " oar with yoke"") - a siege machine, first developed and used in Ancient Rome and preserved in the western armies, which took their succession from ancient Rome.

The Trebuchet was used in all of the early European wars, as well as during the First Crusade. Some historians claim that the Trebuchet was developed in China and adopted from there by the Islamic armies, but at present, the validity of this theory is in serious doubt.

The Trebuchet was a catapult of sorts, requiring many men to operate due to its sheer size and weight.

The amount of power needed to send projectiles to the appropriate range required each vehicle to have a team of over 100 men pull on a dozen ropes that would generate enough force to send a 130-pound (59 kg) projectile up to 500 feet ( up to 152 meters).

The purpose of the Trebuchet was to weaken and destroy the fortress walls. This machine could not only fire stone projectiles, but also incendiary ones. While stone was meant to crush and break down walls, incendiary projectiles thrown over castle walls or city walls to set fire to buildings.

Of course, if one wanted to inflict special suffering on the defenders, one could start a plague, for this they simply loaded the bodies of plague victims and sent them through the walls, as the Mongols did at Caffa in 1347.

5. Battle ax

The medieval battle ax was used to great effect during the Crusades. What made the battle ax beloved by some Crusader-era fighters was that, being close in size to a sword, the battle ax was cheap to use and required limited skill - much like the use of a mace.

The battle ax was either light, when it could be used with one hand, or two-handed. The length of the battle ax blade was approximately 10 inches (24.5 cm) from the top and bottom points. Besides, battle axes, in the Middle Ages - evolved to battle axes. Where two axes were located on one handle.

This made the battleaxe so devastating that not only could it crush the bones of a man in armor, but it could also be wielded with one hand. In addition to cutting off enemy limbs, it has also been used by physicians to amputate patients (albeit with no guarantee of success).

6. Sword

Of all the variety of weapons, for causing significant damage to the human body during the Middle Ages, the sword was considered the most prestigious. At that time, many men could not afford a knight's sword, first of all, it was used by the noble and rich.

For example, the most famous sword, is considered Excalibur - the sword of King Arthur. Viking swords are also famous, such as the Ulfberht. Of course, over time, many more men appeared, especially those who were equipped with swords; however, over time, the sword was also considered to be the royal weapon.

However, the problem with swords during this period was the number of different designs. The average crusader sword (or European sword) for a long period was 30 inches (76 cm) long and about 2 inches (5 cm) wide at the hilt.

What made the sword so popular was that it was a symbol of power. While its design offers strength and great importance, the judgment he could inflict on the enemy was the most devastating.

The sword was designed to do three different things, smash, penetrate and slice. Of course, it depended on the blade of the sword. In any case, the three functions of the sword gave it a greater advantage over other weapons of the time.

If he could not crush his enemy with a single blow (knocking him down or breaking his arm or leg), they could try to cripple the enemy where there was no armor. If this failed, they knocked him down, and also beat him in vulnerable places of the body, such as: armpits, groin and knee joint.

Although the sword probably killed the least during the Crusades, it did greatest influence, because it was a symbol of conquest.

7. Knight's spear

I take my hat off to whoever can withstand a knight's spear. Yes, all of the listed weapons can kill if used correctly, but of all the weapons mentioned, they either crush, or chop, or cut, or pierce. In many cases, the victim survives or dies shortly thereafter, within a few days.

The name of the word " a spear" comes from the word lancea - " dart» Roman auxiliary or throwing percussion weapons. Although according to the Oxford Dictionary in English(OED), the word " a spear may be of Iberian origin. Also the entomology of the word λόγχη (lónkhē or " a spear”), has Greek roots for the terms “ dart" or " a spear».

The spear in the original sense was light throwing weapons, or a dart. English verb to actuate: toss, toss, toss" comes from the term (old French), as well as from the rarer or poetic lance - " a spear».

The 17th century term means that this weapon is definitely a spear, not as a thrown weapon, but as used as a blow by heavy cavalry, and especially in knightly tournaments. A thrusting spear used by infantry is commonly referred to as " spear».

During the periods of classical and medieval warfare, the spear became the leading weapon in cavalry units, and was not suitable for throwing or for repeated blows, in contrast to the similar weapon of the javelin family of pikes, usually used by infantry.

Spears were often fitted with a plate, a small round plate, to prevent the hand from sliding up the base of the spear during impact. Although the spear was known as a military and sporting weapon used by European knights, it was also widely used in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa wherever there are suitable mounts.

As a secondary weapon, the lancers of the medieval period also carried swords or maces for hand-to-hand combat, as the spear was often a disposable weapon. Assuming that the spear remained intact after the initial impact, it (unlike the pike) was too long at 9 to 14 feet (2740 mm to 4267 mm), heavy and clumsy to be effective against the enemy in close combat.

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II delivers such an incendiary sermon at the Clermont Cathedral that all knightly Europe unites in a single impulse - to win back the Holy Sepulcher from the damned Saracens. Thus began the First Crusade, which, among other things, had a significant impact on the development of weapons and technology of that time. But what the real crusaders preferred to smash the enemy.

roman sword

This type of European sword was very common during the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe, it was owned exclusively by representatives of the knightly class - because it was expensive and, frankly, not very functional. "Roman" swords were used, rather, as an auxiliary weapon, but they were the most important hallmark knightly status of the owner.

A spear

The cavalry spear became the main weapon of the cavalry. At the end of the 12th century, the knights guessed to press the spear to the body, which made the grip more rigid and provided incredible impact power. Clashes with the Western cavalry for the Saracens were akin to the thunder of the Lord.

battle ax

But for close combat, the crusader knight preferred to use the good old battle ax. The Norman ax pierced almost all types of armor, with one successful blow it was possible to knock an opponent out of the saddle, and a lightly armed warrior on foot could be completely broken into two halves. Already after the first crusade, Western warriors somewhat changed the blades of the Norman axes, borrowing a more functional form from the eastern peoples.

Morgenstern

Due to the simplicity of the design, this deadly weapon was very common among commoners, but the knights also used it with pleasure. The Crusaders, on the other hand, preferred to use the cavalry version of the "morning star", with a shortened handle.

Crossbow

To protect against enemy infantry, the knights put up a line of archers in front of the cavalry, who fired several volleys and were built in such a way as to let the attacking cavalry through. Crusader horsemen used crossbows: they were superior to bows in range and accuracy of shooting, and boasted greater penetrating power.

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