Military technology in the middle ages

Military technology in the middle ages Martin Restrepo The Columbus school 7.5

Introduction Military technology was one of the most important things in the middle ages because without it, battles would be difficult to be fought and because with military technology all kingdoms are successful in many ways. Then the gunpowder was invented and all the military technology in Europe changed. Some of the most important changes where the start of the World War I and World War II.

Weapons Weapons were by far, one of the most important parts of military technology because without the weapons all the knights would be defenseless. There were many types of weapons in the Middle Ages but the most used weapons were swords, shields and spears. There was different types of weapons like long raged weapons and close ranged weapons like cross bows, swords, long Bows, Bows, war axe, various types of pole arms, maces and Trebuchets.

Armor Armor protected Knightsfrom attacks and bows. The armor was made up from a little thing called chainmail, it was extremely heavy and after that type of armor, they used a chest plate and some iron leggings

Major accomplishments Gunpowder was invented in China. It played a very important role in warfare, due to the nature of gunpowder, it became increasingly popular for being easy to use, light and cheap. Before the use of midieval technology, men had to be completely devoted to war, but this changed with the introduction of gunpowder and other medieval weapons, when an unskilled arquebusier could kill a knight easily.

Accomplishments 2 • Medieval technology brought some major changes to medieval life. Men no longer needed to train for years in order to be useful at battle - a simple peasant could be equipped with a weapon and prove devastating against the traditional soldiers.

Accomplishments 3 • One technological achievement that had implications beyond the military was the horseshoe which allowed to be used in rocky terrain.

Cannons • At first gunpowder was mostly used to scare the enemy soldiers due to its ineffectiveness and only until later was it widely used as an effective way to kill. • Cannons began appearing in the west until the 14th century. The bombard was the most primitive form of cannon and consisted of a simple tube. It was especially effective against castles which, if besieged properly, could be successfully assaulted in a matter of weeks or even days.

Difficulties • Before the discovery of gunpowder, there were many difficulties in military technology like, the time it took the knights to train, the amount of time required to make the weapons and armor, the long trips to get to the battlefield. Another difficulty was that without resources(food, water) they could only attack the enemies during summer.

Social importance • Even though, military technology was important for battles to succeed during the Middle Ages, along with the scientific was forgotten.

Benefits from their legacy • The benefits that military technology gave us in the Middle Ages was that in some times you needed protection and it gave you that protection, but we cant use it too much because if we do, a lot of bad things could happen, like killings by guns, increase violence.

Timeline 1 c.A.D 900 the crossbow is used c. A.D. 1190 magnetic compass is used by mariners 1096-1291 The crusades are fought

timeline2 1328-1453 The sawmill invented 1337-1437 The hundred year war was fought 1415 The English use the long bow to defat the French 1779 The gunpowder Was invented

Timeline 3 1500 The first fire arms are used

conclusion • The Medieval period had many technological advances, specially in the building and use of military weapons. This helped us to develop some new things in our time but the tactics are not used anymore.

Bibliography • http://www.medievalfayre.com • Holt World history • http://www.medievality.com/gunpowder.html • http://www.medievalwarfare.info/weapons.htm

Military technology in the middle ages