Best Weapon of the Middle Ages

[Sharwood]

Ok, Its hard to say objectively which weapon was best. But Zulus part is also question if Zulus hadnt more fear from English than English had from Zulus.

I just wrote a 3,000 word essay on the Anglo-Zulu War about four weeks ago. Trust me, the Zulus were more frightened of the English than the English were of them. The English were more offended that black folk had beaten them in a fight.

 

[aronnax]

And relatively small numbers of heavily armored knights often demolished lighter Muslim cavalry and infantry during the crusades as well. Horse archers were a constant menace throughout history until the development of better firearms, but the tactics to defeat them remained largely the same since Alexander's days. Maneuver them into a corner than bring down the hammer (often heavy cavalry) to crush them.

True, there were tactics to destroy the Muslim cavalry. The generals of then knew a well aimed charged from their heavy knights would do them in.

Of course that's easier said than done, but arrows usually did not pierce the heaviest armored knights and they could withstand the volley's until the horse archers ran out or until they were able to push them into tight terrain or up against an obstacle. Sometimes the obstacle was geographic, sometimes it was infantry forces playing anvil.

Also true...

The shock charge was one of the most effective tools of warfare for almost a thousand years after the development of the stirrup.

That's my nomination. (heavy cavalry)

Actually, I think im going with Location, location, location. Heavy Cavalry was only useful in an open field where it could charge. It was useless if the battle took place in rocky terrain (unless it smashing downhill) woody areas or within city streets.

In fact if the field is too flat, that might be a problem. You already stated that most tactics to stop the faster light Missle cavalry was to corner them. In the expanse of a huge Polish Plain or an empty desert, it becomes rather hard to do so.
If I remenber so, light Cavalry would harass the Heavy Cavalry into a long exhausting chase, while firing at them to a point they become so weary and become weak.

 

[SweetEmotion]

I vote for the longbow, pretty much revolutionized medieval combat. It allowed a group of longbow men to mow down infantry.

If I could vote twice my second vote would be for the crossbow, though slower to reload than a longbow it was MUCH more powerful.

 

[frekk]

Obviously the best weapon of the medieval era was the cannon.

The time period is huge ... it should be narrowed down to some century.

 

[Vandal Warlord]

Ok, I will narrow it down. 700 AD to 1350 AD.

 

[alcal]

Ok, I will narrow it down. 700 AD to 1350 AD.

Chinese had used cannons before 1350 AD.

 

[Vandal Warlord]

My fault. I didn't Include Cannons because, they were more of a Renesausnce (sp?).

 

[privatehudson]

Nor were they the only ones, even in England they were recorded as being used as early as 1327.

 

[frekk]

Ok, I will narrow it down. 700 AD to 1350 AD.

What's the point of such a large range ... obviously the answer is going to be something from the last century of that span. Nothing from 700 AD stands a chance (unless it was something still in use by the end of that range, in which case, we're still talking about a weapon of the latter part of that period).

 

[Vandal Warlord]

Just exclude the cannon. I don't consider that a Medieval Weapon.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Wow half of the posts in here talk about why isn't the cannon in there. Just say best medieval non-gunpowder weapon and be done with it.

 

[Sharwood]

Wow half of the posts in here talk about why isn't the cannon in there. Just say best medieval non-gunpowder weapon and be done with it.

The steam cannon.

 

[GreatNinja]

The Pope

 

[Civfan333]

the longbow but only as the mongolian composite bow coupled with mongolian horses isn't present in the poll

 

[Traitorfish]

Just exclude the cannon. I don't consider that a Medieval Weapon.

Why not? It existed and was widely used in the Medieval period. Not to great effect, certainly, but that's not what you said...

 

[Mad Man]

If i was on a medieval battle i would want a crossbow or Longbow as a primary weapon and a short sword as a cqc back up.

 

[Favorius]

I voted for scimitar. Its oriental curve is way too cool.

However I think crossbow would be the best weapon in terms of availability, deadliness and required training.
-Do you have a trigger finger?
-Yes sir.
-Are you blind?
-No sir.
-Are you strong enough to carry a crossbow
-I think I can.
-Alright you are fit to be a crossbowman

Note:I prefer a division of Mameluk heavy cavalry any day on the medieval battlefield. Much like European nobility trained in the martial skills from childhood and highly versatile because they are a hybrid between European style heavy cavalry and Eastern style horse archers.

 

[Bugfatty300]

However I think crossbow would be the best weapon in terms of availability, deadliness and required training.
-Do you have a trigger finger?
-Yes sir.
-Are you blind?
-No sir.
-Are you strong enough to carry a crossbow
-I think I can.
-Alright you are fit to be a crossbowman

Well, are you strong enough to cock one? A lot of people aren't even with mechanical assistance from what I've seen.

 

[Mad Man]

Well, are you strong enough to cock one? A lot of people aren't even with mechanical assistance from what I've seen.

Speaking from some one who actualy was one (crossbow) i can tell you that its much more harder to string than to cock. It took 3 grown men to string mine together

 

[Lord Neil]

Definitely the longbow. Give me a longbow and 100 yards and ill take down a soldier armed with the biggest melee weapon you can find or you can give him a crossbow or javelin but that's not even a competition. Although this all depends on the situation as one-on-one spear and shield isn't going to do much where in a well formatted shield wall a claymore is going to be hard to use.

If it is one-on-one I have to say longbow, claymore, or maybe a longsword.

In a shield wall a spear or other pole arm accompanied by a short sword are invaluable.

I still say the longbow is number one though since it has survived thousands of years for a reason. To all you who say crossbow I say they are slow, heavy, only accurate at short distances, and have a small range.