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Knightly Warfare
The knight was one of three types of fighting men during the Middle Ages: Knights, Foot Soldiers, and Archers. The medieval knight was the equivalent of the modern tank. He was covered in multiple layers of armor, and could plow through foot solders standing in his way. No single foot solders or archer could stand up to any one knight. Skill in the use of Middle Ages weapons and armor was necessary and played a vital part in medieval life. Every man was expected to be able to use a medieval weapon; they had spent their whole lives gaining expertise in the use of the lance, swords and daggers as well as mastering maneuverability in heavy armors.
The knight's primary and considered most well known weapon was the sword. A sword itself was a long sharp blade with a handle made for cutting, slashing, stabbing, thrusting, and so on.
A single-handed sword with a flambard or flammard ...
A Flammenschwert. This is a two-handed sword featu...
Parzival und Condviramur. Handschrift aus der Werk...Swords of medieval Europe evolved from steel Celtic swords (Byam 31). Swords tended to have blades just a yard in length with a grip designed to accommodate a single hand (Byam 31). The earliest medieval swords were designed to primarily cut, having surprisingly thin blades (Sword 1). By the close of the Middle Ages, these weapons became more stouter and becoming more optimized for thrusting and stabbing as well as cutting (Sword 1). During the Middle ages swords technology improved along with the advances in armor, making it a very advanced and powerful weapon (Sword 1). The arming sword, also sometimes called a knight's or knightly sword, is the single handed cruciform sword of the Middle Ages. The Arming sword was the most popular and widely used among most knights of the Middle Ages. Typically used with a shield or buckler, the arming sword was...