Simple weapons can prove astonishingly effective. The Flemish goedendag was a long wooden club, reinforced with iron rings binding and strengthening it. Illustrations show that it had an iron spike set into the end. It was not as long as a pike, which could be set into the ground, though it was longer than a […]
Medieval
The Longbow: Medieval Weaponry
Over 6ft in length, the longbow was capable of killing a man at over 200 yards. The best bows were made of yew, cut with the heartwood on the inner side. This compressed when the bow was drawn, while the sapwood on the other side stretched. The combination provided immense power. The biggest bows had […]
The Battle of Bannockburn, 1314
As every Scotsman knows, in 1314, at midsummer, the might of the English army came to grief in the boggy ground below Stirling Castle. Heroic charges were not enough; the packed infantry formations of the Scots triumphed. The King of Scots, Robert Bruce, had not wanted to risk battle, but in May his brother Edward […]
The Battle of Courtrai, 1302
In 1302, the townspeople of Flanders rebelled against the French, laying siege to the castle at Courtrai. The French sent an army of some 10,000 men, commanded by Robert of Artois, to deal with them. Rumours spread that the invading army was committing dreadful atrocities in order to terrorize the Flemings, killing the sick, women, […]
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