Medieval Arms And Armor In The Middle Ages

Research Paper on Medieval Arms and Armor The Middle Ages were a time of great hardship and turmoil. The standard of living was very low for the average person: few people could read or write, many people became subservient to the lords in order to live, and the deadly effects of the Bubonic Plague wiped out nearly half of Europe’s population. Nevertheless, during these unfavorable events, there were some favorable advancements during this era. Weapons evolved tremendously and armor improved to better protect the wearers. The advancement of hundreds of different types of arms and armor enhanced the efficiency of warfare in the Middle Ages and set the course of history for the next few hundred years.
There were many different weapons used
Unlike swords, axes, lances, and daggers, bow and arrows and crossbows allowed the user to kill people from afar. Bows were used strategically behind lines of knights to rain arrows upon the enemy. However, the crossbow succeeded in a different form of fighting: accuracy. The crossbow required almost no training, and they were relatively easy to carry. Nevertheless, they would hit the enemy with a tremendous amount of power (Crabtree 1153). Both of these weapons saw tremendous improvement in the years of use-- as technology improved, the arrows were capable of piercing chain-mail and rendering some forms of armor
The days of traditional hand to hand combat were dying out as Chinese technology in the area of projectiles were slowly diffusing to Europe. As new technology improved the overall efficiency of warfare, older, predated weapons became obsolete: People no longer needed unwieldy axes and swords when they could just use cannons, rifles, and bombs to more efficiently take down the enemy. There was no armor impervious to these new weapons, so suits of armor simply became unwieldy (Crabtree