Weapons In The 16th Century

In the 16th Century War was very common, which is why we will be talking about weapons, armour and soldiers below.

Weapons:

During the 16th century most of England and Europe was at war. This lead to the development of new and improved weaponry. The quick development of weapons at that time period is still a trademark in time. This time period is known as the Renaissance or rebirth on the battlefield.

In the 16th century guns were starting to be used in warfare. At first the guns were lit by a slow match. When the slow match hit the gunpowder it would ignite. In the early 16th century the wheelock was invented. It was a metal wheel which spun against a piece or iron pyrites generating sparks that ignited the gunpowder. This caused cavalry to stop using Lances. The traditional English weapon was the longbow but handguns were increasingly used. The longbow slowly went out of use during the 16th century.

The Mace was probably the most deadliest weapon of this time. It was a simple
Some of these men would volunteer because they were paid and others were simply recruited. Payment was also known as “taking the Queen’s shilling” and it was used to entice young men to enlist in the army. The first payment was received not always from the recruiters hand but by tradition it was at the bottom of a tankard of ale. Once the recruiter drank the ale then he was committed to serve and received his uniform. Only 20% of the army was actually trained and the rest were simply given equipment and had to learn to be a soldier in the field. Life expectancy was short. There is very little information documented about tactics used but the strategies that were used were some soldiers would try and shoot the enemy from close range while the others would try to split the enemy’s army. The military was part of the monarchy and the Queen was the person who gave the