How were battles fought in the early middle ages?

Question

Developments on wepons and warfare

Answer 1

~This question is a joke, right? Define battle. Define early middle ages. Define the region of interest. Any time two or more folks got it on, there was a battle. Any time two towns went after each other, there was a battle. Any time the Algonquin raided the Mohawks there was a battle. Any time a Chinese warlord forayed into Korea, there was a battle. Any time a Zulu village went after a Chewa farm, there was a battle. Nobody bother to record or even count all of them.

Now, if you are supposed to be looking into weapon development in Europe during a specified time period, there are any number of sites you could go to to do your homework.

Answer 2

Crudely. I am assuming you mean in medieval Europe, and I assume you are familiar with the usual swords, spears, bows, and arrows used in battle from ancient Egypt until the effective use of gunpowder weapons int the late middle ages.
Alexander the Great's Macedonian army of 331 BC with phalanx formation spear men and mobile cavalry numbering in total ~ thirty to forty thousand disciplined soldiers could have mopped up ANY medieval European force from the year 500 to maybe 1346. Alexander might have had some trouble with the English longbow used at Crecy in 1346. The horse archers of Attila in 451 CE might also have presented problems for the ancient Macedonians, but the combined Roman/Visigoth force of 451 did beat the Huns at Chalons.
451 is the last year the Roman army made a good showing, but in the days of Julius Caesar, the Roman legions could have beaten any army of later medieval Europe.
If you want an idea how such battles were fought, just watch Mel Gibson's movie "Braveheart". Medieval armies were undisciplined uncoordinated masses of men fighting largely independently and as savagely as possible. The Romans and Macedonians fought savagely hand to hand also, but they fought as a coordinated unit trained to fight together. That is what often makes the difference.

Answer 3

One of the best historical records of a battle is the Bayeaux Tapestry. It depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066. You should be able to find pictures of it on line.

Alfred the Great (Saxon King of England) reintroduced the shield wall into medieval warfare. It was a Roman tactic previously, but had been forgotten. This was prior to 1066.

The introduction of stirrups to a horse's saddle made it possible to fight mounted. Check when it was invented. The Romans did NOT have stirrups and they dismounted to fight.

Mounted warriors really came into their own with the introduction of the stirrup, but they lost their superiority to three weapons: the English longbow, the caltrop, and the pike.

Answer 4

There were a variety of advancements in medieval warfare. It really began with calvary formations being the central aspects of a battle, as the Romans only used calvary as supporting the infantry. The trebuchet, crossbow, and English longbow were designed during the medieval period as well. Cannons, the arquebus, and gunpowder were introduced into Europe in the 15th century, which basically ended the medieval style of warfare.

Answer 5

the early middle ages form 500AD to 1100AD, came on the heals of the slowly but finally crumbled roman empire, who where the best in history of siege warefare, and large army combat tactics, that where used, deveoped and enhance till this present day. they had catapults, and many variets of projectile hurling siege weapons, they had armor, and archers, etc etc. it was just more of the same, but not very well funded or organized, and would not be fountil the 900 or so, when militarily the countries started fighting in larger scale conflicts , and being more tactical once again in there planning. weapons development was stagnant for hundreds of years, that is why the era is often called the Dark ages, the barbaric groups, who had little respect for organization, governments,libraries, art etc, had little use for technology of warfare, they used brute force, but many nations clung to the romans basic weapons and modified them for there use some, but little advancement in weaponry for several centuries.

Answer 6

As in 6th to 10th centuries?

Many places, particularly England, used shield wall tactics that invovled a number of people working and fighting as a unit. Roman influence was still felt in many parts of Europe until heavy cavalry (knights) eventually proved their worth. In dark age England cavalry was rarely used, and probibly consisted of mercenary troops from the continent; they were sort of used for persuing a fleeing enemy more than anything.(kind of mounted infantry)

Answer 7

Swords, spears, javelins, maces, bows, crossbows, catapults of various types, rams (used to batter walls/gates) and so forth. Pretty much the same for thousands of years...foot soldiers and calvary.
It was pretty much man against man; very bloody "...the ground ran red..." was an oft quoted condition.
For more specifics, you should google whatever country/couture specific time period.

Answer 8

You need to narrow the field of your question - and be much more specific.

1) Location (or culture)
2) Century

Provide these and *maybe* I can be of some help (I'm sort of a history buff, especially for ancient technology).

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com