Author's note: Most role-playing games include a fairly extensive list of the types of weapons and armour available in their particular setting. Providing information on medieval weapons therefore seems redundant - your own particular game or world-book probably contains information more relevant than I can provide. This site therefore deals with the less well-covered topic of Renaissance weaponry.
Armour evolved continuously through the middle ages, primarily by the addition of increasingly great amounts of plate to suits of chainmail. The ultimate development of this approach was plate mail, in use from the thirteenth century. This was extremely cumbersome and heavy, but provided substantial protection.
The late fourteenth century saw the introduction of the first suits of full plate armour, consisting of plates of metal held together with leather straps, and with only minimal amounts of chainmail at the joints, if any. This protected about as well as plate mail, but was considerably lighter.
Later developments consisted of shaping the plates in such a way as to deflect an opponent's blade. Ribbing and complex projections both served this function, although the latter in particular made the armour much heavier and more awkward to wear. These designs were continually improved throughout the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
The very heaviest type of armour was used exclusively in jousting, since it was so heavy and inflexible that it could not be used for any other purpose. Knights wearing this type of armour had to be winched onto their horses since there was no means to climb on. Indeed, only the largest and strongest horses were capable of carrying a man so armoured while moving at any speed.
The many advances in the effectiveness of armour have forced corresponding changes in the way swords are made. Many of the older types of sword (i.e. the traditional longswords and broadswords of FRPGs) cannot penetrate heavy armour effectively. Two approaches wree used by swordsmiths to overcome this problem.
The first was simply to make the swords much bigger. In medieval times, the largest sword available was a heavy broadsword around four feet in length (the 'two handed sword' of most FRPGs). By the sixteenth century, enormous greatswords six feet or more in length were being employed. Such a weapon was so huge that relatively few people could employ one effectively. It has a greatly elongated hilt in order to allow both hands to grasp it firmly, and also has very wide pinions and a heavy pommel to help in counterbalancing the blade.
A similar approach lead to the flamberge, a weapon about the size of the old two-handers, but with an undulating cutting edge, which gave greater penetration against heavy armour. The awkwardness of flamberges and greatswords lead to their decline in the later Renaissance.
The alternative approach to dealing with heavy armour is to use a much lighter, piercing blade. The typical weapon here is the estoc, which has a narrow triangular blade. This allows the sword to inserted neatly between the joints of most armour types, or even to punch through solid plate! (This approach, of course, would later lead to the rapier).
In the early sixteenth century, schools had been set up specifically to teach the art of fighting with estocs and similar weapons. This was because, being unable to slash effectively, they required a very different technique to the more traditional types of sword. At least three different techniques were taught, differing primarily in the use put to the off-hand. The favoured option was to carry a small shield or buckler, which allowed for better maneuverability than the older medieval shields. Alternatively, the off-hand may simply be swathed in a cloak or may carry a lantern with the aim of dazzling the opponent. Finally, a special parrying dagger called a main gauche could replace the buckler.
The middle ages saw the developoment of a plethora of different pole arms being used (the guisarme-voulges, fauchard-forks etc. of AD&D). By the sixteenth century, these older types had fallen into disuse in favour of the newer halberd. This is a combination weapon derived from the older glaive-guisarme, and had become the standard pole-arm of choice for most units by this period.
Another new weapon was the pike, an incredibly long (12 feet or more) spear, of use only in close formation. It was generally used to protect arquebusiers whilst they were loading their weapons.
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This page was last updated 15th February 1998 by Jamie 'Trotsky' Revell. Comments are welcome.