The most prized items to a knight, without an ounce of doubt, were his armor, weapons, and warhorse. No knight was complete without these. However, due to the high prices of these items, only the wealthy men could afford to be knights. Hence, many of them hoped to regain this wealth through pillage after conquering the enemy lands. Below is a basic guide to a medieval knight’s charm i.e. his armor, weapons, and warhorse.
Armour
The medieval knights used to wear a heavy armor made up of metal. There were mainly two types of armor; the chainmail and the plate armor. A chain mail was made from thousands of intricate metal rings. The Knights used to wear a padded cloak underneath the armor to aid in carrying the heavy weight of the armor. The typical chainmail, also known as a hauberk could weight as heavy as 30 pounds. The chainmail was very flexible, hence greatly helped the knight’s movements during a fight and offered great protection. However, due to the tiny metal rings, it could be pierced by an arrow or a thin sword. Hence, soon the knights realized the need for added protection and started using metal plates over vital parts of their bodies. Soon, they upgraded their armor with completed covered plate armor. By the 1400s most knights preferred wearing the full plate armor as it offered better protection. However, the plates also limited its flexibility and they also had to carry additional weight as a typical plate armor weighed around 60 pounds. There were different pieces of plate armor; greaves for the protection of ankles and calves, Sabatons for the feet, Poleyns for the knees, Cuisses for thighs, vambrace for lower arms, rerebrace for upper arms, pauldron for shoulders, breastplate for the chest and helmet for the head.
Weapons
The medieval knights used a wide variety of weapons. Some weapons like the lance proved more effective while charging on a horse, while other weapons like the sword were more suitable for hand to hand combat. A lance was a long pole made of wood, with a metal tip and a hand guard. Due to its long length, the knight could easily attack his opponent from his horse. This gave the knight an edge over the enemies’ foot soldiers. The lance was also used to push the opposing knights off of their horses. The sword was preferred by the knights when they dismounted the horse or if their lance broke during the battle. Some knights used a one-handed sword like the Norman Knights One Handed Broadsword while some preferred a larger two-handed sword like the Double Handed GreatswordA mace was a club with a head made of steel and was designed to completely crush the enemy.A longbow was roughly the size of the knight and allowed the user a fairly long draw. Even though, attacking from a distance with a longbow assisted in winning many battles in the medieval era, many knights considered it to be a cowardly weapon as it lacked the thrill of a face to face combat.
War Horse
A war horse also known as destrier was a knight’s most cherished asset. They were formally trained to not to be afraid of the bloodshed during combat. A destrier wore an armor which included metal plates to cover neck, head, and sides, for protection. This training and protection were necessary during a battle, it would mean the difference between the knight’s life and death. At times, the horses were fitted with horseshoes made up of iron that could be used as a weapon against foot soldiers.There were a lot of steps required to achieve knighthood, which included years of hard work in training their bodies and horses and, mastering a wide variety of weapons. Above were the most prized possessions of a knight, associated with their charm. If you also want to experience what the knights felt while wearing the mighty armor and holding the authentic medieval swords, you can visit SwordsSwords.com
