Superb video of medieval warfare ! Watch

These are good popular history videos. Prof. Konijnendijk and Matt Easton definitely know what they're talking about, and videos like these are fantastic for learning the wheres, whats, and hows. Be aware though that they have limits: They don't teach you any of the perspective or the context, and they are produced primarily for entertainment, and each of these are just one person with just one perspective. With those in mind, though, yeah, these are really good.

They're also fun. I mean, let's face it: swords are cool. :D
 
These are good popular history videos. Prof. Konijnendijk and Matt Easton definitely know what they're talking about, and videos like these are fantastic for learning the wheres, whats, and hows. Be aware though that they have limits: They don't teach you any of the perspective or the context, and they are produced primarily for entertainment, and each of these are just one person with just one perspective. With those in mind, though, yeah, these are really good.

They're also fun. I mean, let's face it: swords are cool. :D
Easton spends quite a bit of time explaining how much is not known.
 
Unless you had a suit of plate armour.

Which was rare in the extreme, and still not protection against all missile weapons. Plus most missile weapons were fired in "storms", which would have hundreds or thousands of them landing each minute against the targeted forces. Even heavy infantry was known to wither under such fire against them.
 
Which was rare in the extreme, and still not protection against all missile weapons. Plus most missile weapons were fired in "storms", which would have hundreds or thousands of them landing each minute against the targeted forces. Even heavy infantry was known to wither under such fire against them.
The shoot horse/peasant-rush the rider/dagger up the groin was a pretty effective knight-killing trifecta.
 
The shoot horse/peasant-rush the rider/dagger up the groin was a pretty effective knight-killing trifecta.

Or as Napoleon and many before him found out, simply packing the archers close together with some pikemen in the mix. Horses will not charge a wall of pikes, so will keep them at bay as the archers are letting fly.

Then by the 16th century, the "Swine Feather" evolved. These were various kinds of obstacles placed in front of a unit to prevent a cavalry charge. In many ways an early forerunner of barbed wire. These went by many names. Pig feather, swine feather, Swedish feather, cheval de frise, Spanish barrier, there were a great many names and by the 18th century became increasingly sophisticated.

chevaux-de-frise-atlanta-civil-war-photo-print-22.jpg


Originally made of the resting poles for early muskets, they soon became something into themselves.

 

What do you think broke the back of the cavalry charge at Waterloo?

The Coalition forces formed up into "Infantry Squares", with fixed bayonets'. Napoleon's cavalry was in full gallop, expecting to find a broken and routing force fleeing before their might. Instead, they ran straight into over a dozen "Infantry Squares", hollow square formations with bayonets at the outer edges, and massed infantrymen firing from inside. The horses would not charge these, so they had no choice but to continue on under punishing flank fire

 

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