Army: The Middle Ages army was based on
the feudal system.During the long wars
between England and France, the Medieval army attained a magnitude and
importance it had never before.
The feudal tenants were performing the service according to their fiefs.The old, the infirm, females inheriting
knights or the clergy, all were required to send substitutes, or pay the money
needed to recruit and equip the equivalent number of troops.Troops were provided by contracts with
various feudal lords and knights. The agreements specified the number of
troops, the time they were available, and the amount of pay per man enlisted.
Basically, three classes of men are mentioned in
the royal ordinances:
- The physically fit and capable to equip
themselves according to the standards.
- Those fit but financially poor.
- People with financial means but unfit for
service.
The men in the first category were required to
serve in person. Those in the second one were armed and provisioned by the
third. The army troops provided by
contract were paid according to their ranks.
Ranks in the Medieval English army:
The Earl Constable and Earl Marshal held the chief
command under the King. If the army was raised by contract, two or more
Marshals were appointed in command. The cavalry was commanded by Constables.
The Medieval troops were assembled in companies of
twenties, which were grouped into hundreds, and lastly massed into thousands,
the commanding officers taking their names from the number of men they were
leading.
Troops of the Medieval Military :
The English troops were divided in knights,
esquires, the armati or common horse-troops, hobilers, light cavalry, archers
of the king guard, foot and mounted archers, bill-men and pavisers.
There were also the gynours (the troops operating
the siege engines), the pioneers, miners , smiths, and carpenters.
The knights were of two grades, the banneret and
the bachelor. The first had both a pennon and his banner in the field.
The armati were a less equipped cavalry, of a lower
grade then the knights and esquires. The hobilers were light cavalry, their
name given by the smaller horses they were riding. Part of these troops were
armed with the bow, and were called hobiler-archers. Their standard armor was
composed of a gambeson, and a bascinet.
The bill-men were equipped with long pole weapons
like the guisarme. The pavisers were fighting either on foot or as cavalry.
There was also a third category of pavisers who used large shields to protect
the crossbowmen and archers while loading. Sometimes, the pavise was actually a
mantlet serving the same purpose by being placed before the crossbowmen.
Technology: Technology included agricultural tools, the
harnessing of Time, the Use of Iron, Weaving and Textiles and Construction.
Agricultural Tools – things like
the plow that the working farmer used to help make things less difficult.This also included crop rotations.Under
a two-field rotation, half the land was planted in a year while the other half
lay fallow. Then, in the next year, the two fields were reversed. Under
three-field rotation, the land was divided into three parts. One section was
planted in the Fall with winter wheat or rye. The next Spring, the second field
was planted with other crops such as peas, lentils, or beans and the third
field was left fallow. The three fields were rotated in this manner so that
every three years, a field would rest and be unplanted.The Harnessing
of Time: The first clocks were created about 5000 to 6000
years ago by the great civilizations in the Middle East and North Africa.The most significant difference between the
clock and other machines was in its effect on society.Large mechanical clocks began to appear in
the towers of several large Italian cities beginning in the 14th century. With
the clock, time became divided into regulated units instead of remaining
dependent on events or the day.Before the
clock, people worked, ate, and slept according to the patterns of the sun and
moon.After the clock, the day was
presided over by a monitor from the time of rising to the hour of rest.
The Use of Iron and Mining
in the Middle AgesOne
of the most important developments in the Middle Ages was the experimentation
and developments in iron production. The above ground reduction
furnace had been developed and allowed
for the easier creation of iron. This iron could then be forged by local smiths
into "parts for plows, spades, pitchforks, and shoes for horses.
In addition to the mining of iron ore
to make agricultural and manufacturing products, the Medieval Age saw an
increase in the mining of other metals including silver, lead, copper, gold,
and anthracite. A family of miners would work on a seam of ore and they would
get a percent of the ore that was mined. Those who mined precious ore (silver
or gold) were usually paid in ore; the miners could then sell their ore
directly to a goldsmith or silversmith.
Weaving and the Textile
IndustryOf the crafts, the largest one was in
cloth making. The location of textile production was usually a household where
the man was the weaver and the women prepared and spun yarn for the loom. All
cloth was woven by hand on a loom and the most common materials of this time
period were wool, cotton, silk, and linen. Each of these materials had its own
production and most of them required the contributions of more than one
individual. To produce wool, the fleece needed to be washed and then combed to
remove tangles. Next, the yarn needed to be spun with a spindle.
Building Construction:The growth of towns meant the
development of a new type of worker and here the craftsmen become very
important. Since most of the construction during this time was done with wood,
carpentry was good trade. The carpenters generally formed their own guilds. For
a guild to be recognized, it usually had to have a chapter from a town, church,
or noble.
There are several distinct
categories of buildings during this time ranging from peasant housing to
cathedral building.