| Medieval warfare is an ugly, bloody, and personal | | | | War Ax: Has a spiked head in front that is driven |
| business. Though arrows kill at a distance, much | | | | into an enemy's armor and cuts his mail coat. The |
| of the fighting is hand-to-hand combat. Personal | | | | curved blade at the back adds weight for greater |
| weapons of the knights are made from hardened | | | | penetrating power against unarmored foes or |
| steel and are honed sharp enough to shave with. | | | | their horses. |
| Wielded with skill, they can kill with a single blow. | | | | Mace: The head, sometimes spiked, of a mace |
| Even when they merely maim, they leave deadly | | | | can easily shatter bones. When aimed at a helmet |
| wounds. For without modern medical care, blood | | | | the mace does not glance off, so it injures the |
| loss and infection finish the job the sword, ax, and | | | | head more effectively than a sword. The mace is |
| lance began. | | | | a weapon of Muslim soldiers during the Crusades |
| Sword: The sword was the knight's favored | | | | and was not used by knights until the 1200s. |
| weapon in close combat. It was also a prized | | | | Lance: The main weapon of the mounted soldier. |
| possession and a symbol of his status. A knight | | | | Measuring some 10 feet, it is held with the goal of |
| wore his sword hung from his waist even when | | | | knocking an enemy from his horse. Though it |
| not in armor. After a charge with lances, knights | | | | looks like a spear, a knight's lance is never hurled. |
| cut down enemy infantry with their swords. | | | | Crossbow: The crossbow is slow to load, but |
| Swung from high in the saddle, they can cut a | | | | easy to master. Once an archer has pulled back |
| man's head clean off. Smiths forge swords with | | | | the string he can take his time in picking a target. |
| flexible cores, but hard edges that don't easily | | | | This makes crossbows ideal weapons for |
| blunt. | | | | defending castles. |
| Dagger: Used in hand-to-hand fighting, daggers are | | | | Longbow: Trained archers can shoot longbows |
| thrusting weapons. Their blades are sharply | | | | more quickly than crossbows, but learning to use |
| pointed so that they could pierce the mail coat | | | | the weapons takes years. The bow's size makes |
| armor in the early medieval period during the | | | | it difficult to use in cramped spaces. An archer |
| Crusades. | | | | could aim and shoot six arrows in a minute. |