Military

Landsknect

A member of the infantry. Most often German, mercenary pike-men and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern

Europe. Landsknechts were trained in the use of the famous long pikes and used the pike square formations developed by the Swiss. The majority of Landsknechts would use pikes, but others, meant to provide tactical assistance to the pike-men, accordingly used different weapons.

Musketeers

A member of the infantry. Muskets were invented in China and were used as part of the

military as early as 1368. They then made their way into Turkey and Arabia (1440),

India (1519), and Spain (1534). The famous French Musketeers that King Louis

appointed as his personal guard weren’t commissioned until 1622, falling in the

Renaissance Period of history.

Crossbow-men

A member of the infantry. The crossbow was a powerful bow whose quarrels could often

penetrate shields and armor, making crossbowmen a formidable part of any army.

Longbow-men

A member of the infantry. Longbows could shoot for great distances. Longbow-men would often use their longbows to shoot flaming arrows into the enemy camp greatly increasing the destructive force of the approaching army.

Falconets

A member of the Artillery. The falconet or falcon was a light cannon developed in the

late 15th century. During Middle Ages guns were decorated with engravings of reptiles,

birds or beasts depending on their size: a snake for the culverin, as the handles on the early cannons were often decorated to resemble serpents. The falconet fired small yet lethal shot of similar weight and size to a bird of prey, and so was decorated with a falcon.


Bombarde

A bombarde is a large-caliber, muzzle-loading medieval cannon or mortar, used chiefly

in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls. The name bombarde was first noted and

sketched in a French historical text around 1380. The modern term bombardment derives

from this. Bombards were usually used during sieges to hurl various forms of missile into

enemy fortifications. Projectiles such as stone or metal balls, burning materials and

weighted cloth soaked in quicklime or Greek fire are documented.

Trebuchet

A siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It could fling projectiles of up to three hundred and fifty pounds at high speeds into enemy fortifications. Occasionally, disease-infected corpses were flung into cities in an attempt to infect and terrorize the people under siege, a medieval form of biological warfare. The trebuchet did not become obsolete until the 13th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. Trebuchets were far more accurate than other medieval catapults.

Catapult

A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during warfare.

Battering Ram

A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times and designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against an obstacle; the ram would be sufficient to damage the target if the log were massive enough and/or it were moved quickly enough (that is, if it had enough momentum).