WEAPONS THAT MADE BRITAIN

PROGRAMME 3: THE LANCE

PROGRAMME AIMS

The programme should enable students to:

• Appreciate how weapons evolve over time
• Explain the importance of the lance and spear in medieval warfare
• Understand how modern-day experts can help us to understand the past
• See the relevance of science in historical enquiry
• Assess the impact the Normans had on medieval weapons and tactics.

BACKGROUND

Originally probably nothing more complex than a sharpened stick, and yet incredibly versatile as a weapon, the spear in time evolved into the lance, a much more prestigious and powerful weapon favoured by knights. For centuries, the spear was the main weapon of the Saxons and Vikings. The lance was introduced by the Normans, and their mounted knights remain a potent image of medieval warfare.

In medieval times men learnt how to use the lance through many years of intensive training at the ‘quintain’, a rotating wooden target. They would learn how to hold and charge with a lance, firstly mounted on a wooden horse on wheels pulled by two men. In a joust, men would strike at each other, whilst in battle the horse was the target, both with the aim of dismounting the opponent.

Man, horse and lance had to become a single projectile unit in order to produce enough impact during combat, and knights held the lance under their arms (in the couch position) for maximum effect. Lances developed over time to further improve the impact they could deliver.

The Battle of Lewes in 1264 was the first ever full-scale cavalry fight with lances on British soil. Simon De Montford was a rebel baron who wanted to depose King Henry III after the King had refused to form a council of nobles from different areas (like a parliament). Henry was determined to keep his power and stood firm at Lewes Castle. De Montford and his troops approached Lewes and provoked an attack. Hugely outnumbered, De Montford’s infantry were thrashed but he launched a daring downhill cavalry charge that decimated Henry’s troops and forced him to surrender.

The Battle of Bannockburn illustrates how brilliant military tactics can be a greater force than weapons. Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II against all the odds due to the ingenious use of ‘shiltrons’, impenetrable circles of up to 1,000 spearmen working as tight mobile units, which even cavalry could not breach.