Ĺredniowieczne Pancerze I Taktyka

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becoming governors. In England, knights were an important part of the government as
early as 12th century. This reliance on knights in government discouraged the use of
them in war, so in the 12th century England adopted scutage, or shield tax, wherein
knights paid a sum of money instead of personally providing military service. This
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money was used by the king in part to hire mercenary knights instead of depriving lands
of local rulers (Gies 1984: 99, 100).
Knights Changing Roles, and the Professionalization of the Army
By the late 13th century, the role of the knight was changing. War was not the
only knightly business, and war was no longer a business for primarily knights (Gies
1984: 105). It was, indeed, becoming a business. War was a good way for quick riches,
typically spoils taken from levies on captured towns, ransoms of captured knights, and
theft. The number of knights was declining, as cost of equipment, armor, and horses
increased and the economic stability of Europe declined. Potential knights often
remained squires, where they may be as highly trained, but could often have their
equipment provided for them, or at the very least be freed of the knightly obligation to
maintain at least three horses and equipment for a squire of their own (Gies 1984: 102) .
The 14th century brought the Hundred Years War, and with it, new ways of creating and
using armies. Early in the war, the French tried to use the established system of drawing
upon feudal relationships to obtain a number of heavy cavalry and footmen. The English
opted instead for an indentured army, one hired and paid in cash; a professional army. In
particular, bowmen were hired, the effect of which was the defeat of the French at the
battle of Cr�cy (Gies 1984: 146, 147).
The success of the indentured army quickly led to its adoption through much of
Europe. Heavy cavalry was still an important part of the armies, but now it included both
knights and squires. As mentioned above, squires were as heavily trained and armed as
knights at this point, and were as experienced in battle. The distinctions were primarily
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social and economic, not military. Squires were preferred, as they could be paid half the
sum paid to a knight. Foot soldiers and archers, as always, were included in these armies,
but were paid soldiers rather than forced servants (Gies 1984: 150, 153). Furthermore,
the 15th century brought greater reliance on artillery, and with it, the commoner
specialists that operated them.
With relatively consistent war, and the established practice of professional armies,
it was a small conceptual step to create a professional standing army, as King Charles VII
of France first did in 1445. Cavalry and infantry were stationed in specified towns and
fortresses. Furthermore, a corps of reservists, called free-bowmen, was established.
These would stay in their homes, be trained and inspected, and be called if need be to
fight. In addition to these, the king kept a corps of royal artillerymen (Gies 1984: 196).
This, and the echeloned military structure of company, squadron, etc. established by the
Duke of Burgundy in 1473 formed a basis for the modern professional army (Gies 1984:
196).
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Medieval Technology
Though the Middle Ages are largely perceived as a technologically primitive era,
the people of medieval Europe did significantly develop the technologies available to
them. Most of the technology available at the beginning of the Middle Ages was
incorporated from the late Roman Empire, which in turn had assimilated much of its
technology from conquered cultures. Also, many of the devices incorporated into
medieval technology were borrowed and adapted from other cultures, but medieval
Europe did much to assimilate those technologies and disseminate them on a large scale
to make them useful to the lives of those that lived there (Gies 1994: 17, 41).
Though significant technological progress is found in most industries and crafts,
such as carpentry, cloth preparations, masonry, etc., and especially agriculture, the
progress most interesting in the scope of this project is that related to power technology,
forge technology, and metallurgy.
Power Technology
Mechanization of a simple task not only alleviates so much human labor, but can
provide more power than human labor alone could have produced. So, the more
mechanized and powered a task is made, the more the product the system can process.
The key to this process in the Middle Ages was the waterwheel.
A waterwheel is a relatively simple device that uses the current of moving water
(or, with an overshot wheel, the weight of falling water) to spin a large wheel that is
connected mechanically to some system. The rotation of the wheel powers that system.
The Romans had poorly realized the potential of this power source, and used the
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waterwheel primarily for milling grain. The undershot waterwheel worked by
positioning the bottom of a vertical wheel into a stream, so the moving water would push
the bottom of the wheel and set it spinning. It was 15% to 30% efficient at converting
waterpower to mechanical power. The overshot waterwheel, far more efficient (50% to
70%), required water to be channeled by a millrace or chute, which would bring the water
to the top of the wheel. The water fell into the top of the wheel at an angle, causing a
torque to turn the wheel. This arrangement required a high initial cost, since it involved
damming of the stream, the millrace, and an assembly of gears to transfer the power.
Thus, while it was known to the Romans, it was generally unused (Gies 1994: 35). A
horizontal waterwheel, typically immersed in the stream with the water partially diverted
from half of the wheel so that it would turn in the direction with the greatest flow, was
cheaper and more widely distributed throughout the Roman world, but it was less
efficient than the undershot waterwheel.
By the tenth century, the waterwheel was very highly valued in its capability to
processes that which had been farmed, such as wheat and other grains, and was thus
widely distributed (Gies 1994: 49). In the largely agrarian society, a device that is
capable of efficient production of useful foodstuff from raw crops is clearly an advantage.
It was soon to be held in even higher status. The vertical waterwheel was employed for
drainage in the underground mining endeavors of the 13th century and onward (Gies
1994: 168). It was applied to cloth production, especially to the process of fulling cloth. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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