Medieval Military Technology

• Medieval times, the Middle Ages, and the Dark Ages generally refer to the same period, spanning from 500 to 1500 A.D.
• This period covers the time from the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
• Major technological advances occurred in the Medieval period

Military Technologies

• The counterweight trebuchet was a revolutionary siege weapon using counterweights to hurl huge stones very far.
• The counterweight trebuchet was first used in the eastern Mediterranean basin.
• The longbow, utilizing massed disciplinary archery, was employed by the English against the French during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).
• The longbow was powerful and accurate, contributing to the decline of the medieval knight class.
• The steel crossbow was the first handheld mechanical crossbow.
• The steel crossbow, a European innovation, featured various cocking aids to increase draw power.
• Complete full plate armor appeared by the end of the 14th century.
• Full plate armour was made from thousands of metal rings, and included a long cloak called a hauberk.
• Plate armor is considered the best personal armor for body protection and demonstrated skills in metalworking.

Other Inventions

• The blast furnace or cast iron first appeared in middle Europe around 1150.
• The hourglass, a dependable, affordable, and accurate time-measuring device, was made
• Vertical windmills are pivotable post mills efficient at grinding grain or draining water.
• Spectacles use convex lenses to aid far-sighted individuals in seeing.
• The earliest predecessors of Chess originated in India in the 6th century.
• Chess spread through Persia and the Muslim world to Europe.
• The game of Chess evolved to its current form in the 15th century.
• Mirrors were made in 1180 by Alexander Neckham.
• Alexander Neckham said to remove the lead from behind the glass which will leave no reflection in the mirror.
• Oil paint was invented by Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck around 1410.
• Jan Van Eyck introduced a stable oil mixture.

Agricultural Innovations

• The heavy wheeled plow aided cultivation in the rich, heavy, and often wet soils of Northern Europe, improving agricultural practices.
• Horse collars allowed for greater horse pulling power.
• The horse collar was used with heavy plows, while horseshoes allowed horses to adapt to rocky terrain and carry heavier loads.
• Artesian wells consist of a thin rod with a hard iron cutting edge placed in a borehole and struck with a hammer.
• Underground water pressure forces water up the hole in artesian wells without pumping.
• Artesian wells get their name from Artois, France, where the first well was drilled by Carthusians.
• Wheelbarrows were used in construction, mining, and farming.
• Wheelbarrows were used to carry materials from place to place.

Other Inventions

• The blast furnace first appeared in Middle Europe around 1150.
• The hourglass was a dependable, affordable, and accurate measure of time, believed to be a medieval innovation first documented in Siena, Italy.
• Vertical windmills are pivotable post mills efficient at grinding grain or draining water.
• Spectacles are composed of convex lenses to help far-sighted people to see.
• Chess’s earliest predecessors originated in India in the 6th century, spreading through Persia and the Muslim world to Europe.
• The game evolved to its current form in the 15th century.
• Mirrors were made in 1180 by Alexander Neckham.
• Alexander Neckham explained mirrors by saying to take away the lead behind the glass and there will be no reflection.
• Oil paint was invented by Flemish painter Jan van Eyck around 1410, who introduced a stable oil mixture, which was used to add details in tempera paintings.
• Tide mills are a special type of water mill driven by a tidal rise and fall.
• The earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787 AD, is the Nendrum Monastery on an island in Strangford Lough in Northern Island.
• The spinning wheel was likely invented in India, though its origins are ambiguous.
• The spinning wheel reached Europe via the Middle East in the European Middle Ages and replaced the earlier method of hand spinning.
• By the 1000s, the first universities were developed.
• By the 1100s, modern universities emerged throughout Western Europe, including Oxford and Cambridge in England.
• During the 14th-century crisis of the Late Middle Ages, the Black Death occurred.
• The quarantine technique was established to prevent the spread of diseases, initially for a 40-day period, and was introduced by the Republic of Ragusa.