The Crossbow

Results of the 14th Century Black Death

 

In what has been the largest pandemic percentage killings of humans in the last 2000 years, 1/3 of the population of Europe,  around 25 million,  died in just under five years between 1347 and 1352 as a result of the dreaded Black Death-the Bubonic Plague.

Estimated population of Europe from 1000 to 1352:

                                                                    1000-38 million,
 1100-48 million,
1200 59-million,
1300-70 million,
1347-75 million
1352-50 million

But out of death and loss a new World emerged-the rebirth of Europe was at hand,
the Renaissance

The huge death toll left a massive shortage in the labor force.  Over night serfdom began to disappear and a large middle class, something unknown in Europe since the Roman Republic of 100 B.C.E., began to emerge.  The plague aided the development of the Renaissance as men with talent were able to rise above their station of birth due to the more fluid social order.  The World would never be the same!

Weapons and Armor of the Era of Knights

A selection of common weapons of the well armed knight of the 13th century. From left to right we have a quiver of crossbow bolts, a dagger, long sword, quiver of longbow arrows, handaxe, warhammer and a small shield called a buckler.

A Long hunting knife rests next to the plate and chainmail armor of a knight. The helmet is a two piece design the gauntlets (gloves) are plate top with chainmail palms. The gorget is a small plate piece that covers the throat area under the chin and rests on the chainmail coat.

The Hundred Years War (the 117 Years War just doesn't sound right)

For more than a century (circa 1336-1453) England and France fought a ruinous series of conflicts (it was never one constant war-nor was there any true periods of total peace) over control of the land of France and the French crown.

Throughout the period the English and Welsh longbowmen were one of the key weapons in the English arsenal. With a range of up to 400 yards and the ability to fire up to six aimed shots a minute, the longbow was a fearsome weapon for the French to face.

In several battles (Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt being the most famous) the smaller English army was able to overcome greater French numbers through superior tactics and the massive firepower of the longbow.

English King Henry V of the House of Plantagenet (1413-1422) was the most successful of the English kings in the war.  Through the Treaty of Troyes, he was even able to force French King Charles VI of the House Valois (1380-1422) to proclaim Henry the rightful heir to the throne (upon the death of Charles).  Unfortunately for the English, Henry died first (of dysentery) and the French voided the treaty.

In 1429, the teenage Maid of Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc (burned as a witch by the English in 1431), rallied the French Army and broke the English siege of Orleans. The Victory revised French spirits at a time when the English were politically divided.  The final phase of the war had now begun.

The final battles were more and more dominated by the latest in warfare weapons, gunpowder firearms and cannons. The days of heavily armored warriors were numbered as was English control of France. In the end, the two countries remained independent of each other, but the animosity of a century of war lead to more than a dozen major other wars between the two over the next four centuries, with the Seven Years, American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars among the most important.

Italian Renssiance-Begining the Modern World

Some time in the mid 14th century the Renaissance was born among the independent, and wealthy, city-states of Northern Italy.  The combination of wealth, power and a renewed interest in the "Humanities" had set the foundation for the rebirth of knowledge that was the Renaissance.

Florence became one of the great centre's of art for this wondrous time with the likes of Leonardo da Vince and Michelangelo.

The wealth and power of Venice, based on trade, brought great works of art and long forgotten knowledge from the glories of Ancient Rome and Greece to the peoples of Western Europe from the dieing Eastern (Byzantine) Empire and cultural-trade centers of the Muslim Middle East.

The Renaissance touched every aspect of human endeavors, with great writers like Dante (Divina Commedia and De Monarchia) and Niccolò Machiavelli (Il Principe and Dell’Arte della Guerra) challenging long held beliefs.

As time pasted the concepts of the Renaissance would spread throughout the Western World.  The Middle Ages were dead, Europe would no longer be the backwater of World culture and technological advances (a position it had held in most areas since the fall of the Western Roman Empire). Each part of Europe would add their own twists and additions to the forever growing knowledge and changing culture.  Europe and the World would never be the same, for the seeds planted in the Italian Renaissance would grow into the creation of the ever more advanced, complex and smaller World of today.

Knights of the Realm

A troop of knights advances to the commands of their Lord.

Each man is equipped at his own expense and carries his families crest or coat of arms design to identify himself to friends and foes.

For the centuries of the Middle Ages after the fall or Rome, knights were the main fighting force of the Nobles and Monarchs of Europe. The equipment, warhorse and training of knights was extremely expensive and limited to those who could afford the cost. This meant that in most cases the number of knights in an army was relatively small (William the Conquer took over the entire Kingdom of England by using a force of less than 7000 knights.    The advent of cheap workable firearms would eventually destroy the power of these elite warriors.

Ming -"the Bright" - Dynasty

The Ming or "Bright" Dynasty (1368-1644) was the last Chinese Imperial government to rule this ancient culture.  The Ming Dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, "the Hungwu Emperor" (1368-1398), when he led a successful rebellion against the foreign Mongol, Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang had the distinction of being born a common peasant and rising to the status of emperor by his own skills, cunning and bravery.

Art flourished during the Ming Dynasty, and it was well known for is excellent porcelain.  Even today the term "Ming Vase," brings instant recognition as an art form of the highest value.

The Forbidden City, home to the Emperor of China from the early 15th to early 20th centuries was one of the greatest legacies of the Ming Dynasty.  Ordered built in 1406, by the Yongle Emperor (1402-1424) to consolidate his power in the restored capital of Beijing, the Forbidden Palace took fourteen years to build, contained 980 buildings and covered over 7, 800,000 square feet (720,000 square meters).

 

The Yongle Emperor was also responsible for the vast exploration fleets of Zheng He. (See Zheng He-Greatest Ming Explorer post).  After the last of these voyages in 1436, the Ming emperors chose a policy of isolationism.  For the next four centuries the Middle Kingdom attempted to retain what they had and prevent foreign concepts from contaminating the culture.  By the mid 19th century this policy would leave China vulnerable to the technological advances of the Europeans.

 

Fear of the return of the Mongols and other barbarian tribes led the Ming's to rebuild the Great Wall into the massive brick structure that comes to mind whenever its name is mentioned.  It seceded for centuries in holding back the invaders, but in the end, weak emperors, government corruption, and peasant revolts completed the ever-present life cycle of the dynasty, and the Ming were destroyed and replaced by the last Imperial dynasty of China, the foreign (Manchu's) Qing Dynasty.

 

An interesting side note to the Ming Dynasty were the Kaifeng Jews, the oldest officially recognized Jewish community in Imperial China.  Kaifeng Jews may have come to this ancient city as early as the Northern Song Dynasty (10th to 12th centuries) but it was a Ming emperor who first conferred seven surnames upon the Kaifeng Jews, by which they are identifiable today: Ai, Shi, Gao, Jin, Li, Zhang, and Zhao. Today, over a thousand Kaifeng residents trace their ancestry to the Jews of the Ming Dynasty.
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