Crusades Essay

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Recommended: Weapons during the middle ages

When we take a look back at all of the Crusades that took place in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we see that the Crusades brought many new ideas and inventions to the rest of the world. Most of the contributions that the Crusades have made have been to warfare, arms and armor. The weapon has evolved over time and began with “the rock and the club proceeded through the sling and boomerang, bow and arrow, sword and axe, to gunpowder weapons of the rifle and machine gun of the late nineteenth century” . Throughout the Crusades we saw the introduction to new ideas such as siege towers, fortifications, pitched battles, ranged weapons, polearms, and blunt hand weapons. The question that I will be focusing on throughout my paper will be, how the warfare of the Middle Ages, specifically the Crusades, impact warfare of the modern day? I will be looking at both the Muslims and the Christians and will be covering the time period from 1000-1300. When explaining how the warfare of the Middle Ages shaped and changed the way we looked at war and weapons, we must first start in the early Middle Ages. In The Art of Warfare in the Middle Ages, A.D. 378-1515, written by Charles Oman and John Beeler, he states, “between the middle of the fourth and the end of the sixth century lies a period of transition in military history…in war as in all else, the institutions of the ancient world are seen to pass away, and a new order of things develops itself” . As you can see, the warfare of the ancient Romans was passing and the new modernized technology was coming to the forefront. Continuing on, we start to see new military tactics and advanced, modernized warfare beginning in the First Crusade. European siege tactics would not work ag... ... middle of paper ... ...acksmiths and could up to weeks to make. The real difference is warfare of the Crusades compared to modern-day warfare is technology. In conclusion, modern-day warfare and Crusading warfare do differ, but we can see Crusade influence. The Crusades brought what many people consider a military revolution where warfare tactics and weapons really grew and adapted. The Crusades also brought new warfare techniques such as military planning and organization that can still see being used by the military today. The Crusades also brought new ideas such as siege tactics, fortifications, and pitched battles. Although we do not see many of these warfare tactics used in the modern day, the Crusades really influenced a military revolution and opened ideas for new techniques and inventions. Without the influence of the Crusades, I do not think warfare would be where it is today.

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