Academic literature on the topic 'Lances (cavalry weapons)'

Introduction. The article examines the features of the formation and evolution of the Oirat light cavalry armed with spears of the Late Middle Ages and early Modern times. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of spear fighting in the military practice of the Dzungars and Kalmyks of the XVII – early XIX centuries on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of written, pictorial and material sources. Results. It has been established that in the Central Asian region for centuries shock spears and pikes remained mainly the weapons of armored cavalry, while light nomads without armor used them only sporadically. During the military transformations carried out by the Oirat and Mongol military leaders of the second half of the XVI–XVII centuries, mounted archers were equipped with shock spears and pikes, which led to the emergence of a new type of cavalry composed of lightly armed spearmen capable of conducting both remote and close combat. During the military campaigns of the Oirats, which covered most of steppe Eurasia, the idea of mass light cavalry with spears was adopted by many peoples of the Great Steppe, including Russian Cossacks and Turks of Eastern Europe (Nogais, Crimean and Polish-Lithuanian Tatars). In turn, the battle on the spears of the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars (Lipkov) formed the basis of the military practice of the Polish lancers, which became a model of such cavalry for the countries of Central and Western Europe of the XVIII – early XIX centuries. Based on the analysis of Mongolian, Oirat, Ottoman, European and Qing written sources, the original name of the Oirat long–barrel weapon of the XVII–XVIII centuries was revealed, which sounded like “jida” (“dzida”). The design features of the Oirat spears were established, the spear fighting technique and tactics of mounted Kalmyk and Dzungarian warriors armed with spears were reconstructed. Conclusions. The collected materials indicate that spears and pikes were the main type of melee weapons of the Oirat warriors of the XVII – early XIX centuries. Spear fighting was one of the key elements of the military art of the Dzungars and Kalmyks of this period. The Oirats had a significant impact on the development of the practice of equestrian spear fighting among the peoples of Eurasia of the XVII–XVIII centuries.

The article is devoted to the analysis of how Carolingian cavalrymen and their arms and armour are depicted in a set of Carolingian visual sources dating back to VIII – X centuries. How a Frankish horseman was armed in the VIII-X centuries is generally clear. However, the questions of how well a Frankish horseman fought and how he used his weapons in a battle have so far remained unnoticed by researchers, with the exceptions of Lynn White, Bernard Bachrach and Guy Halsall. But even they were more interested in general trends than in particular combat practices. This is largely due to the conciseness of written sources. As Timothy Reuter argues, “yet the face of battle … generally eludes us when we read these works”. However, in studies of the Frankish combat practices, visual sources are of paramount importance, as only they provide a holistic and clear picture of the cavalry armament complex, as well as the use of this complex in a combat. In recent times, the historiographical debate about the time when armoured cavalry appeared in the Frankish army and about the period when such cavalry transformed itself into chivalry is incomplete. It largely revolves around the relevance of the theses uttered by Lin White in the 1960s. Important sources in this debate are the Carolingian visual material that scholars exploit permanently but arbitrarily. This text is an attempt to systematize the Frankish iconography of the VIII - X centuries as an iconographic complex depicting armoured cavalry, its armament and its practical use. The Frankish iconography of VIII - X centuries confirms clearly the existence and importance of armoured cavalry in the army of the first Carolingians, despite the modern scholar’s different views on its force level, as well as its leading role in Frankish military culture in no later than the second half of the ninth century. The cabinet view of Western researchers about the uselessness of cavalry during sieges is not confirmed by sources. On the contrary, both the images and texts of that period demonstrate the widest possible use of cavalry in such military actions, primarily as a force for rapid response to the initiatives of the besieged. Technological transformations in mounted fighting were slow. Despite the fact that the stirrups have been recorded in Europe since the VII century, in the Carolingian visual material stirrups first appeared in the second half of the ninth century in a miniature from the manuscript "The Life of Saint Wandrille”. Further, their images are frequent but irregular, so Lynn White's theory on the crucial role of the stirrup introduction for transforming the Carolingian society of VIII - IX centuries and corresponding introduction of mounted shock combat during this period is not confirmed by visual sources. However, Bernard Bachrach's opposition thesis about the unpopularity of stirrups among the Franks in this period cannot be accepted either. It is likely that the stirrups’ introduction and the transformation of military techniques was slow, in parallel with the increase in the quality and quantity of saddle horses. The image of a couched lance has appeared permanently in the Frankish iconography since the 9th century. The motif of a rider with a lance held by a straight grip horizontally in an arm bent at an elbow first appears in the ninth century in The Golden Psalter of St. Gallen and The Boland Prudence, in the context of a cavalry march and the pursuit of one cavalry unit by another. Stirrups, saddles and spurs are visible too in the Carolinian iconography in that period. The third image of a couched spear on the relief of a sarcophagus from Civita Castellana is difficult to attribute chronologically accurately. By analogy with the images of war horses, equestrians and their equipment, the relief can be widely dated to the ninth century. In the Carolingian visual material of the tenth century, the motif of thecouched lance is found twice more (Codex Perizoni, Psychomachy of St. Lawrence) in the images of a siege and a convoy of captives. In four images from five, there is no enemy hit with a lance stroke, while in the fifth, the relief displays a hunting scene with a hunter on horseback striking a wild boar with a lance. Interpretation of these images by means of German and Italian fencing manuals, as well as the 1938 military regulations for the Polish cavalry, leads to the conclusion that the armoured cavalry’s knowing the technique of couching a lance does not automatically mean their ability to mounted shock combat. Holding the spear horizontally under the armpit gave a rider the opportunity to use fencing techniques and shock blows with a shaft or "winged” ends of lance head, which were effective in a melee. According to the Carolingian visual sources, the spread of stirrups since the ninth century seems indisputable, resulting in the development of armoured cavalry and its combat effectiveness in the Frankish army. Although the identification of a couched lance with mounted shock combat techniques is erroneous, the war horse and rider's armament, consisting of a spear, sword, shield, helmet, and body armour, defined the Carolingian and Ottonian armoured cavalry as a fighting force. This set of equipment was the technological basis, and the community of its bearers was the favourable environment in which chivalry emerged later as a fighting force. Frankish military technologies of the VIII - X centuries and the Frankish military culture of this period in the broadest sense of the term served as the technological and cultural basis for forming chivalry and chivalrous military technology in the future. Despite the obvious growing importance of cavalry in the Frankish army and progressive experiments with spear-wielding techniques during the VIII - X centuries, which are clearly proved by both visual and textual sources of the day, the available source material does not prove the existence of mounted shock combat among the Frankish military elites. So, it is early to speak about the emergence of knightly military technology and, accordingly, chivalry as a fighting force in the VIII - X centuries. However, Lynn White's thesis that it was the period that opened the "window of opportunity" for transforming equestrian combat and developing and proliferating weapons for it and ultimately for the growth of cultural and political role of specialists capable of it in the Frankish kingdoms remains relevant.

Spear is one of the oldest weapons used by man for combat and hunting. The widespread use of spears was associated with, among other things, the relative ease of their manufacture and the relationship of price to combat utility. There are inaccuracies in the literature related to terminology, such as spear and javelin. It is important to consider how spear was used in fight, whether it was used exclusively for fighting by stabbing and possibly cutting, or whether it was also thrown. The first ones to be mentioned in the sources, the Sclaveni and the Antes, fought mainly with short spears and shields. The term άκοντίον (akontion in Latin transliteration) applied in this context was used to describe the javelin. Also Arabic sources from the 9th century describe Slavs using javelins and short spears. European iconography from the 9th—12th centuries also shows that spears intended for close combat could also be thrown. The spear has undergone far-reaching transformations over the centuries, but the original change was that of use, which entailed an adaptation of form. In the 11th century it began to evolve in two directions: towards the knight’s lance, and later the infantry pike. Very long spear specimens have been found that exceeded 3 m, which may be a manifestation of both of these trends. Only the finding of the lower spear butt could give us the answer whether we are dealing with an infantry or a cavalry weapon in a given specimen.