15th century gothic armor overview

[Aldarion]

Harness Overview – 15th Century Gothic Armour

Gothic armour developed in 15th century. At this time, warfare was in fact highly complex, professional (with few exceptions) and varied. As such, soldiers had to cope with a significant variety of threats. Especially mounted knights and men-at-arms – the only ones to use full Gothic armour (though infantry wore half-plate) – had to cope with:

1. infantry armed with crossbows and spears
2. early professional infantry armed with crossbows and pikes
3. early gunpowder weapons
4. other missile weapons (longbows, short bows, javelins…)
5. polearms
6. artillery

This placed significant requirements on armourers. Armour had to be flexible enough – and, when necessary, provide enough visibility and audibility – for hand-to-hand combat, yet be capable of providing enough coverage to protect wearer against various forms of missile fire. This was very difficult to do, but Gothic armour provided a reasonably good answer to these challenges.

Further, Western European warfare was based primarily around shock action, that is, clash of arms. As such, protection was prioritized over everything else: endurance, visibility and communication were given much lower priority, as fully-enclosed helmet attests. In fact, armour provided such extensive protection that cavalrymen did not wear shields; only infantry did, because it often abandoned leg protection in exchange for greater mobility in close combat. Men-at-arms however often fought on foot, as horses were much more rarely protected, and could number well over 30% of the army.

 

[ATP]

According to what i read about longbows,they had anti-armor arrows,but they were good only against chainmail.
Against plate they could break it at short distance/30m or less/ ,but arrow lost it power and could only slighty injury knights.
Only cases when they actually killed somebody was lucky arrow to the face.

Average crossbows could not pierce armour,too,only special heavy crossbows made from steel,not wood.

Handguns worked perfectly - when it hit.But,they were VERY innacurate,and sometimes blow up to the face of users.
I read about italians recruiting poor people from their cities to work as handgunners,becouse:
1.Since they fire at point blank anyway,they do not need much training
2.When they hit,they kill
3.If enemy breal through and kill them,you could re-use handguns if you win battle,and do not pay anytching.
4.You have less people in your pity who could made riot.

Rather cold-blooded,but...it worked ! even if,let say,50 handgunners died for one enemy knight,as long as you retake handguns you still win !

 

[Buba]

I read about italians recruiting poor people from their cities to work as handgunners,becouse:

LOL!
Gives off urban legend vibes, though.
ANd reminds me that I should go and see this temporary exhibition:

From Nuremberg to Milan. Following the trail of the best weapons of modern Europe

From Nuremberg to Milan. Following the trail of the best weapons of modern Europe 10 November 2023 – 18 February 2024 Gallery of Masterpieces War is the mother of invention. The so-called Italian Wars, which tore the Italian peninsula for more than half a century, gave an unprecedented impetus...

www.zamek-krolewski.pl

Only until 24.II.2024

 

[Aldarion]

According to what i read about longbows,they had anti-armor arrows,but they were good only against chainmail.
Against plate they could break it at short distance/30m or less/ ,but arrow lost it power and could only slighty injury knights.
Only cases when they actually killed somebody was lucky arrow to the face.

I am not certain these truly were anti-armor arrows. Bodkin arrows may merely have been distance, "flight" arrows. IIRC, only broadheads show signs of hardening treatment which you would need for armor-penetrating arrowheads.

Average crossbows could not pierce armour,too,only special heavy crossbows made from steel,not wood.

Agreed.

Handguns worked perfectly - when it hit.But,they were VERY innacurate,and sometimes blow up to the face of users.

Early handguns (14th - 15th century) also could not penetrate armor, at least at distance. Still, they were better than arrows.

I read about italians recruiting poor people from their cities to work as handgunners,becouse:

Unlikely. Handguns were not exactly cheap, and neither was gunpowder.

Hungarians and Ottomans kept using trebuchets well into the 15th century, precisely because gunpowder was so expensive.