Arms Armour And Regalia

Captivated by military antiquities, English scholar Samuel Rush Meyrick (1783–1848) pursued a lifelong passion for studying and collecting medieval armory. The results of his work are a continual source of learning and fascination for weapons buffs and anyone interested in the medieval period. Brimming with over seventy full-color illuminated engravings from Meyrick's original 1842 survey of weaponry from the Middle Ages, here is a stunning historical showcase of European armor spanning the ninth to fifteenth centuries. From Richard the Lionheart in full battle regalia to the equipage of numerous anonymous knights, Meyrick presents a splendid panorama of medieval paladins and their weapons. Since earliest times, man has fashioned items for personal defense—shields, swords, crossbows, helmets, ornate suits of body armor for knights and their steeds, and much more. Meyrick's Medieval Knights and Armour chronicles the military regalia of the Middle Ages in all its forms, and when applicable, highlights its connection with mythology, religion, the arts, civil polity, and entertainment in ancient, as well as modern, times.

This fascinating reference covers the weapons and armor used by warriors from the 4th to the 15th century and discusses how and why they changed over time. In the Middle Ages, the lack of standardized weapons meant that one warrior's arms were often quite different from another's, even when they were fighting on the same side. And with few major technological advances in that period, the evolution of those weapons over the centuries was incremental. But evolve they ultimately did, bringing arms, armor, and siege weapons to the threshold of the modern era. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginnings of the Renaissance, Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact covers the inexorable transformation from warrior in the mail shirt to fully armored knight, from the days of spears and swords to the large-scale adoption of the handgun. Medieval Weapons covers this fascinating expanse of centuries in chapters devoted to the early medieval, Carolingian, Crusade, and late medieval periods. Within each period, the book details how weapons and armor were developed, what weapons were used for different types of battles, and how weapons and armor both influenced, and were influenced by, changing tactics in battles and sieges.