After the Dark Ages the world was thrust into a two hundred year period of incredible creativity and growth called “The Renaissance". This creative force of time brought about some wonderful masterpieces. It also brought us some really quirky and odd ideas. One of these ideas was the lantern shield.
The Lantern Shield originated in sixteenth century Italy. This was a time of the late Renaissance when creativity was at its maximum and a lot of things were being created. One of the basic tenets of creativity is that of fusion where things are added together to make a new thing. The Lantern shield is a good example of this fusion – taken too far. It attempts to create something that has defensive characteristics, offensive characteristics and even a bit of psychological warfare!
What is a Lantern Shield?
It is a small shield in the shape of a buckler and generally about a foot in diameter. And this basic shield was turned into a veritable swiss army knife of a weapon by the addition of a variety of other things such as a gauntlet with serrated blades. These serrations were theoretically used to break an opponent’s blade. There was also a long blade attached to the shield that ran parallel to the users shield arm. This could be used to thrust at an opponent. The shield also often had spikes protruding from it which could be used as piercing weapons. But the most unusual thing about this weapon, and the thing that gives it its name, is the lantern. It had a hook in the middle of the shield where a lantern could be attached and often times there was a leather flap covering this lantern. The theory was that if attacked the wielder could throw open the flap and the light from the lantern would dazzle and confuse the attacker. It was a bit of psychological warfare thrown in to the mix.
The use of the Lantern Shield
Generally, the lantern shield is believed to have been used not for combat but for walking around Italian cities at night. It was protection against ruffians and robbers more so than against combatants in battle.
How effective was it as a weapon?
The effectiveness of the Lantern Shield in real combat is questionable but in the context of walking around a dangerous city at night it does warrant some interesting conclusions. First off, it was probably very ominous looking and any would be robber was probably inclined to just move on to the next victim. And if a combative situation arose the whole contraption was probably reasonably effective at staving off injury much in the same way as a porcupine does! The addition of the lantern was also a strong deterrent against attack because any nighttime robber would just avoid the illumination and exposure. So as a real weapon it was probably not very good but as a deterrent it was probably reasonably effective. Any robber or ruffian seeing someone carrying this thing would probably just move on to the next victim.
At present it is common knowledge that the medieval knights used to fight their battles with the weapons that belonged to them. To make it through all the odds and triumph over his opponent on the battlefield the knights needed to choice the best weapon in their disposal. During the middle Ages, those weapons used by the knights to combat their enemies are called the medieval weapons. The medieval weapons were of various designs and shapes.
All these weapons don't have the same strength and compatibility as others. This means that some are invariably stronger than the others of its kind. To use the weapons to its optimum capacity the medieval knights needed to have a through knowledge of the strength and weakness of the weapons he is using. It's a fact that there was no perfect weapon in the Middle Ages that was without a fault. Every weapon has its strength and its weakness.
Most people carry with them a wrong idea that medieval weapons were exclusively to European countries. But that not true because various countries of the world have there own set of medieval weaponry. The medieval weapons of other countries varied in design, style and sometimes even in the way they were used. Though you might find the weapons of different countries often similar in their basic structure they are never the same for weapons of one country is totally different from the others. You can find hundreds of different kinds of medieval weapons that were used by knights in the medieval era if you search on the Internet. Each kind of weapons has their own style and strength that are quite different from others.
During this time period as only those who were famous, rich and influential could afford to buy this weapons that were quite expensive to protect themselves and their families. So the rights of buying these medieval weapons automatically got reserved for them only. Depending on the method of usage these weapons were classified into two categories. Long-range combat weaponry fell into the first category. These types of weapons were used when knight had to take down an opponent who was at a long distance from him. Weapons used for close combat were in the second category. A good example of this type of weaponry is knives.
Now that we had an overall discussion of different categories of medieval weapons let look into some of these weapons in bit more detailed manner.
The Sword ? It is simply a lengthy cutting framed weapon that is quite long. In various countries of the world, in different styles and forms of this weapon is used.
The Dagger - Primarily used for the purpose of stabbing or thrusting, it is a type of knife that has two edges. In close encounters this weapon is not of great importance most of the time. These weapons even in the past were regarded not as primary weapons but as tertiary weapons or secondary.
The Blade ? This type of weapon have a pointed and sharp edge and surface that is flat. Used mainly for the purpose of stabbing, thrusting, striking and cutting these weapons were generally made of metals.
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