Military Revolutions (14th-17th centuries)
Just how did the West, initially so small and deficient in
most natural resources, become able to compensate for
what it lacked through superior military and naval power?
The Military Revolution (1988) by Jeremy Black
Infantry (ca. 1330s-40s)
Battle of Crécy (1346)
Battle of Agincourt (1415)
Artillery (ca. 1420s-40s)
Fortress (ca. 1520s-40s)
Firearms (ca. 1590s+)
Old Testament battle (13th century manuscript)
Infantry Revolution
War in the “Age of the Horse” (mid-11th to early-14th centuries)
Feudal warrior-aristocrats: shock combat (armor & mobility)
Infantry: protect cavalry (“like a great wall”)
Infantry Revolution: How & why did this happen?
Battle of Crécy (1346): English men-at-arms & archers versus French
cavalry
“And ever still the Englishmen
shot where they saw the thickest
press. The sharp arrows pierced
the knights and their horses, and
many fell, both horse and man.
And when they were down they
could not rise again, the press
was so thick that one overthrew
another.”
Jean de Froissart (1370s)
Archers (14th-century manuscript)
Infantry Revolution
Why were the English so successful?
1) Weapons: six-foot longbows
2) Training: yeoman farmers, constant warfare
3) Tactics: “pike-and-shot” combination
4) Advantages: lower costs, quicker training, broader recruitment pool
What was the broad impact of the infantry revolution?
1) Political: growing influence of the commons
Parliament (1341): Commons meet separately from Lords
2) Social: growing ability to resist oppression
Great Revolt (1381): rebels armed with longbows
3) Military: bloodier battles, escalating casualties
Infantry Revolution
Account of Battle of Poitiers
(1356)
To say the truth, the English
archers were of infinite
service to their army, for they
shot so thickly and so well,
that the French did not know
which way to turn themselves
to avoid their arrows . . . . In
that part the battle was very
hot, and greatly crowded;
many a one was unhorsed,
and you must know that
whenever any one fell, he had
but little chance of getting up
again . . .
Battle of Crécy (1346): French (left) vs. English (right)
The English archers shot so
well that none care to come
within reach of their arrows,
and they put to death many
who could not ransom
themselves . . .
Jean de Froissart (1370s)
Artillery Revolution (early 15th century)
When did gunpowder artillery first appear in Europe? What impact did it have?
English siege of Berwick (1333):
[The English] made meny assaute with gonnes and with othere engynes to the
toune, wherwith thai destroide meny a fair hous; and cherches also weren bete
adoune vnto the erthe, with gret stones, that spytously eomen out of gonnes and
of othere gynnes. And notheles the Scottes kepte wel the toune, that tho ii
knyghtes might nought come therin long tyme. And notheles the Kynges abiden
there so longe, til tho that were in the toune faillede vitailes; and also thai were so
wery of wakying that thai wiste nought what to Done.
Siege of Dax (1450):
Our prince sent for a force of pioneers and miners, who, all night long, he had
make broad approaches and deep ditches and trenches, [and] set up his large
artillery, and put the protective mantles there . . . Furthermore, the large artillery
was fired assiduously day and night. Inside of a few days it had done great
damage, so that the defenses of the towers . . . And a great part of the forward
walls were thrown down to the ground . . .
Artillery Revolution
By the late 1440s the Franco-Burgundian artillery could destroy even the most
powerfully defended places . . . After a 16-day siege in 1450, almost the entire
wall of Bayeux was “pierced and brought down.” . . . At Blaye, in 1451, it took only
5 days before “the town walls were completely thrown down in many places.” . . .
Based on the above accounts, it seems fair to say that a revolution occurred in
the art of war around the 1420s to 1430s, as gunpowder artillery overturned the
centuries-old dominance of the defensive in siege warfare. What was the nature
of this revolution?
“The Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years’ War” (1993) by Clifford J. Rogers
What changes occurred in the early 15th century?
1) Design & manufacture of cannon
2) Loading methods
3) Gunpowder formulation
What additional changes by the late 15th century?
Two-wheeled carriage, trunnion, & iron cannonball
Article: Use of
Gunpowder
Weaponry in 100
Years War (PDF
file)
Artillery Revolution
Venetian Senate (1498):
Mons Meg, Edinburgh Castle (1449)
15ft long, 8.5 tons, 549 lb ball
The wars of the present time
are influenced more by the
force of bombards & artillery
than by men-at-arms.
History of Italy (c 1535):
They were planted against
the walls of a town with such
speed, the space between
shots was so little, and the
balls flew so quick and were
impelled with such force, that
as much execution was done
in a few hours as formerly, in
Italy, in the like number of
days.
Niccolo Machiavelli (1519):
No wall exists, however thick, that artillery cannot destroy in a few days
Artillery Revolution
15th-century manuscript
Battle of Rain (17th-century engraving)