3.6 How was warfare conducted in the Middle Ages? • Medieval warfare was a clash of arms for power and wealth. • Armies would fight hand-to-hand in tightly grouped formation, using weapons such as swords, pikes, axes and maces. • Archers with crossbows and longbows would also be used and mounted knights would try to break up the enemy’s formations. • Missiles were used to try to break the walls of a town or castle, with trebuchets and early cannons hurling rocks and other materials at the enemy. • Two important developments in the Middle Ages that allowed for the appearance of the mounted warrior (knight) in battle were the stirrup and a heavier breed of horse that could carry a man in full armour. • Knights tended to be wealthy, because it was expensive to breed warhorses and own good armour. • Over the few hundred years that knighthood was at its peak, the armour developed from chain mail to whole suits of armour. Weapons were heavy iron swords, maces, battle axes and lances. 3.7 How were people punished for committing crimes in medieval times? • As there was no police force to protect communities in medieval Europe, most people had to take on that responsibility for their communities. In order to dispense justice, lords relied on volunteer constables and watchmen. • An accusation of disturbing the peace was a serious crime in medieval times. Punishments usually took the form of being out in stocks or the pillory. Villagers or townsfolk would be encouraged to shame the offender. • Trials by jury were commonplace and all villagers had to attend several times a year. The lord’s steward oversaw the court and 12 village men made up the jury. The jury would decide upon the fate of the accused. • The Church was the most powerful institution in medieval Europe and had considerable control over the population. Serious crimes, such as blasphemy and heresy, were punished swiftly by the Church. • Treason was an especially serious crime in medieval Europe. Plotting against the monarch, conspiring with foreigners and leading a rebellion are some key examples of treason. To maintain power, monarchs had to punish their enemies, as well as warn potential enemies against treasonous acts. Punishments were severe, yet the public was encouraged to attend the executions. 3.8 What was the power and authority of the Church in medieval times? • The Roman Catholic Church was the one common institution found across western Europe and everyone was expected to live by Church law and keep its rituals and customs. • As God’s representative on Earth, the Pope was a very powerful figure who ruled with the upper class of clergy: cardinals, archbishops and bishops. • The lower clergy took the Pope’s messages to the people in the villages through their sermons. • Every village had a parish church built with peasant labour, which was the centre of their community. The more powerful churches, the seats of the bishops, were called cathedrals. • By early medieval times, communities of religious men (monks) were living in monasteries. These religious men devoted their lives to God and played important roles in the local communities, such as running schools and hospitals. 3.9 What was the power of the written word? • Parish priests, monks, nuns and friars played an important role in spreading Christianity to even the most remote village. • Monks lived in small closed communities called monasteries and nuns lived in similar communities called convents. • The religious orders such as monks produced the written texts by hand in a very labour-intensive process.
110 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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