Weaponry and Armor
Pretty much every timber was used for weaponmaking throughout the Old World countries, and they developed very specific uses. Obviously, the weapons themselves are cool, but only the basics are here. Spears
Ash was the traditional wood for spear shafts—being light and very springy—so as to absorb the bending force applied when the spear point engaged the target armor without failing.
Axes, other handled weaponry
The favored Early Medieval wood for shafts was in Old English called 'corntreow' or 'gatetreow', this translates as cornel cherry. As this is from an english text and the cornel cherry is thought to have been a 16th C. introduction the dogwood seems more likely.
Hickory was for axe handles, a very tough wood that absorbed the shock impact forces generated in use.
Bows
Preferred woods for bows in Europe during the prehistoric age were yew and elm, and there is no reason to believe this changed over the years. As the forging of metal developed, more metal was used to make the bows. Long bows were around since the prehistoric age and crossbows were first used by the Chinese and Greek military around the 5th to 4th Century BCE. They were made of yew or elm, with mechanisms of wood, bone, or metal. Composite bows were first seen in Egypt in 2800 BCE and their usage continued on in nearly all countries
After the Common Era began, the people of the Eurasian steppe brought the bow back to the fore. Using composite recurve bows, steppe peoples such as the Huns, Scythians, Turks, and Mongols became a dominant force in world affairs. The Huns used composite recurve bows shot from horseback around 400CE. The Byzantines also used bows from horseback, standing in their stirrups to provide unmatchable aim and power. By 900 CE, the Byzantines had foot archers.
The recurve bow of the Mongols was made from a backbone of birch wood, backed with sinew, and a belly of sheep or goat horn that was all glued together with the contents of fish bladders. While unstrung the bow was in the shape of a C but the recurve bent the C complete backwards, creating amazing high tension. A bow could take up to a year to make, but had a 70–160 pound draw weight and had an accurate range at 300 yards. Their maximum range was 600 yards. The shooter required a thumb ring to prevent injury when drawing. The Mongolian arrows were made of birch as well.
In 1252, the Assize of Arms in England insisted that all men between 15 and 60 were to “arm themselves,” with at least a bow and arrows. With this edict the longbow became popular. Originally a Welsh design, the English made it their weapon of choice until 1450. It was an extremely effective weapon in battle and could penetrate armor from a considerable distance.
The longbow was a "self" bow because it was made of one wood and not a composite. This made them easily constructed and thus cheaper. The wood used was Yew (Taxus baccata). The longbow was made from the bole of the tree (the trunk) versus the bough (the branches), specifically the boundary area between the heart and sap wood. The heart was strong in compression and the sap was good in tension. So, the bow was carved with the heart facing the archer and the sap facing the target. Cwicbeam,(cwictreow, cwicen) was used as a substitute for yew in the making of longbows. This is known to us as the Rowan or mountain ash. It was also good for tool handles.
A longbow could be up to 6 feet, six inches in length and the arrow length was a “cloth yard,” or the distance from the tip of the nose to the tip of the middle finger. This allowed for the maximum draw on the bowstring. The draw weight could be upwards of 160 pounds with a 36-inch pull, and could shoot up to 250 yards. It should be noticed that the Englishmen were not accurate at that range. They instead had speed; the rate of fire could be up to six to seven arrows a minute with the first arrow still in flight when the sixth or seventh arrow was fired.
The Chinese bow was originally of bamboo, then harder woods, and finally metal. The Japanese style of fighting with a bow, Kyūjutsu, was known as a warrior’s path from around 1185 to 1560, after which it steadily declined in popularity and became “the way of the bow, Kyūdō.” The Japanese bow was usually made of bamboo and other wood and was asymmetrical and large—around six feet to seven feet, gripped one third of the way from the bottom.
Clubs
Clubs were used since prehistoric times and branched out into such weapons as flails, maces, mauls, and war hammers. Most would have metal or wooden handles and heavy symmetrical heads for striking
On interesting type of club was the shillelagh (pronounced shih-LAY-lee or shih-LAY-lah). This weapon was a gnarled, hardwood club that the Celts carried since the days of the legendary Irish giant, Finn MacCool. The traditional walking stick's name comes from an old Gaelic word meaning “oak club,” and centuries ago these weapons were made of oak from a great forest near the village of Shillelagh in County Wicklow. They were and are also made from blackthorn. The wood would be smeared with butter and placed up a chimney to cure, giving the Shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance. Shillelaghs may be hollowed at the heavy "hitting" end and filled with molten lead to increase the weight; this sort of Shillelagh is known as a 'loaded stick'. They are commonly the length of a walking stick (distance from the floor to one's wrist with elbow slightly bent). Most also have a heavy knob for a handle that can be used for striking as well as parrying and disarming an opponent.
Before the eighth century, they were used to settle old family feuds at village fairs. The shillelagh was but grasped in the middle with both fists and brought down on the head. Sometimes a strong man would use two shillelaghs—one to fend off attacks, and the other to bash with.
In Finland, curly birch was used to make cudgels and weapon handles and the skills and knowledge of material of ordinary people remained without practical applications, being channeled into decorative objects and as means of self-expression. The best examples of this area are the many sports prizes and trophies that were made by hand. The last major demonstration of this type of craftsmanship was by Finnish soldiers at the eastern front during World War II. Curly birch could be found in the wilderness backwoods of Karelia and when the front remained in place for a long while there was also time to express memories, dreams and fears with this material that was often regarded as mystical.
Shields
Lime wood was a common material for shields. Also spruce has a very high strength-to-weight ratio: it is even higher than oak and ash. This wood would have been used for both shields and ships. For shields, the grain would be vertical (that way, a downstroke caught by the shield has a good chance of getting the weapon wedged into the wood).
Chinese Shields: Used white willow wood or pine for small handheld shields and “leaning” shields; light Swallowtail shields used Aleurites cordata, and the foot soldiers and cavalry used rattan.
Armor
The cotton that was introduced from Arabia to Europe in the 1300 created acton, a type of quilted jerkin for use under mail.
Gunpowder
The development of gunpowder, a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur in a 75:15:10 ratio and muskets and the growing size of armies slowly led to the replacement of other weapons of war, causing them to be being relegated to sport and hobby. The development of gunpowder began in China as early as the 8th century and was used in military practice by 1100. Frances Bacon mentions firecrackers (circa 1250) and England recognized its uses by 1300. In Europe, hazelwood, willow, or linden was used to make the charcoal.
Violence for Trade
From the 17th to 18th centuries, the entirety of Europe felled their oak forests to build large fleets of battleships.Black pepper was the cause of numerous wars between the countries. The French, Portuguese, and Dutch often went to war in the Middle Ages to fight for this lucrative trade from the far East. During the 1400s, all government employees and soldiers in China were partially paid black pepper for their salaries.
Myristica fragrans The Dutch managed to establish control over the Banda Islands after an extended military campaign that culminated in the massacre or expulsion of most of the islands' inhabitants in 1621. Thereafter, the Banda Islands were run as a series of plantation estates, with the Dutch mounting annual expeditions in local war-vessels to extirpate nutmeg trees planted elsewhere.
When the Europeans, in the Age of Exploration, finally found the clove-producing islands, they took enormous interest in securing a constant spice supply: The few tourists visiting the small island of Ternate (9 km diameter) will be surprised to find crumbling remnants of about 10 fortresses, built by Portuguese, Spanish, British, and finally Dutch soldiers in the 16th and early 17th centuries. During all of the 17th century, the Dutch kept an effective monopoly in the clove trade, which guaranteed high profits to them.
War Injuries
During the eighth century A.D., Charlemagne demanded that Mallows be cultivated in his domain for his armies due to its healing capacity.
Yarrow remained in use as the folk healer's styptic ever since. In the Middle Ages it became "knight's milfoil" and proved useful in the aftereffects of jousting. It was used in the Crusades when monastic apothecaries called it wound wort. Also known as "carpenter's herb," it was cultivated around the workshops for a handy botanical bandage.
St. John’s wort was first known to be used in the Crusades. Hypericum, it is said, was used by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem to treat wounds on the battlefields.
A Gaelic Chronicle of 1014 relates that the wounded in the battle of Clontarf “stuffed their wounds with moss,” and the Highlanders after Flodden stanched their bleeding wounds by filling them with bog moss and soft grass.
Burnet can slow the flow of internal and external bleeding, and has therefore been used for hundreds of years by soldiers. The Hungarians used the herb to help heal their wounds after a battle.
Agrimony was a part of aquebusade water on the battlefields for gunshot wounds and lady’s mantle was a popular wound remedy in battles of the 14th and 16th centuries.
Elemi (Canarium luzonicum) is distilled from the gum of a tree originating in the Philippines. It has been used in Europe for hundreds of years in salves for skin and is included in celebrated healing ointments such as baume parlytique. Elemi was used by a 17th-century physician, J. J. Wecker, on the battle wounds of soldiers.
During the Yuan dynasty (1115-1234) a Christian sentenced to a hard punishment is pardoned after using previously collected rhubarb to heal some soldiers.
In China, during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), shiitake mushroom was recorded as increasing stamina, and in the 15th century it was given to warrior priests for its energy-giving properties. Near the end of the dynasty, a Ming-general tried (in vain) to commit suicide by eating rhubarb medicine.
In the early years of Islam, dates served as food for Muslim warriors. They used to carry them in special bags hung at their sides. They are the best stimulant for muscles and so the best food for a warrior about to engage in battle.
Chivalry and Knightly Pleasantries
Borage: Borage flowers were added to stirrup cups given to the Crusaders because they were believed to instill courage. Same as for medieval tournaments. Ladies would embroider silk handkerchiefs with borage flowers and use them as favors.
History notes that warriors took thyme-infused baths before going off to battle and ladies embroidered thyme sprigs on their soldier’s tunics. During the Middle Ages it was customary for ladies to present to their knights a scarf on which a sprig of thyme had been embroidered, often with a bee hovering over it. Knights were also given sprigs of thyme by their ladies as tokens of courage before they went into battle.
Other Medieval Symbolism and Legends
“Yet he had on no hauberk, nor a helmet for his head, neither neck-guard nor breastplate to break heavy blows, neither shaft nor shield for the shock of combat. But he held in one hand a sprig of holly that bursts out greenest when branches are bare; and his other hand hefted a huge and awful ax, a broad battleax with a bit to tell (take it who can) with a large head four feet long….”
The holly was used by the Green Knight to signify his peaceful intentions.
“The club-moss is on my person, No harm nor mishap can me befall; No sprite shall slay me, no arrow shall wound me, no fay nor dun water-nymph shall tear me.” —From Alexander Carmichael's Carmina Gadelica
Usnea was the name given particularly to the moss or mildew that grew upon the skulls of the dead. Of particular value was that from the skull of a man who had been hanged, especially if 'hung in chains.' It was an important ingredient in the 'sympathetic ointment' with which the weapon that had produced a wound was anointed, for the purpose of curing the wound itself.
The old names of elder, Danewort and Walewort (wal-slaughter), are supposed to be traceable to an old belief that it sprang from the blood of slain Danes. It grows near Slaughterford in Wilts, that being the site of a great Danish battle. Another notion is that it was brought to England by the Danes and planted on the battlefields and graves of their slain countrymen. In Norfolk it still bears the name of Danewort and Blood Hilder (Blood Elder).
St. John’s wort was first used in the Crusades to treat battle wounds. Later, in medieval times, it was worn around neck by soldiers to protect them from harm.
Highlanders sewed twigs of rowan in the lining of their clothes before battle. Also Scottish Clan chiefs and warriors were buries under pines. The Mistletoe is the ancient badge of clan Hay. Frazer's Golden Bough relates how the fate of the Perthshire Hays was influenced by mistletoe. A sprig cut with a dirk on All-Hallowmass Eve was a sure charm against witchery and against wound or death in battle. Traditionally in Scandinavia, if enemies met under mistletoe they would lay down their weapons and not fight until the following day.
Knights returning from the Crusades may have introduced the gallica rose to Britain. Gallica officinalis (a.k.a. the Apothecary Rose) was the Red Rose of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses. The White Rose of York is believed to have been either alba semi-plena or alba Maxima.
In his version of those down-and-dirty conflicts, Shakespeare has Richard saying: "Let him that is a true-born gentleman/ And stands upon the honor of his birth.../ From off this brier pluck a white rose with me." Somerset retorts, "Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer,/ But dare maintain the party of the truth,/ Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me."
Upon rising to power in 1485, Henry the VII chose to symbolize the union of the two warring families by creating a new symbol—the ‘Apothecary’s Rose’ laid atop the rosa alba— a new rose with inner white and outer red petals—and called it the Tudor Rose. To this day, the emblem of England is still the Tudor Rose.
Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) was used as a talisman on banners and shields to protect war-horses and hopefully their riders.
It is also said that if you wrap a whole amaranth sprig and root, fold it up in a piece of white paper and place this next to your breast you will be guarded against all weapons.
Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) is questionably toxic, but was also carried for protection from all weapons.
Legend has it the Earl of Sutherland plucked a sprig of Butcher’s broom and set it in his hat so his soldiers could identify him in battle and it became the emblem of Sutherland. There is a similar story of the Clan Ranald, which dates back to 1544, when a battle was said to have been won because the MacDonalds stuck white heather in their bonnets.
The oak held a place of special importance with the English as the whole edifice of their Empire rested ultimately on the majestic tree; nearly all of the ships that made them such a great naval power were constructed of oak wood. The iron used for their weapons was also smelted using oak wood.
In Henna-growing countries, it is used to celebrate battle victories.
In Japan during the War of Dynasty in 1357, each warrior wore a yellow chrysanthemum as a pledge of courage.
QUICKIE GAMING IDEAS TO ADD TO YOUR FANTASY SETTINGS
- Don’t let a character have a kick-ass bow if he doesn’t have the strength to string it.
- Symbolism is huge in this era, flowers especially; make sure that armies use identifying banners or even actual flowers when at war.
- Battle wounds are likely to get a character killed from the treatment as well as the injury; people putting skull moss into a wound isn’t the best way to cure it. However, in a magic-oriented setting, take the “War Injuries” list and give them some magic potency.
- In fact, look through the symbolism and magic list; if a plant is believed to stop all injuries on the battlefield, give the character a bonus to evade. Or give it to an NPC and really annoy the characters.
- Center a war around a specific plant or plant product with legendary status. Ship attacks onto islands filled with people trying to protect their home are always interesting.
- That whole concept of the grain of shields being vertical to catch the blade—use that and add a risk factor to make it more realistic.
- Get the party involved in a family feud that settles things with clubs. This is more for your amusement.
Coming Next: Plants used in Modern-Day Warfare
