Middle Ages Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Military and technology=== [[File:Leo Phokas defeats Hambdan at Adrassos.png|thumb|left|upright=1.3|alt=Eight horsemen in scale armour, each holding a lance chase nine horsemen with clouds wound about their heads|[[Byzantine battle tactics#Cavalry|Byzantine cavalry]] cheasing Muslim horsemen (a miniature from the 12th-century ''[[Madrid Skylitzes]]'')]] The creation of heavily armoured [[cataphract]]-type soldiers as cavalry was an important feature of the Later Roman military, although the deployment of highly specialised types of troops continued. The various invading tribes had differing emphases on types of soldiers—ranging from the primarily infantry Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain to the Vandals and Visigoths who had a high proportion of cavalry in their armies.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|pp=28–29}} The greatest change in military affairs was the adoption of the Hunnic [[composite bow]] in place of the weaker [[Scythia]]n composite bow.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|pp=30–31}} The Avar [[heavy cavalry]] introduced the use of [[stirrup]]s in Europe,{{sfn|Curta|2019|p=52}} and it was adopted by Byzantine cavalrymen before the end of the {{nowrap|6th century}}.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|p=41}} Another development was the increasing use of [[longsword]]s and the progressive replacement of [[scale armour]] by [[Mail (armour)|mail]] and [[lamellar armour]].{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|pp=34, 39}} The importance of infantry and light cavalry began to decline during the early Carolingian period, with a growing dominance of elite heavy cavalry, although a large proportion of the armies appear to have been [[mounted infantry]], rather than true cavalry.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|pp=58, 76}} The use of [[Conscription|militia-type levies]] of the free population declined. One exception was Anglo-Saxon England, where the armies were still composed of regional levies, known as the ''[[fyrd]]''.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|pp=59, 67}} In military technology, one of the main changes was the reappearance of the [[crossbow]] as a military weapon.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|p=80}} A technological advance that had implications beyond the military was the [[horseshoe]], which allowed horses to be used in rocky terrain.{{sfn|Nicolle|1996|pp=41, 88–91}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page