These crests were created and then passed from father to son, son to grandson, etc. By the 13th century, crests had evolved from battlefield emblems into a way for royal and affluent or knightly families to distinguish themselves and their history. Swords were the livelihood of their knights in many cases, and were thus depicted as extremely important in all aspects of the life, death and afterlife of knights.Ĭrests served many purposes even off of the battlefield. Some swords owned by particularly honorable or pious knights were given names and even told to be imbued with magical properties, some of which are still part of western culture today, such as Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur.
As was the case with many different pieces of the medieval knights fighting equipment, the broadsword became almost part of the knight, and the knight was seldom depicted without his blade, whether it was out and gleaming in depictions of battle, sheathed but ready in depictions of courtly atmospheres, or even held tightly by a knight after his death, as was shown on the tombs of most knights. The medieval knight could use his trusty broadsword to fight his enemies either from horseback or on foot, although knights often preferred to fight from horseback whenever possible. The broadsword was a double edged sword used for cutting and hacking as opposed to stabbing. The broadsword was the weapon of choice for knights all around Europe, but had been widely used beginning in the 6th century, well before the emergence of knights. Although the hand grenade was never “standard issue” or widespread by any means during the Middle Ages, inventive medieval knights engineers and soldiers created a weapon which would stand the test of time and is a staple of modern warfare. Before long, creative soldiers and knights had filled ceramic jars with gunpowder and added fuses to their new devices, creating a new weapon which would being continually renovated, even in the militaries of today.
The concept for the hand grenade had been at least available to the warriors of medieval europe for as long as gunpowder had been available to them, as powder stores for their cannons would sometimes catch fire and cause large explosions. That being said, knights and those who wished to eliminate knights were always searching for an edge on the battlefield, and so interesting new weapons were developed, not the least important of which was the hand grenade.
Gunpowder was a part of medieval warfare beginning in the 14th century, with the emergence of early European cannons and hand cannons, but grenades never really became a staple of European warfare.
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