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The Norman Knight

The Weapons and Armor of the Norman heavy Cavalry

May 13, 2007 Joseph Allen McCullough

William the Conqueror's best troops at the battle of Hastings were his heavily armoured Norman Knights.

By the time that William, Duke of Normandy launched his invasion of England, his Norman warriors were only three generations removed from their Viking ancestors, but in that time a number of major changes had been made to their arms and armour.

The main weapon of a Norman knight in 1066 was his sword. Unlike the broadswords of the later Middle Ages that were little more than metal clubs, the sword of the Norman knight was double bladed and razor-sharp. It was designed for slicing through flesh and light armor and possessed a sharp point for stabbing. Swords were usually about 30 to 31 inches in length but could be longer. They were swung one-handed and used in conjunction with a shield.

The other common weapon of the Norman knight was the lance. Despite the name, this weapon was really a long wooden spear with a metal tip. In battle it would be couched under the arm during a cavalry charge in order to transmit the strength of the charging horse into the impact of the weapon. Once a melee was joined, a knight would reverse his grip on the lance and hold it above his head to strike down at enemies. The lance could also be thrown.

Some knights may have carried a mace instead of or in-addition to the sword. The mace consisted of a short wooden handle topped by a spiked metal ball. In the Bayeux tapestry, William is seen to be carrying a type of crude wood club. Although this may have been a weapon, it was more likely to be a badge of office to make William easier to identify on the battlefield.

The main armor of the Normans was the hauberk, a long chain-mail tunic that reached down to the knees and covered the arms to the elbows. Slits were cut in the front and back to facilitate riding on a horse. In some cases, the hauberk may have included a mail hood and an extra piece to cover the neck and face. On top of this, every knight would have worn a conical helmet that covered the top of the head. Most were also equipped with a nose-guard.

On his off-arm, the knight would have carried a wooden “kite-shield”. This type of shield was a relatively new invention which took the old round shield design and stretched out the bottom half to a point, much like a rounded kite. This style of shield benefited cavalry as the extra coverage at the bottom could be used to defend the rider’s legs and the horse’s flanks.

At the time of Hastings, the Norman knight was one of the best-armed and armored soldiers the world had ever seen, and a massed cavalry charge was the most devastating assault on the battlefield. The Saxon army had no equivalent to this fighting force, and it was only the terrain that kept them from being quickly overwhelmed.

The copyright of the article The Norman Knight in UK/Irish History is owned by Joseph Allen McCullough. Permission to republish The Norman Knight in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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Comments

Apr 26, 2008 2:23 AM
Guest :
Good information that helped me on my project!!
Oct 1, 2008 5:20 AM
Guest :
Great Work! It Really Helped Me On My History Assessment :)
Jan 8, 2009 9:55 AM
Guest :
thnx that really helped on my school project!
Jan 8, 2009 9:55 AM
Guest :
thnx that really helped on my school project!
Jan 13, 2009 9:57 AM
Guest :
This is brill for my prodject thanks a buch!:) XD
Jan 21, 2009 1:11 PM
Guest :
Yeah Same Lol.
Great For My Norman Project...
Jan 31, 2009 5:44 AM
Guest :
Yeah thanks that really helped me on my History homework. :)
Jan 31, 2009 5:46 AM
Guest :
Thanks alot it really helped me on my history assessment :) :P
Mar 10, 2009 1:49 PM
Guest :
Thx for the awesome info
Fantabulous-for aidan
Mar 29, 2009 10:23 AM
Guest :
thanks for the information on the Normans .
It was really helpful when I was doing my school prodject!
Apr 8, 2009 8:21 PM
Guest :
I think everyone that left a comment is in my class...working on the same project. Thanks for the info anyways!
Apr 26, 2009 11:44 AM
Guest :
Thank you!
May 10, 2009 8:38 AM
Guest :
Thanks very much this infor mation was really good for my project. Hope my friends will look at it as well
Aug 18, 2009 3:30 AM
Guest :
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good info. =]
Aug 18, 2009 3:51 AM
Guest :
Thanks, this info has really helped me with my history coursework. Thank yoouuuuuuu!
Sep 9, 2009 3:03 PM
Guest :
I wish the Anglo-Saxons had their own heavy cavalry. Even though I'm a Korean-American, I really admire Anglo-Saxon England and its culture. Unlike the Normans, England's kings were elected by the Witan instead of hereditary succession. And Anglo-Saxon women were accorded with remarkable status and legal rights (at least compared to Norman women). Even William the Bastard (bastard he was born and bastard he lived) retained much of Anglo-Saxon laws and bureaucracy. Nowhere in Christian Europe (besides Byzantium) was there a rich and well-administered country. I would even argue that the Magna Carta was an inevitable outgrowth of Anglo-Saxon sensibilities in good governance and rights for the free man. And Harold Godwinson (even his name is impressive!) was a truly great king. The sheer speed and audacity he did at Stamford Bridge against his insidious brother Tostig and Harald Hardraada is amazing. And he nearly beat the Normans and their bastard duke several weeks later at Hastings had the fyrd not broke ranks and pursued the fleeing Bretons. It's also a pity that William didn't get cleaved instead of his horse. Like Tolkien, it would have far more refreshing to see an England that would have defeated the Normans with their own heavy cavalry. No imposition of an alien government and language to corrupt and oppress the English peoples for the next 4 centuries under the Norman and Plantagenant kings.
Oct 10, 2009 6:52 AM
Guest :
alright!
Now I have good grades.
17 Comments
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