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Old February 22, 2018, 06:44 PM   #1
Rachen
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"No knight likes gunfire..."

"No knights like gunfire"...so says Gotz von Berlichingen, one of the most infamous, intriguing and colorful personalities in history. He was a minor nobleman from Wurttemberg who had distinguished himself in battle numerous times on behalf of the Holy Roman Emperor and was thus awarded the much cherished title of Imperial Knight, or Reichsritter.

In 1505, during the Battle of Landshut, when Gotz fought on behalf of Duke Albert IV of Bavaria against the forces of the Palatinate, a cannon shell fired from behind his own lines slammed into his upraised arm, which held his sword as he was in the middle of giving an order to charge. The arm was shattered completely but thanks to the ingenuity of the legendary craftsmen of Nuremburg, Gotz was presented with a fully functional all-metal prosthesis outfitted with springs and ball bearings for the movement of each individual digit, a relic that would put the most ardent steampunk enthusiast in a state of awe, and from then on, Gotz von Berlichingen, one of the most decorated knights during a time when the chivalric elite were fighting for their survival, would be forever known as Gotz the Iron Hand.

One of the most interesting things about Gotz is that he is almost vehemently against the use of firearms, both artillery and small arms, in any circumstance and once declared that even Imperial messengers riding onto his lands to deliver orders to him from the Emperor himself must relinquish their arquebuses and leave them somewhere off the property. He almost resembled the widely used modern trope of a fictional gallant superhero who absolutely refuses to pick up a lethal weapon or use lethal force against an adversary, no matter how perilous of the conditions he may have found himself in.

Was Gotz a rare case in an era when gunpowder is beginning to dominate the political and religious boundaries of Europe and the Orient? Perhaps not, as the pictures below will show. In the 1500s, the knighthood of Europe, which had reigned supreme for the last 800 years, was facing extinction. In the west, the old order of French cavaliers had been cut to bloody shreds by a hail of English longbow arrows in one of the bloodiest and most protracted conflicts ever fought. And in the east, a new and ambitious German emperor is bringing some of the world's largest and most powerful artillery pieces to bear on the castles of feudal lords who once believed themselves to be immune from the imperial decrees, conquering their estates one after another and laying the groundwork for the creation of a modern Germany.

For the few remaining knights left, it was a matter of survival. Even the most heavily armored horseman is no match for bullets shot from a musket and even the smallest of the wagon drawn culverines can reduce the most mightiest castle to rubble, given enough time to load and fire repeatedly.

But not all knights were opposed to this new radical change in warfare. Perhaps the greatest knight in Europe at this time, none other than Gotz von Berlichingen's greatest benefactor, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian "Sir Steel Heart" not only welcomed the change but made sure that it will be the way future wars are fought, to the great chagrin of his fellow compatriots who swore to defend their fiefs, titles and inherited nobility to their deaths.

Who would have believed that Maximilian, one who held the old principles of chivalry to the highest regard, would create the most fearsome army of infantry seen in the western world yet, drawn from the ranks of peasants and city dwellers and armed with the musket and long-handled pike. They were known as Landsknechts and their effectiveness in battle against armored cavalry would prove to be the death knell for feudal lords and their iron-fisted grip over large swaths of the country, paving the way for the emergence of the nation-state with a centralized government as the way of the future.

But, as said by one of the greatest military and martial arts philosophers Miyamoto Mushashi: "Fixation is the way to death. Fluidity is the way to life".



This suit of armor is in the Tower of London and is reportedly used in the English Civil War of the Puritan revolution. One of the most striking features of this example of late Renaissance armament is the large caliber bullet hole in the upper abdomen. I have seen this same picture circulated on many other sites before and most of them are in agreement that not only were full suits of tournament-grade armor still being worn on the battlefield as late as the 1680s, but their wearers tried to counter the effects of more powerful small-arms by BOOSTING and REINFORCING existing armor, adding double and even triple plates of steel sandwiched between layers of chainmail. That would have made such a suit so heavy and cumbersome that it would have been impossible to move around, much less actually fight. This could have been the main cause of the modern myth that all medieval armor were cumbersome and impractical to wear, a notion that was only born from the frustrations of late 17th century armorers in the face of newer and more powerful guns. (In contrast to 19th century romanticists and even some modern day "historical" writers who may not know any better, actual medieval armor from the Arthurian-Norman-Crusades era were highly mobile and easy to manage, as well as extremely effective in protecting their wearers against the weapons of their day.) The suit pictured above reportedly had additional plates of steel underneath the top layer that had been punctured by the bullet, and that the ball is still lodged in the mail between the plates. In any given chance, the unfortunate soldier who wore this particular piece on that day would still have suffered extensive internal-organ damage due to the shock of the projectile's impact.



Now this image is one part of a series of woodcuts done by 17th century Prussian military strategist Johann von Wallhausen as illustrations for his most important manual titled "The Art of War on Horseback". Written in 1621, this engraving seems to show a mounted lancer wearing obsolete armor executing a highly outdated form of fighting that would seem ridiculous in an age when firearms have almost completely dominated the battlefield. Look at the image closely though. On the side of the horseman's saddle is clearly depicted a holster for a large pistol or a small carbine. This type of holster would be in continuous use even to the present day and the way the holster is carried on the saddle allows for immediate and rapid access to the firearm within. Was this an attempt by the knighthood to modernize and adapt their traditions with a new and highly dynamic age? Perhaps so. After all, von Wallhausen and his contemporaries were still members of a chivalrous elite who cherished their titles of nobility and prized their skills on horsemanship, single combat and the show and glamour of a knightly pageantry. They would have been reluctant to give up their armor, swords and lances. But they would still have been pragmatic enough to realize that new problems require new solutions.

Highly interesting relics from an age where science and exploration seemed to offer unlimited salvation and the world was changing at a pace just as rapidly and unpredictably as the 20th century had been. Imagine what would it have been like to talk to both a 17th century Landsknecht and a mounted "knight" about their views on gun politics. The argument would have undoubtedly been heated, although the "knight" would eventually have to recognize the superiority and the future place of the firearm in combat. At the same time, any mention of firearm ownership by civilians would have been met with scorn and ridicule from him, as he would have been aware of just how detrimental citizen fighters with longbows and guns have been against his fellow warrior elites. But for the Landsknecht of peasant origin, the simple arquebus was his liberation and protection against those who would have traditionally trampled upon his freedom. Interestingly enough, von Wallhausen's promotion of the "gun-toting knight" would survive in practical use for at least 100 more years since it's inception. During the 1683 siege of the city of Vienna by the Ottoman forces under the command of Kara Mustafa, the only thing that broke the Turkish stranglehold on the city and shattered the Turkish ranks was a mass charge by an army of Polish Hussars wearing full visored combat armor and carrying lances. According to legend, upon seeing the destruction of his army during the combined Polish and Hapsburg counterattack, Kara Mustafa mounted his horse, drew his saber and attempted a suicidal one-man charge against a detachment of horsemen that included the King of Poland himself. Mustafa got to within 20 yards of the group before a fusillade of pistol balls from the Hussars blasted through his body and toppled him, dead to the ground.
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Old February 23, 2018, 07:33 PM   #2
cjwils
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This reminds me of the that old cliche: God made men but Sam Colt made them equal. (Or something like that.)

Knights needed lots of expensive equipment and lots of on-going training, but guns can level the jousting field.
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Old February 24, 2018, 02:18 AM   #3
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Thank you, that was an interesting read.
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Old February 27, 2018, 02:34 AM   #4
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Quote:
Look at the image closely though. On the side of the horseman's saddle is clearly depicted a holster for a large pistol or a small carbine.
Maybe, not clearly. 1. knights carried several types of weapons in holsters connected to their saddles. So if that is a holster we can't assume it is a firearm. 2. Given the relationship of foot and lower leg to what is described as a holster, we might instead be looking at the whatever the medieval equivalent of a fender a stirrup combo is.
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Old February 27, 2018, 04:32 AM   #5
ballardw
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I'm not sure exactly which part of which image but the use of a lance often involves having a "holster" to hold the lance while not actually using it.
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Old February 27, 2018, 06:58 AM   #6
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Knights also didn’t like crossbows...I believe they were subject to some of the first weapons control laws.
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Old February 27, 2018, 11:42 AM   #7
Lohman446
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Quote:
This reminds me of the that old cliche: God made men but Sam Colt made them equal. (Or something like that.)

Knights needed lots of expensive equipment and lots of on-going training, but guns can level the jousting field
There is a tremendous amount of truth here. Those who possess the ability to rule over others by force are often reluctant to give up that ability.
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Old March 2, 2018, 04:24 PM   #8
Rachen
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Quote:
Thank you, that was an interesting read.
You're welcome The story of Gotz von Berlichingen was new to me and it inspired the making of this post once I delved further into the period of time which he lived in.

Quote:
Maybe, not clearly. 1. knights carried several types of weapons in holsters connected to their saddles. So if that is a holster we can't assume it is a firearm. 2. Given the relationship of foot and lower leg to what is described as a holster, we might instead be looking at the whatever the medieval equivalent of a fender a stirrup combo is.
That is an interesting point. I am trying to figure out what other type of weapon or equipment could have went into that particular case that is depicted on the woodcut. A mace could have been one of the other possibilties though the large business end of the mace would not have fit into that holster. If you look at the knight(s) on the left part of the woodcut they are also carrying that type of holster on their right sides, and the knights on the right hand have the thing on their left side. Given that this print was made in 1621, a "brace of wheellocks" may have been the likely candidate. But then, I could be wrong.

Quote:
I'm not sure exactly which part of which image but the use of a lance often involves having a "holster" to hold the lance while not actually using it.
Look at the place right in front of the rider's thigh and calf. The holster resembles one of the Union Army's 1863 line of holsters for the M1860 Colt that have a large opening flap and a rounded muzzle end that has a hard leather "cap" making up the round portion. The riders on both the left and right hand sides of the picture have these holsters so it is safe to assume that each individual rider is probably carrying two of them, one on each side. If so, that would have likely been the "brace of pistols" that a 16th-18th century cavalryman usually carried.
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Old March 2, 2018, 05:29 PM   #9
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An absolutely first rate fictional story of knights and cannons is:
Beware of the Mouse
Here's its blurb from Amazon:
Quote:
Set in the year 1450, the tiny Duchy of Grand Fenwick, ruled by the benevolent and noble Sir Roger and armed with its army of expert longbowmen, had existed peacefully without threat of invasion for decades. But when a rascally Irish Knight stumbles across its borders with news that the French were set to attack and that they had a new weapon of mass destruction called "the cannon," the Irishman and Sir Roger must find a way to drop their differences and fight together.
https://www.amazon.com/Beware-Mouse-...e+of+the+mouse

It's a fun read that I would recommend to everyone. It's part of 'The Mouse that Roared' series. But the books are much better than the movies.
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Old March 2, 2018, 08:50 PM   #10
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Rachen, what a fascinating post!

It's interesting to watch the world recognize and value the potential and importance of gunpowder. In the east, Roman Emperor Constantine XI desperately wanted to retain the services of a master cannon builder named Orban. The Empire couldn't afford him, so he offered his services to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Mehmed would use Orban's cannons to breach the walls of Constantinople, and the city (and empire) fell after more than a millennium of existence.

It's amazing how one decision can change the world.
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