Weapons+and+War

** Weapons And War ** In Shakespeare's time weapons and war played an important role in people's everyday life. Weapons more so than warfare, but still both were important. Weapons were used by nearly everyone, but not everyone went to war. The subject of Elizabethan weapons and war can be broken down into three sub-categories weapons used by soldiers, weapons used by civilians, and the wars of the Elizabethan Era.

Soldiers Weapons

 Weapons used by soldiers were designed to do more damage than a civilian’s weapon, usually making them much heavier and clunkier. The reason for the extra bulk was that many weapons were designed to be armor-fighting, weapons such as maces, axes, and heavy cutting swords(Corfield, 47). While that was normally the case, there were two other general types of weapons made for combat, ranged weapons and weapons made for cavalry. Ranged weapons were used by skilled fighters that trained in archery. While this method of killing people from a distance seemed logical, but wasn't perfect. A crossbow could only fire two arrows per minute at a distance of 500 yards. A Longbow however, could shoot 10-12 arrows per minute, but at a shorter distance than the crossbow, and was less accurate(Corfield, 15.) Another kind of ranged weapon was the pole arm. The pole arm has different names and variations, but the idea is that the fighter runs or rides on a horse and stabs the opposition with this 6-10 foot spear-headed pole. Other weapons like this included the Halberd, similar to the spear, but with a dual sided axe on the end, and the pike which was essentially a really long spear, at about 18-20 feet.(Corfield, 48) Weapons were not exclusively for the soldier, some weapons were considered a fashion statement. Swords like the Rapier were a necessity for nobility.(Chrisp, 97)

The Rapier was similar to a sword you might see in a fencing match.(Olsen, 393)However weapons were used by people in every level of the caste system. People of nobility used the weapons as an accessory, others used weapons for self-defense. Often times a servant or apprentice would carry a club at night to defend their master’s property(Fitzpatrick, 317). If a servant found themselves in an altercation they would yell, ”Clubs!” and other servants would run and fight in a group to defend the first one(Fitzpatrick,318). Lighter weapons were also used, but for the same purpose of self-defense, such as knives or daggers. Other people used household and items as weapons, such as a meat cleaver or a garden tool(Fitzpatrick, 318), but this would have been used only in self-defense (muddy shovels weren’t fashionable.)

Elizabethan England had the world’s most powerful Navy.(Picard, 83)Their only rival was Spain, who they had a war with from 1585 – 1603(Picard, 208). The war between the two was over gaining new land in America and religious differences. At around the same time England had two more conflicts, both were rebellion. The Irish War was a family of Irish nobility rebelling against England in order to gain control of a piece of land, this conflict started in the 1560’s and went on for about 20 years. The other conflict was the Nine Years War, which was Irish Catholics rebelling against English Protestants, the Irish were supported in this conflict by the Spanish(Picard, 84-92). While the wars are relatively simple to understand and describe, it is important to remember that they took place over a long period of time.

In conclusion, weapons and war in Elizabethan times were important to people in their everyday life. While not everyone was a knight, weaponry could find its way into anyone’s hands, and wars were usually drawn out conflicts over religion.

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