10 Brutal Weapons Medieval Warriors Fought With

A knight in full plate should have been unbeatable. So how did weavers with spiked clubs, monks on castle walls, and a king with a giant trebuchet keep finding ways to beat him? Medieval weapons weren't just bigger and nastier versions of what came before. Each one solved a specific problem: stopping a cavalry charge, hurting a man wrapped in steel, capturing a nobleman alive for ransom, or knocking down a wall that had kept armies out for a century. In this video, we count down 10 brutal medieval weapons in the order they escalated the fight. We cover the Flemish militia who collected 500 pairs of golden spurs from dead French knights, the dagger nicknamed "mercy," the king whose ransom created the first franc, and the trebuchet Edward I refused to stop firing even after the enemy surrendered. Which weapon would you want in your hands against a charging knight? Tell us in the comments. 📚 SOURCES & FURTHER READING Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302) - Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Golden-Spurs - History Today: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/battle-golden-spurs - Church of Our Lady, Kortrijk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady,_Kortrijk Warhammer - The Met, French War Hammer, ca. 1450: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/25073 Le Jeu de la Hache (poleaxe manual) - Wiktenauer (text & translations): https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Le_Jeu_de_la_Hache_(MS_Fran%C3%A7ais_1996) - Sydney Anglo, Archaeologia (1991): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/archaeologia/article/abs/v-le-jeu-de-la-hache-a-fifteenthcentury-treatise-on-the-technique-of-chivalric-axe-combat/8A9FED46516D4EF99A90BD9DD4AA5A66 Ransom of John II & the first franc - Library of Congress, Franc à cheval: https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669835/ - Ransom of John II: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransom_of_John_II_of_France Crossbow ban, Second Lateran Council (1139) - Second Council of the Lateran: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_the_Lateran Viking Siege of Paris (885–886) & Abbo's poem - Siege of Paris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(885%E2%80%93886) - Abbo's "seven with one shot" passage, with Latin: https://www.purplemotes.net/2023/05/07/danes-besieging-paris-flyting/ Warwolf & the Siege of Stirling (1304) - Historic Environment Scotland: https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2024/04/the-war-wolf-at-stirling-castle/ - Siege of Stirling Castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Stirling_Castle_(1304) Some details in this video come from medieval chronicles and poems, which often exaggerate. Where a story is disputed, we say so. #medievalhistory #medievalweapons #history #knights #trebuchet #middleages #militaryhistory