Medieval ARMS And Armour Quiz#1

1. Crossbows shot farther than bows but were less accurate.

True

False

It's the opposite bows shot much farther but crossbows were better at aiming and especially good at sniping.

Explanation

It's the opposite bows shot much farther but crossbows were better at aiming and especially good at sniping.

2. Katanas were superior to longswords due to the two-three months of folding the high quality steel was given in a forge. Not only that they were sharpened for so long they could cut through machine gun barrels in WW2.

True

False

False. Japanese iron was inferior to European BUT they did create mechanical Damascus steel by folding the steel pushing out impurities and creating very high quality steel in comparison to what they were originally given in the end creating sword steel equal to or sometimes surpassing European steel depending on the smith. And while they were very sharp they were no where near sharp enough to cut heat treated armour or thick modern steel.

Explanation

False. Japanese iron was inferior to European BUT they did create mechanical Damascus steel by folding the steel pushing out impurities and creating very high quality steel in comparison to what they were originally given in the end creating sword steel equal to or sometimes surpassing European steel depending on the smith. And while they were very sharp they were no where near sharp enough to cut heat treated armour or thick modern steel.

3. Bows were easy to use weapons that untrained peasents used to kill unarmored opponents.

True

False

Some bows were easy to draw back but some warbows could be up to 110 lbs! just to pull back one arrow! (yes some mounted archers used 35 lb bows but they were hit and run harassing groups) Archers trained for a long time to reach military standard, English long bowmen shot anywhere from 5-20 arrows a minuet throughout a battle.

Explanation

Some bows were easy to draw back but some warbows could be up to 110 lbs! just to pull back one arrow! (yes some mounted archers used 35 lb bows but they were hit and run harassing groups) Archers trained for a long time to reach military standard, English long bowmen shot anywhere from 5-20 arrows a minuet throughout a battle.

4. Greatswords were often used like a spear one hand on the hilt and one on a dull portion of the blade.

True

False

Yes this was common it increased the accuracy of the sword significantly and made close quarters combat possible.

Explanation

Yes this was common it increased the accuracy of the sword significantly and made close quarters combat possible.

5. True or False: While Japanese swords were very sharp and nimble European swords were heavy and dull so they could crush armour.

True

False

False. Why would you fight with a dull cutting weapon? That's what maces were for!

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?105673-Debunking-European-Sword-Myths

Explanation

False. Why would you fight with a dull cutting weapon? That's what maces were for!

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?105673-Debunking-European-Sword-Myths

6. Rapiers were thin, light, swords designed only for the thrust and could break if used to cut, they were primarily used in civilian life.

Yes they were all of the above.

Yes but they were really only for show, guns quickly made swords of any kind obsolete to the public.

D) Rapiers varied greatly between each smith. True rapiers, and sword rapiers were different weapons and its impossible to determine exactly which was which. Each blade was unique and so handled/behaved differently in a fight. These were not used in war hardly ever due to their specialization in fighting only a handful of lightly or unarmored swordsmen, large amounts of armored soldiers with pole arms and axes would kill a rapierist in war. Rapiers usually weighed as much as arming swords and were longer than some longswords.

Explanation

D) Rapiers varied greatly between each smith. True rapiers, and sword rapiers were different weapons and its impossible to determine exactly which was which. Each blade was unique and so handled/behaved differently in a fight. These were not used in war hardly ever due to their specialization in fighting only a handful of lightly or unarmored swordsmen, large amounts of armored soldiers with pole arms and axes would kill a rapierist in war. Rapiers usually weighed as much as arming swords and were longer than some longswords.

7. What trait did swordsmen use most?

Strength

Dexterity

Endurance

All of the above?

Seriously one could never survive with one. Dexterity was a prime factor to all sword fighting, but strength in beating, and blocking was important, and endurance was important in maintaining a fight.

Explanation

Seriously one could never survive with one. Dexterity was a prime factor to all sword fighting, but strength in beating, and blocking was important, and endurance was important in maintaining a fight.

8. How much did swords usually weigh?

Swords weighed anywhere from 10-15 lbs each depending on the size and material.

That light naw I read they were at least 60lbs at the lightest!

On average most swords weighed in at around 2-3 lbs with larger swords sometimes weighing up to 4lbs.

Swords you mean spears right?

"Despite frequent claims to the contrary, Medieval swords were indeed light, manageable, and on average weighed less than four pounds. As leading sword expert Ewart Oakeshott unequivocally stated: "Medieval Swords are neither unwieldably heavy nor all alike - the average weight of any one of normal size is between 2.5 lb. and 3.5 lbs."

http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm#.VjA4HberTcs

Explanation

"Despite frequent claims to the contrary, Medieval swords were indeed light, manageable, and on average weighed less than four pounds. As leading sword expert Ewart Oakeshott unequivocally stated: "Medieval Swords are neither unwieldably heavy nor all alike - the average weight of any one of normal size is between 2.5 lb. and 3.5 lbs."

http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm#.VjA4HberTcs

9. When fighting a fully armoured opponent a swordsman would...

Cut through the weak plates on the shoulders.

Lunge full force this could sometimes pierce the armour enough to kill the enemy.

Don't believe me? watch the link below! BTW "ending him rightly" was actually a method in an old manuscript that well...doesn't really work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwuQPfvSSlo

Explanation

Don't believe me? watch the link below! BTW "ending him rightly" was actually a method in an old manuscript that well...doesn't really work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwuQPfvSSlo

10. How did knights get on to horses?

They used a crane to hoist the knight into the saddle.

They pulled themselves up?

Armoured knights didn't use horses they used Narwhals armed with sub machine guns.

Horses were trained to kneel to make it easier to mount.

Armour was only like 50-60 lbs distributed all about your body it wasn't that hard to mount a horse.

Explanation

Armour was only like 50-60 lbs distributed all about your body it wasn't that hard to mount a horse.