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Battle of Blanchetaque 1346 - 100 Years War A Feat of Arms A very notable feat of arms took place on the morning of August 24th, 1346, in the marshy estuary of the River Somme. The small and starving English army of Edward III was in desperate need to cross to the north side of the river as staying where they were on the south side kept them bottled up between the sea and the river. But that wasn’t the worst of it, for th...

During the wild melee of battle, ranks mixed and battle often time broke down into a series of multiple duels or multi-soldier brawls. This confusion was perfect for a man on horseback with a sharp sword. The beast would cut a wide path and he could wade into almost any part of the battle he wanted and when he did you needed him to be from your camp or all was lost. Covered in mail dealing blows down on a lightly armed man the knight on horsebac...

Mail in this type of combat was very useful, but it was not long before pieces of plate armor began to be added at the elbows and knees and then to other areas of the body. This evolution spawned another and the arms race was on! One popular adaption was the increasing use of impact weapons like hammers, axes, maces, flails and clubs. Through the inventive change in circumventing the better armor of the day (300100), the sword still...