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What Life Was Like As A Medieval Soldier

Trista January 1, 2019 22 min

Battle of Agincourt, 15th-century miniature. Lambeth Palace Library, London, UK / The Bridgeman Art Library/Isis/Wikimedia Commons.

1. You Would Destroy Your Own Land to Discourage the Enemy

When an army was approaching, the leader would often send out an emissary to try to get the opposing force to surrender. Moreover, considering how large these armies were when they were traveling, usually on foot, through long stretches of countryside, there was no hiding when an enemy army was approaching. As such, opposing forces knew when they needed to prepare. They would often burn the surrounding countryside so that the approaching army would have no food. This was only the first step of many that they would take to prepare.

With a siege on the horizon, soldiers would stockpile food and supplies inside the castle so that they could hopefully outlast the surrounding army. They would also dig ditches that they could use to defend their territory, as well as set up pikes and fighting platforms. With the Vikings, however, the game changed. No one knew when a Viking raid was coming, as they came by water and were thereby able to launch surprise attacks. Standing defenses became a way of life to protect against Viking raids. And when they didn’t work, paying bribe money to make the Vikings go away was rarely considered to be beneath the defending army.

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice in Europe, 300-1500, by Helen Nicholson. Red Globe Press, 2003.

“Ekkehard of Aurach: On the Opening of the First Crusade.” Fordham University.

“25 Most Insane Medieval Weapons,” by List25 Team. List 25 History. May 14, 2007.

“Disease in the Middle Ages,” by Ellen Castelow. Historic UK.

“The Bow in Medieval Warfare.” Encyclopedia.com

“Medieval Warfare: How to Capture a Castle with Siegecraft.” Historynet. June 12, 2006.

“Five Fun Facts About Medieval Archery”. Medievalists.net.

“Stirling Castle skeletons reveal the brutal reality of medieval warfare say experts,” by Richard Moss. Culture 24. May 27, 2011.

“Medieval Sourcebook: Charlemagne: Summons to Army c. 804-11.” Fordham University.

Inscribing the Hundred Years’ War in French and English Cultures, ed. Denise Baker. State University of New York Press. 2000.

“The military activities of bishops, abbots and other clergy in England c.900-1200,” by Daniel Gerrard. University of Glasgow. 2011.