page_title: Military history
section_title: Middle-ages
hierarchical_section_title: Military history / Technological evolution / Middle-ages
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 『蒙古襲来絵詞』後巻、絵十六【弘安の役】敵船に乗り込む竹崎季長と大矢野三兄弟、応戦する敵船。
context_page_description: Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships.
  Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had a major impact on the societies involved as well as the aftermath of conflicts, while amateur historians and hobbyists often take a larger interest in the details of battles, equipment and uniforms in use.
  The essential subjects of military history study are the causes of war, the social and cultural foundations, military doctrine on each side, the logistics, leadership, technology, strategy, and tactics used, and how these changed over time. On the other hand, Just War Theory explores the moral dimensions of warfare, and to better limit the destructive reality caused by war, seeks to establish a doctrine of military ethics.
context_section_description: Some of the military unit types and technologies which were used in the medieval period are:
  Artillery
  Cataphract
  Condottieri
  Fyrd
  Rashidun
  Mobile guard
  Mamluk
  Janissary
  Knight (see also: Chivalry)
  Crossbow
  Pikeman
  Samurai
  Sipahi
  Trebuchet
  Bows and arrows were often used by combatants. Egyptians shot arrows from chariots effectively. The crossbow was developed around 500 BC in China, and was used a lot in the Middle Ages. The English/Welsh longbow from the 12th century also became important in the Middle Ages. It helped to give the English a large early advantage in the Hundred Years' War, even though the English were eventually defeated. The Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Agincourt are excellent examples of how to destroy an enemy using a longbow. It dominated battlefields for over a century.
caption: Japanese samurai boarding Mongol ships in 1281
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