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Is it just me, or did shields seem to become very unpopular for combat in Western Europe around the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance?
When you look at illuminations and manuals from the High Middle Ages (like 1066-1200 or so), shields seem very popular. Most knights seemed to use a kite shield and a bastard sword or an equivalent.
But then when you look at illuminations from the 1300s-1500s, you notice that knights now were kitted out in full plate armor and usually fought with a longsword, without a shield, if they were using a sword.
I mean yeah the shortsword and buckler still existed but it didn't seem as popular, at least not in Germany and France.
Is there a reason for this change in technique? Did increased popularity of plate armor essentially make the shield obsolete?
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The availability of body armor increased your chances of survival without a shield. While plate armor was definitely good enough to forego shields, the proliferation of armor in general was a factor.
On top of this you had increasingly professional infantry deploying heavier and more elaborate weapons. These troops were also more mobile so they would be able to move away from showers of projectiles more quickly, or they were more experienced with building defenses and denying the enemy the chance to fire on them effectively in the first place.
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>>2716450
Solid steel protection for the arms plus gunpowder make them largely redundant.
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Gunpowder changed everything.
>Europeans are the sea people
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>>2716607
this
better armor + two handed weapons = no shield
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>>2716450
>illuminations not paintings
>GCSE history tier question
Really activates my almonds anon
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>>2716450
No need to have a shield to cover most of your body when you have plate to cover most of your body
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>>2716450
Most people used twohanded weapons, such as spears, pikes, polearms, ect. Since you have better armor and numbers to protect you, the shields are less needed.
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Yeah, you dont need a shield if you're coated in armour.
Video games and movies have ruined peoples perceptions of armour and now they dont realise just how protective armour is.
A guy in full plate with padding underneath and mail over the gaps is basically unkillable short of smashing his helmet in or shooting him with a gun/stupidly powerful crossbow
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>>2716756
You just blew my fucking mind.
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