History Analysis / JoustingLance

It was during the 12th century that the famous shock charge of knights with lances couched under the arm became dominant and widespread in Western Europe. Throughout the Early Middle Ages, infantry had tended to dominate the battlefield, and cavalry were generally employed as skirmishing rather than shock units. The way that they used the spear--stabbing from horseback with an overhand or underhand grip, or throwing their spears at the enemy--was suited to their hit-and-run style of combat. Eventually, somebody figured out that if they couched the spear tightly under the armpit, they could ride into the enemy at speed, and hit with more force because the spear wouldn't shoot back as much upon impact. While the couched spear wouldn't literally hit with the entire weight of both horse and rider behind it because of various inefficiencies in the chain of motion--and if it did, the necessary equal and opposite reaction would be more than the user could handle--it did hit hard enough to make things like penetrating a mail shirt or knocking an enemy off his feet (or horse) a real possibility. When a large formation of horsemen riding shoulder-to-shoulder charged at an enemy formation with couched lances, they could inflict serious damage. If the enemy folded immediately the horsemen might just blow through them and keep on riding in pursuit of any that tried to flee; if the momentum of the charge was stopped before they got all the way through, they could drop their unwieldly or broken lances in favor of swords for the close-quarters fight.

It was during the 12th century that the famous shock charge of knights with lances couched under the arm became dominant and widespread in Western Europe. Throughout the Early Middle Ages, infantry had tended to dominate the battlefield, and cavalry were generally employed as skirmishing rather than shock units. They way that they used the spear--stabbing from horseback with an overhand or underhand grip, or throwing their spears at the enemy--was suited to their hit-and-run style of combat. Eventually, somebody figured out that if they couched the spear tightly under the armpit, they could ride into the enemy at speed, and hit with more force because the spear wouldn't shoot back as much upon impact. While the couched spear wouldn't literally hit with the entire weight of both horse and rider behind it because of various inefficiencies in the chain of motion--and if it did, the necessary equal and opposite reaction would be more than the user could handle--it did hit hard enough to make things like penetrating a mail shirt or knocking an enemy off his feet (or horse) a real possibility. When a large formation of horsemen riding shoulder-to-shoulder charged at an enemy formation with couched lances, they could inflict serious damage. If the enemy folded immediately the horsemen might just blow through them and keep on riding in pursuit of any that tried to flee; if the momentum of the charge was stopped before they got all the way through, they could drop their unwieldly or broken lances in favor of swords for the close-quarters fight.

Early examples were built like ordinary spears, except somewhat thicker and longer. In the 13th century, a disc called a 'graper' was added that sits behind the hand and braces the lance more securely against the shoulder and armpit. The 14th century added a funnel-shaped handguard called the 'vamplate'. By the 15th century the heavy lance had evolved into quite a different thing than the simple spear. As the name indicates it was significantly thicker and heavier than the light version, since extra mass allows it to hit the target with more force and momentum. In order to keep the balance manageable, it swelled in thickness at the back and tapered towards the point. A hand grip was cut out of the thickened rear section, giving it a kind of hourglass shape. The heavy lance could still be used for spear techniques other than the couched charge, but a spear-type light lance was more suited for that. Therefore, the [[LightningBruiser fully armored heavy cavalry]] tended to use the heavy lance while [[FragileSpeedster light cavalry]] preferred the light lance.

Early examples were built like ordinary spears, except somewhat thicker and longer. In the 13th century, a disc called a 'graper' was added that sits behind the hand and braces the lance more securely against the shoulder and armpit. The 14th century added a funnel-shaped handguard called the 'vamplate'. By the 15th century the heavy lance had evolved into quite a different thing than the simple spear. As the name indicates it was significantly thicker and heavier than the light version, since extra mass allows it to hit the target with more force and momentum. In order to make keep the balance manageable, it swelled in thickness at the back and tapered towards the point. A hand grip was cut out of the thickened rear section, giving it a kind of hourglass shape. The heavy lance could still be used for spear techniques other than the couched charge, but a spear-type light lance was more suited for that. Therefore, the [[LightningBruiser fully armored heavy cavalry]] tended to use the heavy lance while [[FragileSpeedster light cavalry]] preferred the light lance.

Early examples were built like ordinary spears, except somewhat thicker and longer. In the 13th century, a disc called a 'graper' was added that sits behind the hand and braces the lance more securely against the shoulder and armpit. The 14th century added a funnel-shaped handguard called the 'vamplate'. By the 15th century the heavy lance had evolved into quite a different thing than the simple spear. As the name indicates it was significantly thicker and heavier than the light version, since extra mass allows it to hit the target with more force and momentum. In order to make it balance well, it swelled in thickness at the back and tapered towards the point. A hand grip was cut out of the thickened rear section, giving it a kind of hourglass shape. The heavy lance could still be used for spear techniques other than the couched charge, but a spear-type light lance was more suited for that. Therefore, the [[LightningBruiser fully armored heavy cavalry]] tended to use the heavy lance while [[FragileSpeedster light cavalry]] preferred the light lance.

Early examples were built like ordinary spears, except somewhat thicker and longer. In the 13th century, a disc called a 'graper' was added that sits behind the hand and braces the lance more securely against the shoulder and armpit. The 14th century added a funnel-shaped handguard called the 'vamplate'. By the 15th century the heavy lance had evolved into quite a different thing than the simple spear. As the name indicates it was significantly thicker and heavier than the light version, since extra mass allows it to hit the target with more force and momentum. In order to make it balance well. it swelled in thickness at the back and tapered towards the point. A hand grip was cut out of the thickened rear section, giving it a kind of hourglass shape. The heavy lance could still be used for spear techniques other than the couched charge, but a spear-type light lance was more suited for that. Therefore, the [[LightningBruiser fully armored heavy cavalry]] tended to use the heavy lance while [[FragileSpeedster light cavalry]] preferred the light lance.

Although we call it the "jousting lance" here because that's what most people associate lances with, jousting is simply a regulated sport based on the way that knights fought with the lance in war. The steel-tipped lance couched under the arm had become the preferred weapon of knights by the 12th century, but at first they differed from [[BladeOnAStick regular spears]] only in being slightly thicker and longer. In the 13th century a flange called a 'graper' was added that sits behind the hand and braces the lance more securely against the shoulder and armpit. The 14th century added a funnel-shaped handguard called the 'vamplate', and by the 15th century heavy lances were being made with an hourglass-style shaped handgrip, such that the shaft was thick on either side of the grip and tapered towards the butt and point. The [[LightningBruiser fully armored heavy cavalry]] used this kind of shaped lance, while [[FragileSpeedster light cavalry]] preferred straight, simple spears. At first, lances for peaceful jousting simply had a blunt head or coronel substituted for the sharp point of war. As the joust became more regulated and ritualized, special jousting lances were often fluted and made hollow so that they would dramatically shatter against the opponent's shield or armor on impact. The use of the lance in battle didn't completely die out in Western Europe until the 17th century when it was [[https://myarmoury.com/feature_lancepistol.html fully superseded by sword and pistol]], and it was revived in the 18th and 19th century in the form of the light cavalry spear rather than the heavy lance of yore.

Although we call it the "jousting lance" here because that's what most people associate lances with, jousting is simply a regulated sport based on the way that knights fought with the lance in war. The steel-tipped lance couched under the arm had become the preferred weapon of knights by the 12th century, but at first they differed from [[BladeOnAStick regular spears]] only in being slightly thicker and longer. In the 13th century a flange called a 'graper' was added that sits behind the hand and braces the lance more securely against the shoulder and armpit. The 14th century added a funnel-shaped handguard called the 'vamplate', and by the 15th century heavy lances were being made with an hourglass-style shaped handgrip, such that the shaft was thick on either side of the grip and tapered towards the butt and point. The [[LightningBruiser fully armored heavy cavalry]] used this kind of shaped lance, while [[FragileSpeedster light cavalry]] preferred straight, simple spears. At first, lances for peaceful jousting simply had a blunt head or coronel substituted for the sharp point of war. As the joust became more regulated and ritualized, special jousting lances were often fluted and made hollow so that they would dramatically shatter against the opponent's shield or armor on impact. The use of the lance in battle didn't completely die out in Western Europe until the 17th century when it was [[https://myarmoury.com/feature_lancepistol.html fully superseded by sword and pistol]], and it was revived in the 18th and 19th century in the form of the light cavalry spear rather than the heavy lance of yore.