4 ms·

Huge thing is mindset- one thing the Total War series got extremely right was shock value and the ability to win battles by routing opponents. Getting charged w

Huge thing is mindset- one thing the Total War series got extremely right was shock value and the ability to win battles by routing opponents. Getting charged with a horse would be terrifying (speaking from semi-experience, I've been charged by both bull moose and cattle). Nevermind the animal also having someone on top of it armed to the teeth, I can easily understand running away in terror. From my amateur research, this is one of the reasons the Romans were so effective- they weren't always better armed than their opponents, but their culture and training promoted better cohesion. Whereas in the scenario of a medieval peasant facing a knight, even negating the shock value of being charged by mounted troops the knight likely just has far more experience in battle and is less likely to rout. Every peasant revolt I've read about seemed to end with the nobles riding the fleeing peasants down and stabbing them in the backs. Makes one reconsider the modern connotation of the word 'noble', although maybe it was a bit of a euphemism even back then. I know chivalry was much more of an ideal than a creed people actually followed.

jacobolus 6y ago
My impression is that chivalry was more about relations between nobles than anything to do with peasants. Feudal lords have pretty much always taken whatever liberties they like with the local people: rape, theft, property destruction, murder, torture, kidnapping, ... Medieval knights were little different than the thug soldiers of any modern criminal gang, except less checked by state power.
- questionfor 6y ago
  Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror” portrays feudal wars as essentially raids to kill some of your neighbor’s peasants rather than your neighbor (who was most likely your relative)
speeder 6y ago
Nobility was nobility because they did stuff that didn't get them (directly) paid. Defense, research, some higher level medicine, engineering, etc... They would get money from rents, but were expected to spend that money in weapons, equipment for their civilian profession if they had any (for example building a telescope) etc... And of course it worked MOST of the time, but not ALL the time, sometimes you had people that became infamous, like that "vampire" lady that killed a ton of random people to bathe in their blood...

jacobolus 6y ago

My impression is that chivalry was more about relations between nobles than anything to do with peasants. Feudal lords have pretty much always taken whatever liberties they like with the local people: rape, theft, property destruction, murder, torture, kidnapping, ... Medieval knights were little different than the thug soldiers of any modern criminal gang, except less checked by state power.

questionfor 6y ago
Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror” portrays feudal wars as essentially raids to kill some of your neighbor’s peasants rather than your neighbor (who was most likely your relative)

speeder 6y ago

Nobility was nobility because they did stuff that didn't get them (directly) paid. Defense, research, some higher level medicine, engineering, etc... They would get money from rents, but were expected to spend that money in weapons, equipment for their civilian profession if they had any (for example building a telescope) etc... And of course it worked MOST of the time, but not ALL the time, sometimes you had people that became infamous, like that "vampire" lady that killed a ton of random people to bathe in their blood...