Editing Lance (section)

===17th and 18th century decline in Western Europe===
The advent of [[wheellock]] technology spelled the end of the lance in Western Europe, with newer types of heavy cavalry such as [[reiter]]s and [[cuirassier]]s spurning the old one-use weapon and increasingly supplanting the older [[Gendarme (historical)|gendarme]] type Medieval cavalry. While many [[Renaissance]] captains such as Sir [[Roger Williams (soldier)|Roger Williams]] continued to espouse the virtues of the lance, many such as [[François de la Noue]] openly encouraged its abandonment in the face of the pistol's greater armor piercing power, handiness and greater general utility. At the same time the adoption of [[pike and shot]] tactic by most infantry forces would neuter much of the power of the lancer's breakneck charge, making them a non-cost effective type of military unit due to their expensive horses in comparison to cuirassiers and reiters, who usually charging only at a trot could make do with lower quality mounts. After the success of pistol-armed [[Huguenot]] heavy horse against their Royalist counterparts during the [[French Wars of Religion]], most [[Western Europe]]an powers started rearming their lancers with pistols, initially as an adjunct weapon and eventually as a replacement, with the Spanish retaining the lance the longest.<ref name=myarmoury>{{cite web|last1=Frye|first1=Gordon|title=From Lance to Pistol: The Evolution of Mounted Soldiers from 1550 to 1600|url=http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_lancepistol.html|website=myArmoury.com|access-date=21 July 2014}}</ref>

Only the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] with its far greater emphasis on cavalry warfare, large population of [[Szlachta]] nobility and general lower military technology level among its foes retained the lance to a considerable degree, with the famously winged [[Polish hussars]] having their glory period during the 17th and 18th centuries against a wide variety of enemy forces.<ref name=myarmoury/>