Editing Spear (section)

====Medieval period====
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the spear and shield continued to be used by nearly all Western European cultures. Since a medieval spear required only a small amount of [[steel]] along the sharpened edges (most of the spear-tip was wrought iron), it was an economical weapon. Quick to manufacture, and needing less [[blacksmith|smithing]] skill than a sword, it remained the main weapon of the common soldier. The [[Vikings]], for instance, although often portrayed with an [[Viking axe|axe]], [[sword]], or [[lance]] in hand, were armed mostly with spears,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_spear.htm |title=Viking Spear |website=Hurstwic.org |access-date=2017-01-09}}</ref> as were their [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]], [[Irish people|Irish]], or continental contemporaries. Spears eventually evolved into lances; this is where the lance depiction comes from.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Medievalists.net |date=2020-01-09 |title=The Ten Most Important Weapons of the Middle Ages |url=https://www.medievalists.net/2020/01/most-important-weapons-middle-ages/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=Medievalists.net |language=en-US}}</ref> With a good majority of Medieval weapons being spears they became integrated into many war tactics. Spears were very commonly used while providing a defensive block. When men on horses tried to get by these blocks, they would often be killed by the spears that could poke through the shield walls. Spears became more common than swords and axes because of how cheap, long, and fast spears were made.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medieval Weapons That Maimed and Killed |url=https://www.history.com/news/medieval-weapons-knights-middle-ages |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hurstwic: Viking Spear |url=http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_spear.htm |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=www.hurstwic.org}}</ref>

=====Infantry=====
[[File:Assyrian soldier holding a spear and wearing a helmet. Detail of a basalt relief from the palace of Tiglath-pileser III at Hadatu, Syria. 744-727 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.jpg|thumb|Assyrian soldier holding a spear and wearing a helmet. Detail of a basalt relief from the palace of Tiglath-pileser III at Hadatu, Syria. 744–727 BC. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul]]
Broadly speaking, spears were either designed to be used in melee, or to be thrown. Within this simple classification, there was a remarkable range of types. For example, M. J. Swanton identified thirty different spearhead categories and sub-categories in early Saxon England.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Spearheads of the Anglo-Saxon Settlement|last= Swanton |first= M.J.|year= 1973|publisher= Royal Archaeological Institute |location= London}}</ref> Most medieval spearheads were generally leaf-shaped. Notable types of early medieval spears include the ''[[angon]]'', a throwing spear with a long head similar to the Roman ''[[pilum]]'', used by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons, and the [[Winged spear|winged (or lugged) spear]], which had two prominent wings at the base of the spearhead, either to prevent the spear penetrating too far into an enemy or to aid in spear fencing.<ref>{{cite book |title=Armour and weapons |last= Martin|first=Paul |year=1968 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins |location= London|page= 226}}</ref> Originally a Frankish weapon, the winged spear also was popular with the Vikings. It would become the ancestor of later medieval polearms, such as the [[partisan (weapon)|partisan]] and [[spetum]].

The thrusting spear also has the advantage of reach, being considerably longer than other weapon types. Exact spear lengths are hard to deduce as few spear shafts survive archaeologically, but {{convert|6|–|8|ft|cm|abbr=on|order=flip|sigfig=2}} would seem to have been the average length. Some nations were noted for their long spears, including the Scots and the Flemish. Spears usually were used in tightly ordered formations, such as the [[shield wall]] or the [[schiltron]]. To resist cavalry, spear shafts could be planted against the ground.<ref>e.g. at the [[Battle of Steppes]], 1213. {{cite book|title= The Art of War in the Middle Ages|last=Oman |first=Sir Charles |author-link= Charles Oman|year= 1991 |orig-year= 1924|volume= 1| publisher= Greenhill Books |location= London |isbn= 978-1-85367-100-5|page=451}}</ref> William Wallace drew up his schiltrons in a circle at the [[Battle of Falkirk (1298)|Battle of Falkirk]] in 1298 to deter charging cavalry;<ref>{{cite book |title= William Wallace|last=Fisher |first=Andrew |year=1986 |publisher=John Donald |location=Edinburgh |isbn= 978-0-85976-154-3|page= 80}}</ref> this was a widespread tactic sometimes known as the "crown" formation.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Art of Warfare in Western Europe in the Middle Ages|last=Verbruggen |first= J. F. |year=1997 |edition= 2nd.|publisher=Boydell Press |location= Woodbridge|isbn=978-0-85115-630-9 |pages=184–5 }}</ref> [[Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray]] used a circular schiltron on the first day of the [[Battle of Bannockburn]]. However, the rectangular schiltron was much more common and was used by King [[Robert the Bruce]] on the second day of the Battle of Bannockburn and in the [[Battle of Old Byland]] when he defeated English armies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Ronald McNair |title=Robert the Bruce, King of Scots |date=1988 |publisher=Peter Bedrick Books |location=New York |pages=148, 158–159, 202–203}}</ref>

Throwing spears became rarer as the Middle Ages drew on, but survived in the hands of specialists such as the Catalan [[Almogavars]].<ref>{{cite journal |last= Morris|first=Paul |date=September 2000 |title= 'We have met Devils!': The Almogavars of James I and Peter III of Catalonia–Aragon |journal=Anistoriton |volume= 004|url=http://www.anistor.gr/english/enback/v004.htm |access-date=2009-08-04}}</ref> They were commonly used in Ireland until the end of the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Irish Wars 1485–1603 |last= Heath|first= Ian|year= 1993|publisher= Osprey|location= Oxford |isbn= 978-1-85532-280-6|page= 36}}</ref>

Spears began to lose fashion among the infantry during the 14th century, being replaced by [[polearm]]s that combined the thrusting properties of the spear with the cutting properties of the axe, such as the [[halberd]]. Where spears were retained they grew in length, eventually evolving into [[pike (weapon)|pike]]s, which would be a dominant infantry weapon in the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Renaissance at War |last=Arnold |first= Thomas|year= 2001 |publisher=Cassel & Co. |location= London|isbn= 978-0-304-35270-8|pages=60–72}}</ref>

=====Cavalry=====
Cavalry spears were originally the same as infantry spears and were often used with two hands or held with one hand overhead. In the 12th century, after the adoption of [[stirrup]]s and a high-cantled saddle, the spear became a decidedly more powerful weapon. A mounted knight would secure the [[lance]] by holding it with one hand and tucking it under the armpit (the ''couched lance'' technique)<ref>{{cite book |title=Medieval Warfare |last= Nicholson|first=Helen |year= 2004|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-0-333-76331-5|pages=102–3}}</ref> In combination with a [[lance rest]], this allowed all the momentum of the horse and knight to be focused on the weapon's tip, whilst still retaining accuracy and control. This use of the spear spurred the development of the [[lance]] as a distinct weapon that was perfected in the medieval sport of [[jousting]].<ref>* Sébastien Nadot, ''Rompez les lances ! Chevaliers et tournois au Moyen Age'', Paris, ed. Autrement, 2010. (''Couch your lances ! Knights and tournaments in the Middle Ages''...)</ref>

In the 14th century, tactical developments meant that knights and men-at-arms often fought on foot. This led to the practice of shortening the lance to about {{convert|5|ft|cm|abbr=on|order=flip|sigfig=2}} to make it more manageable.<ref>Nicholson (2004), p. 102</ref> As dismounting became commonplace, specialist polearms such as the [[pollaxe]] were adopted by knights and this practice ceased.<ref>Nicholson (2004), p101</ref>