lance
Sign in to savethumb|300px|Normans|Norman cavalry attacks the Anglo-Saxon [[shield wall at the Battle of Hastings as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. The "lances" depicted here are held with a one-handed over-the-head grip, and so their use is not the same as the "lances" of the later medieval period, when they were fitted with a "grapper" designed to engage a lance rest attached to the wielder's plate armour and used couched in the charge.]]
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History of use
- Ancient Era
- Middle Ages
- Lance (unit organization)
- 17th and 18th century decline in Western Europe
- Indigenous use in North America
- 19th century revival in Western Europe
- Twilight of use
- World War I and after
- Use as flagstaff
- Mounted police use
- Other weapons
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|300px|Normans|Norman cavalry attacks the Anglo-Saxon [[shield wall at the Battle of Hastings as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. The "lances" depicted here are held with a one-handed over-the-head grip, and so their use is not the same as the "lances" of the later medieval period, when they were fitted with a "grapper" designed to engage a lance rest attached to the wielder's plate armour and used couched in the charge.]]
The English term lance is derived, via Middle English launce and Old French lance, from the Latin lancea, a generic term meaning a spear or javelin employed by both infantry and cavalry, with English initially keeping these generic meanings. It developed later into a term for spear-like weapons specially designed and modified to be part of a "weapon system" for use couched under the arm during a charge, being equipped with special features such as grappers to engage with lance rests attached to breastplates, and vamplates, small circular plates designed to prevent the hand sliding up the shaft upon impact. These specific features were in use by the late 14th century.