Turko-Mongol horse tactics and Western European response
Upvote:1
Western Europe did have horse-archers; it is a false perception that they did not have an answer to the mounted archers of the Horselords (Although whether they were as effective as their steppe counterparts is a different question).
The Roman Empire fielded mounted archers who were called Equites Sagittarii. After the fall of the Western Empire, the Eastern Empire continued the Roman traditions of mounted archery in the form of the Archers of the Kavallarioi.
As for why didn't the post-Roman era Europeans learn the tactics when they came in contact with Altaic Horse-Archers, they most certainly did in a fashion. German and Scandinavian Medieval Armies employed mounted Cross-bowmen. The tactics adopted by the mounted-crossbowmen to counter the lightly armoured Altaic mounted-archers were to gallop headlong, fire a devastating volley at close range and then charge at their enemies with swords or lances. Innovations in Crossbow technology such as goat's foot lever and ratchet Cranquin allowed the Crossbowmen to reload fast enough to fire more shots before engaging the enemy in direct combat.
Another tactic was fielding more heavily armoured cavalry which could withstand the arrows of lighter Horse Archers. Russian Druzhina cavalry was developed as an answer to the Tatar horse archers. Altaic people themselves adopted this tactic later against European Horse-Archers e.g. The Timariots and Kapikulus of the Ottoman Sultans were as heavily armoured as contemporary Western Knights to withstand the volleys of Hungarian, Albanian Horse-Archers.
But of course, using crossbows and mounted archery required skills and experience which the peasants of Europe (Bulk of Medieval European armies) did not have. That's why Mercenaries were preferred in that role. It was soon noted by the Europeans that Horse-Archers were ineffective against massed foot cross-bowmen who could fire more rapidly, accurately and at a longer range than the mobile but larger and slower-firing targets that the horse-archers presented. That made Horse-Archery very outdated and eventually obsolete with the invention of firearms (Which in turn prompted the Steppe Warriors to exchange their bows for firearms).
So in summary, Western European response to the mounted Archers of the steppe was:
- Heavy Cavalry
- Mounted Crossbowmen
- Mass deployment of foot Crossbowmen
More post
- 📝 World War 2-era WD AGO Form 53-55
- 📝 What was John Buchan's position on Jewish immigration?
- 📝 What language is this artists signature written in and what does it say?
- 📝 To what extent is a coincidence that the Dec. of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the USA Dec. of Independence were approved so close in time?
- 📝 Did Alexander the Great destroy a city to demonstrate his ability to reign?
- 📝 Did the Axis engage in trade with other countries during the war?
- 📝 Has banning controversial ideas ever not lead to much violence in enforcement or resistance?
- 📝 Can someone identify this banknote?
- 📝 What did Mesopotamian beehives look like?
- 📝 What kinds of WW2 POWs were treated best?
- 📝 Did the Inca Empire know about the Polynesians, or vice versa?
- 📝 How frequently were girls adopted in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 What were the names of the spy rings besides Culper during the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Are there any incidents of war / brutalities because of Football match other than the famous one between El Salvador and Honduras?
- 📝 Why do more historians state Rome was a superpower, than Persia?
- 📝 Where was Emperor Hirohito during the Kyūjō incident?
- 📝 What would the Royal Sussex Regiment have been doing in South Africa between 1900-1902?
- 📝 Were there any attempts to achieve peace in WW1 before 1918?
- 📝 Why was Germany not broken up at the end of WW1
- 📝 Battle of Xiaoting: was Shu's invasion doomed from the start?
- 📝 How did the Allies locate, identify and process Nazi War criminals?
- 📝 Are the ancestors of Saudi royal family Jewish?
- 📝 Why was the Battle of Noryang fought?
- 📝 Financing of the Continental Army vs. Legion of the United States/United States Army
- 📝 Did the Byzantine Empire use Roman numerals?
- 📝 Why the USSR insisted on ban of the 1943 German film Munchhausen in Nuremberg?
- 📝 Why did trench warfare accept deadlocks?
- 📝 Who were the target audiences of this propaganda lithograph?
- 📝 How did sailing technology improve during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 How did Saudi Arabia become and remain strongly Wahhabi?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Turko-Mongol horse tactics and Western European response
- 📝 Was it common practice in Victorian London or other Western European cities to name locations as places where fictional characters lived and acted?
- 📝 Did Muslim states hire Western European knights as mercenaries before the Crusades?
- 📝 In WWII, what were the major differences in tank combat on the eastern and western fronts?
- 📝 Was there a European response to the trail of tears?
- 📝 What did other European powers say when Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Tordesillas?
- 📝 Before European influence circa 1600, did any Chinese believe the Earth was spherical, and did they ever try to measure it?
- 📝 What were the thoughts of the Celts, Romans and other ancient European people about the standing stones which survive from prehistoric times?
- 📝 At what point, and why, did snuff tobacco fall out of favor with European nobility?
- 📝 Which European countries did not have a revolution in the aftermath of the French Revolution and why?
- 📝 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 📝 Did the Ottoman government rationalize the Armenian Genocide and other instances of ethnic cleansing as a response to Russian expansion?
- 📝 How extensive and developed was the ancient Kushite (Nubian) horse trade?
- 📝 Why were Muslims in Western Thrace and Christians in Constantinople excluded from the population exchange?
- 📝 How did the First French Empire and allies differ from the other European monarchies at that time?
- 📝 What were the insignia of the Western Roman Empire and what happened to them?
- 📝 How did the European and international left react to the Cafe War?
- 📝 Were the Islamic Caliphates (Umayyad and Abbasid) and the Mongol Empires truly as benevolent as they are portrayed?
- 📝 Is there any footage and/or photos of Germans surrendering towns and cities in the Western Front?
- 📝 Has there ever been litigation over a salvaged shipwreck between a European country and a former ex-colony?
- 📝 Are there any remaining existant texts that describe the styles and techniques of Medieval European swordsmanship?
- 📝 What happened to all the scholars and scientists of Western Rome during the barbarian invasions?
- 📝 Evidence of cross contamination between Japanese and Western sword fighting styles?
- 📝 What were the advantages and disadvantages of Mongolian cavalry (compared to European cavalry)?
- 📝 Did the Portuguese and the Spanish have slaves on European soil working for them?
- 📝 When did western doctors first start predicting prenatal diseases and disabilities?
- 📝 Border between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires
- 📝 How did people 'park' their horse and buggy in early 20th century cities? How was theft prevented?
- 📝 Under European feudalism, were the distribution of armies (vassals and fiefdoms) based on a coherent idea?
- 📝 Is there a student of Arnold J Toynbee with an opinion about the state and fate of Western Civilization?