Siege
equipment in this era has moved away from catapults and battering
rams. The canon is the prevalent weapon of the day. AS seen
above, these canon were protected by a pivoting palisade that
would be raised just before firing.
Once
the walls are breached, the armies sally-forth to attack the
defenders hand-to-hand. Once the city is captures, the succeeding
besiegers become the masters of the town, moving from their
supplies and men from the tents into their new territory.
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Women were instrumental in the running of the camp. Above
we can see the distribution of food and water while the soldiers
batter the besieged city in the background.
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The
rounded "wheel-spoke" design was by far the most
common design of this era. Note by manu illustrations is boasts
a doorway perhaps between 5 and 7feet, while the top-most
point is 10-16 feet in estimation from several consistent
sources from differing artists such as above, and the perfect
Imperial camp in Black&White further up the page.
These
are some samples of the tents in-use. Note the rather intricate
designs afforded to the roof and walls.
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While
the scale of medieval illustrations are under debate. It is
interesting to note that background illustrations, where it
is not demanding to make the main object have more presence,
depicts tents as being rather large indeed. Duke Charles the
Bold of Burgundy had a massive tent with several apartments
and wooden watch-towers.
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Hail
the victors! Those defeated are taken prisoner. Any of status
are ransomed back to their lords, while those not worth bargaining
for are made indentured servants, laborers or if unruly, put
to the block.
Of
note are the rather 'modern' looking underwear. Indeed this
type of underwear were common in Germany during the 1470's. |
 Field
battles pitted two armies on equal grounds. The camps are
similar in design, tents secured behind palisades. The missile
troops unleash deadly volleys of arrows or gunfire to thin
out the opposing forces before lines of pole arms clash amidst
mounted skirmishers.
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