Warfare In Elizabethan England Essay Research Paper

Warfare in Elizabethan England

War was a common thing in Elizabethan England with a gruelling 40-Year war going on in Italy between Charles V of Spain and Francis I of France.

The front line on most battlefields would consist entirely of Pike men; these were the most common of all soldiers and the most deadly. Each carried a wooden pike tipped with metal that could be as long as 5.5metres. Behind these Pike men would be the soldiers known as Arquebusiers who each carried a large 10kg handgun known as an Arquebus. These handguns were heavy and cumbersome but when used correctly could pierce armour at a range of up to120metres. Cavalry were only effective when catching fleeing or lightly armed troops but would not normally penetrate against a good front line.

New artillery were introduced before 1600 in the form of a new lightweight cannon that fired iron cannonballs or packets of bullets called grapeshot. These replaced the older cannons that required several horses to move and had only a short range. With the new cannons came new strategies, and new fortresses. The fortifications became deep trenches protected by the heaped up earth on one side. New forts became smaller and not as tall, they were designed to withstand cannonballs and became basically one big gun platform.