Lance: Encyclopedia - Lance

Lance

The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. The name is derived from lancea, Roman auxiliaries' short javelin. In the strictest sense, the lance is a heavy, long thrusting spear used on horseback and couched under the arm on one hand. Often, any spear which is not thrown (e.g. a thrusting spear) is called a lance when used from horseback. The medical lance, a small poking instrument usually used to create small prick in the skin for a blood sample, or to make a hole for draining fluid from a pustule or other blemish, is a metaphoric reference to the cavalry weapon, as is the slang usage "lance", in reference to the penis.

The best known usage of military lances was that of the full-gallop closed-ranks and usually wedge-shaped charge of a group of knights with underarm-couched lances, against lines of infantry, archery regiments, defensive embankments, and opposition cavalry. This became the dominant European cavalry tactic in the 11th century after the development of the stirruped saddle (which prevented the charge from suddenly turning into a pole vault), and of rowel spurs (which enabled better control of the mount). Cavalry thus outfitted and deployed had a tremendous collective force in their charge, and could shatter most contemporary infantry lines. In recent filmic fiction, the charge of the Riders of Rohan during the Battle of Pelennor Fields in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King clearly, if exaggeratedly, illustrates the principle.

While it could still be generally classified as a spear, the lance tends to be larger - usually both longer and stouter (and thus also considerably heavier, and unsuited for throwing, or for the rapid thrusting as with an infantry spear). Lances did not have spear tips that (intentionally) broke off or bent, unlike many throwing weapons of the spear/javelin family, and were adapted for mounted combat. They were often equipped with a vamplate, a small circular plate to prevent the hand sliding up the shaft upon impact. Though perhaps most known as one of the foremost military and sporting weapons used by European knights, the use of lances was spread throughout the Old World wherever mounts were available. As a secondary weapon, lancers of the period also bore swords, maces or something else suited to close quarters, since the lance was often a one-use-per-engagement weapon; after the initial charge, the weapon was far too long, heavy and slow to be effectively used against opponents in a melee.

Because of the extreme stopping power of a thrusting spear it quickly became a popular weapon of footmen in the Late Middle Ages. These eventually lead to the rise of the longest type of spears ever, the pike. Ironically, this adaptation of the cavalry lance to infantry use was largely tasked with stopping lance-armed cavalry charges. During the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, these weapons of war, both mounted and unmounted, were so effective that lancers and pikemen not only became a staple of every Western army, they also became highly sought-after mercenaries.

In Europe, a jousting lance was a variation of the knight's lance which was modified from its original war design. In jousting, the lance tips would usually be blunt, often spread out like a cup or furniture foot, to provide a wider impact surface designed to unseat the opposing rider without spearing him through. The center of the shaft of such lances could be designed to be hollow, in order for it to break on impact, as a further safeguard against impalement. They were often 4 m long or longer, and had special hand guards built into the lance, often tapering for a considerable portion of the weapon's length. These are the versions that can most often be seen at mediaeval re-enactment festivals. In war, lances were much more like stout spears, long and balanced for one handed use, and with decidedly sharp tips.

The mounted lance saw a renaissance in the 18th century with the demise of the pike; heavily armoured cuirassiers used 2-3 m lances as their main weapons. They were usually used for the breakneck charge against the enemy infantry. Mounted cavalry finally disappeared from modern warfare after the introduction of the machine gun.

The lance, under many names, was also heavily employed in the Far East. The use of the basic cavalary spear is so ancient, and warfare so wideranging and cross-cultural by the beginning recorded history, that it would be difficult to determine what populations invented the lance on their own and which learned it from their enemies. After the Western introduction of the horse to Native Americans, the Plains Indians also took up the lance, probably independently (American cavalry of the time were sabre- and pistol-armed). The natural adaptation of the throwing spear to a stouter thrusting and charging spear appears to be an inevitable evolutionary trend in the military use of the horse, and a rapid one at that.

"Lance" is also the name given by some anthropologists to the light flexible spears (technically, darts) thrown by atlatls (spear-throwing sticks). These are, however, more often referred to as "atlatl javelins". Some were not much larger than arrows, and were typically feather-fletched like an arrow or crossbow bolt, unlike the vast majority of spears (one exception would be some, though certainly not all, varieties of the ballista bolt, a mechanically-thrown spear). See "spear" for more information.

Lance - List of lances

Spears that are often considered lances include:

• Aunurgith
• Awl pike
• Barchi
• Boar spear
• Bohemian ear spoon
• Chimbane
• Contus
• Dung
• Falarica
• Hasta
• Jousting lance
• Kadji
• Kontos (or kontarion)
• Kopia
• Magari yari
• Mon-Gil
• Ox tongue
• Plancon a picot
• Rummh
• Sangu'
• Sarissa
• Spontoon
• Sudis
• Su yari
• Taru
• To-ono
• Xyston
• Yari

For all others please see spear

See also

Lances fournies

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Lance", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki