Why did russian armour stay so primitive and unsophisticated throughout the medieval periods? Was it a lack of craftsmen? Materials?
Why did russian armour stay so primitive and unsophisticated throughout the medieval periods? Was it a lack of craftsmen?
It was density. Most threads here are answered by density.
Density alone answers 99% of his threads ever posted. You can just say density and the thread is answered, and the other replies are just larping.
My uncle used the word infinity, hes was the mayor.
Theres simply two or three charts of writing that should explain everything.
but why was russia's density lower?
Population =rainfall
Because it's sovlful
Because I want to have an Asian baby.
Did you watch these posts before these posts ?
plate armor requires constant maintenance. western Europe was dense enough that there was a blacksmith on every corner. So, Russians had to wear armor for long periods without seeing a blacksmith and mail was easier to repair yourself. but by 1500s, that didn't matter since muskets got introduced. Ironically, Russians were the 1st to introduce muskets on a large scale.
Isolation. Russia (by which I mean the areas where Muscowy grew later) was after 1240s just just a bunch of vassal Mongol petty kingdoms. This area became the most prominent among former Rus lands specifically because of its geographical isolation, which shielded it from the most deprivations of the Mongols. All earlier contacts and Scandinavia, West and the Mediterranean were severed and in the case of future Muscowy - they were secondary in the first place, conducted via other Rus principalities which were now in ruins.
>Isolation.
>Novgord and Moscow
Yes. Novgorod was isolated under Mongol yoke. Muscowy double so. It grew specifically because it was in super isolated position, which allowed it to grow unimpeded.
>Yes. Novgorod was isolated under Mongol yoke.
Novgorod became main trade-centre of Hanseatic League in the eastern Baltic sea and Moscow basically took the place of Vladimir-Suzdal principality as the main river-hub between Novgorod and Volga
Because fullplate proved to be a meme, not a functional design approach. This is why Winged Hussars (Best European cavalry) used lamellar armor
Primitive and unsophisticated compared to what, Maximillian plate?
To produce anything like plate you have to have enough resources and income. Your income is incomparible to that of west euro landlord due to various reasons such as low density of population, harsh climate, different mode of reproduction, troubled transportation etc. Another reason would be lack of resources. The golden age of russian metalurgy has begun with the Ural mining. Before that lots of things were made of imported parts and raw materials. For example, lots of russian swords feature Passau blades and local hilts.
Speaking of armour, by late 14th century russian armour was fine compared to european, they have been actively using brigandines.
And some time later russian feudal warriors have picked up an oriental military paradigm, where you could arm lots of cheaper mounted archers over few mounted lancers and be ocay with it..
2
From about the middle of the 14th century, in that part of Rus' that went to the Tatars (the west of the lands became part of Lithuania and other kingdoms), the orientalization of the army was actively going on. The army has become many times larger. Instead of a ram attack by a cavalryman with a spear, a preference for long-range combat with bows, flank light strikes with a quick attack and a quick retreat, shelling, a new blow. The goal is to wear down the enemy, not to crush him. This required light protection, most of the riders had no metal armor at all, but only thick caftans. Accordingly, sabers replaced the straight sword. To support himself, the warrior received an allotment of land and several peasant families, this gave him the opportunity to maintain a horse and a couple of servants and harnesses, not everyone had enough money for armor. The land could be taken away at any moment. There was no thought of building a castle or a fortified estate.
For cavalry, this system existed from about the 14th to the end of the 17th century and was abolished by Peter the Great.
this
The further east - the continental climate. Severe winters, although dry and hot summers are possible. The soil in such a climate is not suitable for intensive agriculture and is too poor. The income of the lord from one village is very small, after feeding himself - there is little that can be taken away from the peasants.. The main grain is rye. In the south, the lands are richer and allowed to grow wheat, but are open to constant raids from the steppe. In the north, more or less suitable lands are in river valleys and separated by hundreds of kilometers of almost uninhabited forests. The further north, the more the population relies not on agriculture but on other sources of food. In Novgorod there is a combination of farming, fishing, somewhere hunting, and also trade: food is bought in the south, goods of European cities - in the Baltic.
Because russians are black mongols with an average iq one standard deviation lower than the average European and also subhuman.
Extensive contact with Mongolians caused them to produce mongolic-like armour. Plus, Russia is a very small place with distances spread rather far apart, they don't want heavy metallic armor when traveling those distances for obvious reasons.
Also, bear in mind that the period wherein knights actually wore plate armor was incredibly short, spanning maybe 70 years. Before then, western Europeans used armor very similar to the Russians.
It's armor optimized to combat Mongols.
Compared to what? The transition in Western Europe to plate armor is a unique phenomenon for the entire human history. And associated with technological, climatic, social, military conditions. To produce plate armor, you need a special forge with master gunsmiths and an automatic hammer that runs on a water wheel. Local blacksmith John Smith, who makes horseshoes at the forge near the castle, does not make plate armor. It needs a city like Milan, where there is a guild of armorers with special technologies.
In Russia there was no class of knights in the European sense. The prince's professional warriors were "druzhina" (companions / amici / thegn) , it was a relatively small army, sharing shelter and table with its master. According to the law of Rus', the prince changed his capital when one of the older relatives died, and the warriors followed their lord. Say, when Novgorod expelled the next prince and invited another, they expected that he would bring his druzhina.
This system could not stand the competition in the centralized army of the Mongol horde.
To produce plate armor
you need a special forge
>with master gunsmiths
>with master gunsmiths
>with master gunsmiths
I mean "armorer".
Don't cling to words., this is not my native language, but we have other terms for these professions.
If you can't produce 1911s you can't produce good solid Milanese breastplate, simple as
The Ottomans used shitty mail-and-plate armor all the way into the 17th century despite it being useless against firearms and even powerful bows.