<b>Armies of the Dark Ages<b>

The Germanic tribes that overran the Roman Empire at the start of the Middle Age
s fought primarily on foot with axes and swords, while wearing little armor othe
r than perhaps helmets and shields. They were organized into war bands under the
leadership of a chief. They were fierce warriors but fought in undisciplined mo
bs. The disciplined Roman legions had great success against the Germanic tribes
for centuries, in part because emotional armies are usually very fragile. When t
he Roman legions declined in quality at the empire's end, however, the Germanic
tribes were able to push across the frontier.
Not all Germanic tribes fought on foot. Exceptions were the Goths, who had adapt
ed to horses when they settled previously north of the Black Sea. Both the Visig
oths and Ostrogoths learned about cavalry by being in contact with the Eastern R
oman Empire south of the Danube and barbarian horsemen from Asia. The Eastern Ro
man armies put a greater emphasis on cavalry because of their conflicts with mou
nted barbarians, the Parthians, and the Persians.
Following the fall of Rome, most fighting in Europe for the next few centuries i
nvolved clashes of foot soldiers. One exception might have been the battles of B
ritain's Arthur against the invading Saxons, although we have no evidence that h
is success was due to using cavalry. Arthur may have halted Saxon progress in Br
itain for 50 years, perhaps because of cavalry or the use of disciplined troops.
Another exception was the Byzantine army that recaptured North Africa from the
Vandals and almost restored Italy to Eastern Roman control in the sixth century.
The strength of the Byzantine army of this period was cavalry. The Byzantines b
enefited also from both superior leadership and an understanding of tactics that
the barbarians lacked.
Fighting in these first centuries rarely involved groups that could be described
as armies. They were the same war bands as before, small by Byzantine or Asian
standards and employing limited tactics or strategy. The main military activitie
s were raids to obtain loot in the form of food, livestock, weapons, and slaves.
Aggressive tribes expanded by devastating the food production of enemies, starv
ing them out, and enslaving the survivors. Battles were mainly clashes of war ba
nds, fighting hand to hand with axes and swords. They fought as mobs, not the di
sciplined formations typical of the Romans. They used shields and helmets and wo
re some armor. Leather armor was common; only chieftains and elites wore chain m
ail.
In the early eighth century, Visgothic Spain fell to the warriors of Islam, many
of whom fought as light cavalry. At the same time, nomadic Magyars from the Hun
garian plains increased their mounted raids on western Europe. In 732 a Frankish
infantry army was able to defeat a Muslim cavalry raid near Poitiers, ending Mu
slim northward expansion. Charles Martel, warlord of the Franks, was impressed b
y the Moorish cavalry and began mounting part of his army. This conversion conti
nued later in the century under the great king of the Franks, Charlemagne. Frank
ish heavy cavalry was the genesis of the mounted knight that came to typify medi
eval warfare.
Annually for 30 years, Charlemagne conducted military campaigns that extended th
e size of his empire. The Frankish army consisted of both infantry and armored c
avalry, but the cavalry was his most valuable force and the part that got the mo
st notice. It could move quickly and strike hard against foes fighting mainly on
foot. Charlemagne's campaigns were economic raids, burning, looting, and devast
ating enemies into submission. He fought very few battles against organized oppo
sition.
The Vikings fought exclusively on foot, except that it was their habit to gather
horses upon landing and use them to raid farther inland. Their raids began in t
he late eighth century and ended in the eleventh century. The descendants of Vik
ing raiders that became the Normans of northwestern France adapted quickly to th
e use of horses and became some of the most successful warriors of the late Midd
le Ages.
In the early tenth century, the Germans began developing the use of cavalry unde
r Otto I, both as a rapid response force against Viking raids and to repel mount
ed barbarian raids from the East.
By the end of the tenth century, heavy cavalry was an important component of mos
t European armies except in Anglo-Saxon England, Celtic lands (Ireland, Wales, a
nd Scotland), and Scandinavia.