Lance – Facts and Information

Lance is a medieval pole weapon or spear specially made to be used by mounted combatants. The lance facilitated the knight to take advantage of his position on horseback, keeping his distance from his enemy while striking a lethal blow.

The Medieval lance was made of wood with metal tips attached to the end. The medieval lance was 9 to 14 feet long. Lances have more might than swords and a higher hit than battle axes. The lance is used entirely by the cavalry.

Types of Lance

There are generally two types of a lance; heavy and light. The heavy type of lance is usually between 10 to 12 feet long with 1.5 to 2.0 inches in diameter. The main purpose of a heavy lance is to unhorse a rider in single combat such as jousting.

The light type of lance ranges from 6 to 10 feet long with 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. It is technically used as a spear and may be used as a projectile from horseback.

Lance History

Historically, The Sarmatian and Parthian were said to have used lance.  Also, the long-thrusting spear gained popularity among the Hellenistic armies’ agema and line cavalry. Contus, a long thrusting spear, was typically 3 to 4 m long. It was usually grasped with both hands. It was carried by equites contariorum and equites catafractarii, fully armed and armored cataphracts.

The Byzantine troops used lances both over arm and underarm. In jousting tournaments, lance usually was designed to be less violent. Lance was also used by the British troops during the Second Boer War.

However, the decline in lance use was recorded because of its unsuccessful result in The Crimean War.  At the outbreak of World War I, British, French, Russian, Belgian, Turkish, Italian, and German armies used lance.  But contrary to the popular belief, it was not carried out in World War 2. United States Cavalry and Canadian North-West Mounted Police used a fine lance as a flagstaff.

Lance Training

Various methods of training were performed in order to achieve the skills in using the lance effectively. The quintain was used in the lance training. This idea of using quintain was borrowed from the Romans.

Another type of lance practice was called running at the ring. The motive of this training is to enhance the accuracy in striking the target. This consisted of attempting to spear a small target, such as a ring, or while riding at a fast gallop.