Changes in Weaponry and Warfare During the Middle Ages During the Middle Ages, or also known as the Middle Ages, change was a major part of that period. Europe was watching the war become very different. In ancient times, a few thousand soldiers were considered a large army. Nowadays, no one has ever seen such a large army with such a variety of weapons including guns, ammunition and artillery, all developed in that period. Furthermore, it was obvious that the face of warfare was changing by the end of the 15th century. Two of the most significant developments were the maintenance of a fair number of troops ready on a permanent basis and the growing need for gunpowder weapons and ammunition. In essence, the Middle Ages were a time of change that significantly reconstructed warfare and weapons as technology advanced, such as gunpowder, the famous recipe that revolutionized and redefined warfare with a whole new meaning. From thousands of years ago, weapons and warfare had basically remained the same, with only a few minor modifications, until the Middle Ages. For example, evidence of the sword can be found up to 3,000 years ago (Hilliam 15). Swords have undergone many changes, especially in design, but the big change is the material used to make the swords. Ancient swords were made of bronze, and bronze is soft, but later, when iron was used, swords became the opposite. They were harder and easier to break, which meant that soldiers' swords broke during combat (Hilliam 15). However, swords were the most commonly used weapon and thus efforts to improve it were progressing. In the Middle Ages, handling models were developed that made swords even harder, but not brittle, but also more durable. As well as… middle of paper… when the Valladolid Ordinance of 1496 mandated that one man in twelve, between the ages of twenty and forty-five, must serve in the army as a loyal subject (Keen 286). Furthermore, there were also some slight changes in warfare tactics. The Swiss soldiers advanced in a compact mass and established a drum rhythm to fight and march as a single group. This single marching group is able to defeat the charging knights and their tactics were later copied (Chrisp 41). Another ruthless change was the decision to forgo taking prisoners of war, instead focusing on defeating the enemy believing the prisoners were a distraction (Chrisp 45). And with all these extreme changes and adjustments to warfare and armaments, “casualties, among all classes, had grown in number” (Keen 290). These developments, just as Chrisp says, “War had become a science” (45).