Thursday, January 7, 2010

When did knights completely disappear from the battlefield because of gunpowder?

I read some articles about this question but never got to a clear answer. I have seen armor of the 17th century and it still looks pretty thick. So when did the knights disappear, when did muskets and cannons take over as the most important battlefield weapons?When did knights completely disappear from the battlefield because of gunpowder?
Armor even full body armor was still being produced into the 17th and even the 18th c. for display and ceremonies. However, on the actual battlefield full body armor, and knights, were probably phased out as early as the late 15th c. Certainly by the late 16th c. heavily armored knights were no longer a feature of European warfare.When did knights completely disappear from the battlefield because of gunpowder?
The machine gun in the First World War effectively saw an end to Knights in Armour and to Cavalry Charges.
Around the late 17th and early 18th centuries because that is when nobody was using swords and sheilds anymore.
Knights never disappeared from the battlefield. The term ';Knight'; was a title. Only the ARMOUR disappeared. Only in recent times did the TERM ';knight'; become a a social and/or political and not one of a warrior.
Knights and cavalier men disappeared around the introduction of gunpowder into European warfare, maybe as early as the 15th century.

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