Changes in Weaponry and Warfare in the Middle Ages this period. Europe saw the war take a completely different turn. In the past, a few thousand soldiers were considered a large army. Nowadays, no one has ever seen an army of such size with such a variety of weapons, including cannons, ammunition and artillery, all of which were developed during this period. Furthermore, it was evident that the face of warfare was changing by the end of the 15th century. Two of the most significant developments were the maintenance of large numbers of troops at constant ready readiness and the growing need for gunpowder weapons and ammunition. Essentially, the Middle Ages was a period of change that dramatically rebuilt warfare and weapons as technology advanced, such as gunpowder, the famous recipe that revolutionized and redefined warfare in a whole new sense. For thousands of years, weapons and warfare have essentially remained the same with some minor changes until the Middle Ages. For example, traces of the sword can be traced back 3,000 years (Hilliam 15). The swords have undergone many changes, mainly in their design, but the biggest change is in 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 would break during combat (Hilliam 15). However, swords were the most commonly used weapon and so efforts to improve it were progressing. By the Middle Ages, patterning had been developed, which made swords even harder, not brittle, but also more durable. Besides the...... middle of paper ...... when the Ordinance of Valladolid of 1496 imposed that one man in twelve, aged between twenty and forty-five, had to serve in the army as as loyal subjects (Keen 286). Additionally, there were also some slight changes in war tactics. The Swiss soldiers advanced in a tight mass and to fight and march as a single group, they established a drumbeat. This unique marching group is capable of defeating charging knights and later their tactics were copied (Chrisp 41). Another ruthless change was the decision to forgo taking prisoners of war, but to focus on defeating the enemy, believing that the prisoners were a distraction (Chrisp 45). And with all these extreme changes and adjustments in warfare and weaponry, "casualties, among all classes, had increased in number" (Keen 290). These developments, just as Chrisp says: "War had become a science” (45).