3-30-21

I was thirty-four when I had to write a research paper for the very first time. Yep, you read that correctly. I made it through high school, college, and my first tour of graduate school (keep in mind I attended NYU for both my undergraduate degree and my degree in education) before I finally landed in a program that required it of me. And then I got slammed. On a whim, I had applied to the history program, figuring a masters degree in history would expand my job opportunities. The more teaching certifications I had, the more desirable I’d be. Right? Wrong. I learned that the hard way. 

Anyway, when I first learned that I would have to write a research paper, my spouse and I were backpacking through Nicaragua. We stopped in at an internet cafe one afternoon so that we could both check our email and find out if we were missing anything pressing at home. We weren’t. But, I did have the syllabus for one of my upcoming classes in my inbox. I scanned through it, saw that the course would culminate in a ten page research paper, and I promptly started to hyperventilate. It was as if an invisible hand had cranked my anxiety up to a hundred percent. There was no way I could do it. I didn’t know the first thing about writing a research paper. And it had to be ten pages. That was it. I might as well drop out now. By way of support, my spouse suggested we go out for a glass of wine. Sure it stopped my hands from shaking, but the nightmares continued for another month.

On my first day of classes, I learned that I would have to write not one, but two ten page research papers. That’s a total of twenty papers. I was definitely not up for it. Nope! No way! It wasn’t going to happen. But before completely giving up hope, I decided to visit one professor during her office hours. It just so happened that my first visit with her fell on my birthday. Battling an awful case of social anxiety, I boldly walked into her office, introduced myself, and proceeded to ask for help. I desperately needed guidance. I mean I was so clueless, I didn’t even know how to use a database. And once I found articles and books, how did I go about shaping an argument?But first I needed to settle on a topic. Even that was overwhelming. What the hell was a historiography paper? I had no idea. Yes, I had attended a fairly prestigious university once upon a time but it had left me completely unprepared for doing anything useful. 

I must have been in my professor’s office for a half hour or more. After some discussion, I decided I wanted to research something regarding Cortez’s conquering of the Aztec. Great! Step one accomplished. But when I asked, where to do go from, here my professor got angry. She leaned forwarded, glared at me, and said, “What, do you expect me to write the paper for you?” Angry, mortified, and hurt, I grabbed my things and stormed out of her office. Completely despondent, I found a bench and cried. That was it. I was dropping out of school. I had no idea what I was doing so why bother even trying, especially when the words, “Please help,” scored such a  awful and painful response. 

But I didn’t drop out. I muddled through. With help from a wonderfully patient librarian and two other professors, I taught myself how to properly do research and write a paper. In fact, I did such a brilliant job that both professors that required me to write a research paper nominated my work for the Graduate Paper of the Year Award. Ironically, my paper on Cortez won. (As an aside, I won the same award the following semester and then I went on to win best thesis for a paper that I eventually published.)

I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t give up. But I still wish learning how to write a research paper hadn’t bees quite so traumatic. Since I would never want my son to endure the same pain that I experienced, I set it as a goal for this year to make sure he felt comfortable writing them. As much as my son grumbles about doing work, he never complains about research. In fact, he told me it was easy and aside of fiction, it was his favorite type of writing assignment. 

Earlier in the year, he had written two science papers. But now that we had finished the fifth grade history textbook, I wanted him to research something historical. Yeah, the focus this year had been on American History, but I didn’t want to put any restraints on him. I wanted him to find something he was interested in and learn something about it. 

My son settled on the Hundred Years War and there was no swaying him to something a little less daunting. But the entire war was far too broad of a topic. Therefore, I asked him to focus on a particular aspect of the war. He chose weapons. The boy is a walking stereotype when it comes to boys and weapons. If it were up to him school would include a class for learning about them. These class would be broken down into three parts: the history of each weapon, how to make them, and how to properly use them. Well, as long as his goal isn’t to actually wield them in every day society, so be it.

Going into this paper, I knew virtually nothing about the Hundred Years War. In fact, all I knew was that the British captured and killed Joan of Arc, transforming her into a martyr and a saint. But alas, I did go to a Catholic school where learning about the lives of saints trumped all other relevant information. In the end, I enjoyed this paper as much as my son did. It’s always exciting to learn something from your student.

I shall bore you no more with my babbling. Here is G3’s paper on Weapons of the Hundred Year’s War:

The Turning Point for Weapons: The Hundred Years War

I have chosen to research the weapons of the Hundred Years War because during the time it took place there were many break throughs in the technology of weapons. At the beginning of the war, the knight stood proudly with his sword and shield. Soon, the longbow came into play, then by the end of the war, the cannon was the ultimate weapon. The knights were displaced by the archers because the longbow was more effective and more deadly. The longbow was also the reason that the English won the early battles. But since the French took in the guns before the English, it meant that they won the war. Now, if you haven’t already guessed, I will talk about knights, longbows, crossbows and canons and how they affected the war.   

The war began when England’s King Edward III declared that he was the true king of France because he was the nephew of the dead French king. Phillip VI, the heir, was only his cousin. When Edward III declared this, the French government made it a law that the crown couldn’t be passed through a woman, nor could it be passed on to a woman. During the hundred years of fighting, there were five reigning kings on each side. Before the war, the Flemish joined England because the French monarch made it illegal for the Flemish to trade with England. Since this was how the Flemish made their money, they joined Britain. Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt, and Orleans were the major battles of the war. The first three Britain won with the longbow, but the last one the French won with the canon. During the timespan of the war, there were treaties ending the war but it kept beginning again. Also, the Bubonic Plague swept through Europe which  put the war on hold for many years. 

Knights are one of the most famous things in the Western World. They appear in picture books, novels, and movies. They have been romanticized to be dragon slaying, princess saving, and later, kings. This never happened, and I mean, never. The history of the knight most likely began during the Holy Roman Empire. Knights were trained in many weapons. These weapons were lances, spears, swords shields, and many others. The knights learned how use weapons on horseback. It was hard for them to march long distances due to the steel plates they wore. These plates also put an end to the shield because the steel protected them far better. The plates allowed knights to trample enemy lines with using only their feet. The plates were 60 to 80 pounds so the normal man would have to put padding under his armor.  Every suit was specially made for the user. Chain mail was put where steel plates would hurt. Since no man was able to put on their own suit, it was a common job for a squire to help. If a squire was able to prove himself worthy on the battlefield, he would be knighted. The basinet was the most common helmet. It had a point at the top and at the mouth so arrows would slide off of it. The great helm was a cylinder shaped helmet. At the Battle of Againcourt, the French knights drowned in mud due to the heavy armor. 

The longbow was made from ash, elm, and sometimes yew. It was a welsh invention. The bow was six feet tall. When it was in a damp or wet area the bow was kept in a leather sheath and the string was kept in the user’s hat. Every fit man had to practice the longbow incase they were drafted. Once someone knew what they were doing, they would be able to nock ten to twelve arrows in one minute. If the archer was close enough (50 yards), they would be able to pierce a knight’s armor.  The French never got the longbow. They feared an insurrection. If the men were trained, they might rebel against the government. During the war, people thought the archers were more important than knights so they were given respect. The archers became more respected because the weapon they used helped win more battles. Battles the longbow won for the English were Agincourt, Poitiers, and Crecy.  

During the war, the French hired Italian Genoese crossbowmen and also used the Genoese  crossbows themselves. This weapon was proven to be no competitor in the battle of  Crecy. The Genoese ran away when they saw the longbow arrows flying at them. The men who were not shot were executed for their cowardice. The crossbow was a wonderful tool for hunting and it could penetrate harder than a longbow. The other good thing about the crossbow was that men did not need training to use it like they did to use the longbow. In total, one bolt could go 400 yards. However, you could only nock three bolts a minute. Unlike the longbow, the crossbow could not easily stay dry. During the battle of Crecy, the water from the rain loosened the crossbow strings. This meant the bows didn’t work well.

Gun powered was invented by the Chinese and the first gonnes (guns) were made in the 1200s. They were made out of bamboo and steel. Europe got guns from Byzantine traders. In the 1300s, people thought of guns as dark magic. The early cannons were as dangerous to the user as to the victim due to explosions in the canon. 

Historians did question the use of canons at Crecy. When farmer in the mid 1800s found a metal ball while plowing his fields — the same field where the battle occurred — it proved that there were canons at the battle. There is a receipt for a purchase of canons in the Tower of London. It says, King Edward bought canons due to his love of drama. Many people experimented with guns to make them easier and better to use. Archers and knights thought canon teams were different and weird. As result, they were not accepted as equals. 

Overall, this war took a major step in the development of weapons. When the war began, the knights were in shining armor and at the peak of respect. Then came the longbow-men who let the English win almost all of the early important battles. This lead to the fall of knights. Gunpowder had proven its worth in Asia, but had not yet proven its worth in Europe. At the end of the war, the French had adopted to fighting with cannons which meant victory. The English still used longbows, but they had proven not as effective as guns. In the Hundred Years War, many weapons had risen and fallen. In recent history, nuclear bombs have proven to be more effective than guns. This shows weapons will always be around and will always become better. The only thing we can do now is ask when and where will the new best weapon come to be. 

Bibliography

“Hundred Years War.” Encyclopedia Britanica.

“LongbowsandCrossbows.” Gale Encyclopedia of World History, Gale,2009. 

“Full Steel-Plate Armor.” Gale Encyclopedia of World History, Gale, 2009.

“Knights.” Gale Middle School Online Collection, Gale, 2018.

Dykas, Andrews. “Hundred Years Saw the Canon Evolve From a Novelty to a Decisive Weapon.” Military History, June2001, Vol. 18, Issue 2.