Page 44 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

was to charge around with a lance. The use of a sword was very difficult because of the risk of toppling off the horse. With his visor down he could not hear anyone or be heard.
These suits of armor were so unwieldy that it was easy for a group of lightly armed men on foot to overwhelm a knight in all his armor. As a result, this extensive use of metal for body armor was abandoned.
The use of metals changed dramatically when explosives appeared. Cannon and rifles required metals that were much sturdier than those used in hand-to-hand fighting. Cannon, for example, had to be massively built because, at first, the technology was not available to make strong steels.
The earliest guns were cast from brass or bronze in
the same foundries as bells. These cannon were expensive and did not stand up well to explosives. It was only when wrought iron became available in the 14th century that cannon became widespread. The muzzle of the cannon was made from long slats of iron that had to be beaten together to make a tube. This tube had to be reinforced with a number of hoops just like a barrel. Cannonballs were made
(Above) Ploughs were first made of wood, but the ploughing tip wore down quickly. At the same time, metal was expensive and difficult to work two millennia ago, and so the only metal part on this plough is a sheath to cover the ploughing tip.
(Below) Casting bells was a metalworking skill that developed in the European Middle Ages.
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