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The English term lance is derived, via Middle English and Old French , from the Latin ', a generic term meaning a spear or javelin employed by both infantry and cavalry, with English initially keeping these generic meanings. It developed later into a term for spear-like weapons specially designed and modified to be part of a "weapon system" for use couched under the arm during a charge, being equipped with special features such as grappers to engage with attached to , and vamplates''', small circular plates designed to prevent the hand sliding up the shaft upon impact. These specific features were in use by the beginning of the late 14th century.
Though best known as a military and sporting weapon carried by and Man-at-arms, the use of lances was widespread throughout East Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa wherever suitable mounts were available. Lances were the main weapon of lancers of the medieval period and beyond, and these troops also carried secondary weapons such as , , , maces, and for use in hand-to-hand combat, since the lance was often a one-use-per-engagement weapon, becoming embedded in their targets or being broken on impact. Assuming the lance survived the initial impact without breaking, it could also prove inappropriate for more static, closer engagements where its length became a hindrance.Ian Heath, page 33 "Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300", Wargames Research Group 1978"
A lance in the original sense is a light throwing spear or javelin. The English verb to launch "fling, hurl, throw" is derived from the term (via Old French lancier), as well as the rarer or poetic to lance. The term from the 17th century came to refer specifically to spears not thrown, used for thrusting by heavy cavalry, and especially in jousting. The longer types of thrusting spear used by infantry are usually referred to simply as or later as pikes, though many other terms existed.
Formations of knights were known to use underarm-couched military lances in full-gallop closed-ranks charges against lines of opposing infantry or cavalry. Two variants on the couched lance charge developed, the French method, en haie, with lancers in a double line, and the German method, with lancers drawn up in a deeper formation which was often wedge-shaped. It is commonly believed that this became the dominant European cavalry tactic in the 11th century after the development of the cantled saddle and stirrups (the Great Stirrup Controversy), and of rowel (which enabled better control of the mount). Cavalry thus outfitted and deployed had a tremendous collective force in their charge, and could shatter most contemporary infantry lines.
Because of the extreme stopping power of a thrusting spear, it quickly became a popular weapon of infantry in the Late Middle Ages. These eventually led to the rise of the longest type of spears, the pike. This adaptation of the cavalry lance to infantry use was largely tasked with stopping lance-armed cavalry charges. During the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, these weapons, both mounted and unmounted, were so effective that lancers and pikemen not only became a staple of every Western army, but also became highly sought-after mercenaries. (However, the pike had already been used by Philip II of Macedon in antiquity to great effect, in the form of the sarissa.)
In Europe, a jousting lance was a variation of the knight's lance which was modified from its original war design. In jousting, the lance tips would usually be blunt, often spread out like a cup or furniture foot, to provide a wider impact surface designed to unseat the opposing rider without spearing him through. The centre of the shaft of such lances could be designed to be hollow, in order for it to break on impact, as a further safeguard against impalement. They were on average long, and had hand guards built into the lance, often tapering for a considerable portion of the weapon's length. These are the versions that can most often be seen at medieval reenactment festivals. In war, lances were much more like stout spears, long and balanced for one-handed use, and with sharpened tips.
Only the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with its far greater emphasis on cavalry warfare, large population of Szlachta nobility and general lower military technology level among its foes retained the lance to a considerable degree, with the famously winged Polish hussars having their glory period during the 17th and 18th centuries against a wide variety of enemy forces.
The Crimean War saw the use of the lance in the Charge of the Light Brigade. One of the four British regiments involved in the charge, plus the Russian who counter-attacked, were armed with this weapon.
During the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870), the Paraguayan cavalry made effective use of locally manufactured lances, both of conventional design and of an antique pattern used by gauchos for cattle herding.
The 1860s and 1870s saw the increasing common usage of Fraxinus, bamboo, beech, or pine wood for lance shafts of varying lengths, each with steel points and butts, adopted by the uhlan regiments of the Saxon, Württemberg, Bavarian, and Prussian armies.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 saw the extensive deployment of cavalry armed with lances on both sides. While the opportunities for decisive use of this weapon proved infrequent during the actual conflict, the entire cavalry corps (93 regiments of , , , and ) of the post-war Imperial German Army subsequently adopted the lance as a primary weapon. After 1893 the standard German cavalry lance was made of drawn tubular steel, covered with clear lacquer and with a hemp hand-grip. At it was the longest version then in use. Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Addition, Volume XVI, p. 150
The Austrian cavalry had included regiments armed with lances since 1784. In 1884, the lance ceased to be carried either as an active service or parade weapon. However the eleven Uhlan regiments continued in existence until 1918, armed with the standard cavalry sabre.
During the Second Boer War, British troops successfully used the lance on one occasion - against retreating at the Battle of Elandslaagte (21 October 1899).Thomas Pakenham, pages 139-140, "The Boer War", However, the Boers made effective use of trench warfare, rapid-fire field artillery, continuous-fire , and accurate long-range from the beginning of the war. The combined effect was devastating, so much of the British cavalry was deployed as mounted infantry, dismounting to fight on foot. For some years after the Boer War, the six British lancer regiments officially carried the lance only for parades and other ceremonial duties. At the regimental level, training in the use of the lance continued, ostensibly to improve recruit riding skills. In 1909,
The Russian cavalry (except for the ) discarded the lance in the late 19th century, but in 1907, it was reissued for use by the front line of each squadron when charging in open formation. In its final form, the Russian lance was a long metal tube with a steel head and leather arm strap. It was intended as a shock weapon in the charge, to be dropped after impact and replaced by the sword for close combat in a melee. While demoralizing to an opponent, the lance was recognized as being an awkward encumbrance in forested regions.Vladimir Littauer, pp. 115-116, Russian Hussar,
The relative value of the lance and the sword as a principal weapon for mounted troops was an issue of dispute in the years immediately preceding World War I. Opponents of the lance argued that the weapon was clumsy, conspicuous, easily deflected, and inefficient in a melee. Arguments favoring the retention of the lance focused on the impact on morale of having charging cavalry preceded by " a hedge of steel" and on the effectiveness of the weapon against fleeing opponents.
With the advent of trench warfare, lances and the cavalry that carried them ceased to play a significant role.A British officer writing in 1917 referred to lancers as "our marvellous medieval regiments" A Russian cavalry officer whose regiment carried lances throughout the war recorded only one instance where an opponent was killed by this weapon.
The Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), saw an unexpected revival of lances amongst the cavalry of the Turkish National Army. During the successful Turkish offensives of the final stages of the war across the open plains of Asia Minor, Turkish mounted troops were armed with bamboo shafted-lances taken from military storage and inflicted heavy losses on the retreating Greek Army.Philip S. Jowett, Armies of the Greek-Turkish War 1919–22, p. 47,
The cavalry branches of most armies which still retained lances as a service weapon at the end of World War I generally discarded them for all but ceremonial occasions during the 1920s and 1930s. There were exceptions during this era, such as the Polish cavalry, which retained the lance for combat use until either 1934Steven J. Zaloga, page 5 "The Polish Army 1939–45" or 1937,Alan Larsen & Henry Yallop, The Cavalry Lance, p. 76, but contrary to popular legend did not make use of it in World War II. The German cavalry retained the lance (Stahlrohrlanze) as a service weapon until 1927,Klaus Richter, Weapons & Equipment of the German Cavalry: 1935-1945, p. 3, as did the British cavalry until 1928.Alan Larsen & Henry Yallop, The Cavalry Lance, pp. 16 & 56, The Argentine cavalry were documented as carrying lances until the 1940s,Cavalry and carriages. Militariarg.com. (n.d.). http://www.militariarg.com/cavalry-and-carriages.html but this appears to have been used as part of recruit riding school training, rather than serious preparation for use in active service.
The modern Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the North-West Mounted Police's descendant, employs ceremonial, though functional, lances made of male bamboo. They feature a crimped swallowtail Pennon, red above and white below.
The New South Wales Mounted Police, based at Redfern Barracks, Sydney, Australia, carry a lance with a navy blue and white pennant on ceremonial occasions.
A "tilting-spear" is a heraldry term for a lance.
Indigenous use in North America
After the Western world introduction of the horse to Native Americans, the Plains Indians used the bow and lance, probably independently, as American cavalry of the time were armed with the pistol and sabre, firing forward at full gallop.
19th century revival in Western Europe
The mounted lancer experienced a renaissance in the 19th century. This followed on the demise of the pike and of body armor during the early 18th century, with the reintroduction of lances coming from Hungary and Poland, having retained large formations of lance-armed cavalry when they had become more or less obsolescent elsewhere in Europe. Lancers became especially prevalent during and after the Napoleonic Wars: a period when almost all the major European powers reintroduced the lance into their respective cavalry arsenals. Formations of and other types of cavalry used lances between in length as their primary weapons. The lance was usually employed in initial charges in close formation, with sabers being used in the melee that followed.
Twilight of use
In the American Civil War, the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment was equipped with lances modeled after Napoleon's forces in France. American troops had never previously used the lance in combat. The lances proved ineffective in battle and were replaced with carbine rifles in 1863.
Marquess of Anglesey9780436273216 ISBN 9780436273216 the bamboo or ash lance with a steel head was reauthorized for general use on active service.
World War I and after
Lances were still in use by the British Empire, Ottoman Empire, Italian, Spain, French, Belgium, British Raj, German Empire, and Russian Empire armies at the outbreak of World War I. In initial cavalry skirmishes in France this antique weapon proved ineffective, German being "hampered by their long lances and a good many threw them away".Barbara W. Tuchman, page 280, The Guns of August, Four Square Edition 1964 A major action involving repeated charges by four regiments of German cavalry, all armed with lances, at Halen on 12 August 1914 was unsuccessful.Joe Robinson, Francis Hendriks and Janet Robinson, The Last Great Cavalry Charge – The Battle of the Silver Helmets – Halen 12 August 1914, Amongst the Belgian defenders was one regiment of lancers who fought dismounted.
Use as flagstaff
The United States Cavalry used a lance-like shaft as a .
Mounted police use
When the Canadian North-West Mounted Police was established, it was modeled after certain British cavalry units that used lances. It made limited use of this weapon in small detachments during the 1870s, intended to impress indigenous peoples.
Other weapons
"Lance" is also the name given by some anthropologists to the light flexible (technically darts) thrown by (spear-throwing sticks), but these are usually called "atlatl javelins". Some were not much larger than arrows, and were typically feather-fletching like an arrow and unlike the vast majority of spears and javelins (one exception would be several instances of the many types of ballista bolt, a mechanically thrown spear).
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