Medieval Battle with Flails
Medieval Battle with Flails – this rare video is showing mass knight fight with flails. Hussite strategy against medieval knights.
Flail was a favourite Hussite weapon during Hussite wars in Bohemia (15th century). Hussites annihilated several armies of crusaders.
Knights fighting with flails
Hussite strategy against knight armies
Lets imagine Hussites on their war wagons. They are shooting with artillery, guns, crosbows and slings. Crusaders running their cavalry attack. Knights use lances. Lance can be used once, knight must draw his sword after lance attack. Both weapons – lance and sword are useless against Hussites protected on war wagons. Hussite warriors has no horses but they are still on a higher position than knights on their horses. Hussites using flails, pikes, partisans, swords, maces, and other weapons to beat group of knights driven into chaos after totally useless attack. Hussite cavalry attacking demoralized crusaders thrown out of horses and finishing battle with only a few loses.
Notice on video – flail can be a very fast weapon comparing to lance that can be used only once.
History facts
Crusaders from mostly German lands but also from other European countries (Italy, France, Flanders, Spain..) lost more than 20 battles against Hussites in Bohemia. Hussites were more flexible and they used advantage of properly selected terrain against slow medieval knights with the only one strategy – direct charge with lance and the following fight with sword.
Medieval Hussite with flail
Hussite warrior with flail and pavise
Excellent video. The frequency of flails is lethal:) I can imagine what guys with flails can cause to knights if they are on top of war wagons.
What is source of video? I want to see more. I have read a book about Hussite wars in time of my studies and i was impressed. Czechs were always one of the best warriors in Europe. I remember lion on Czech coat of arms was reward for Czech conquest of Milano city in northern Italy. Sorry for my english.
Thanks
Thomas, Firenze, Italy
It looks a little funny but this type of flail must cause a pure massacre in a real fight.
I can imagine how deadly it must be for a knights
Real harvest 
nice video..
Really interesting.
great video, it is not obviously visible but the spikes were added to the flails to make them more deadly. The important point is that the Hussite army was an army of peasants trained by the great Czech general Jan Zizka. He knew they could not easily be taught to use typical infantry weapons of the time but all peasants knew how to use the flail. This, combined with the armored agricultural wagons and primitive handguns made for an effective form of fighting that spelled the end of the mounted knight. Knights, who had no problem cutting down unarmed peasants complained that this form of warfare broke the rules of chivalry. Zizka from his years of military experience and the battle of Grunnwald/Tannenberg knew that the only effective defense against mounted knights was the castle. His wagon fortress- in which the armored wagons were chained together in a circle or square (with the wagons on an angle – so that horses could be quickly hitched) were a very effective defense against mounted knights. Petr.