When I said “swords, bows, etc.” i meant the “etc.” to include pikes, spears, javelins, crossbows, etc. -- the usual medieval weaponry.
From what I’ve read so far, it is unclear whether they used the pike square or not. The book hasn’t mentioned any pikes or spears yet, which suggests that they used swords, crossbows, and a few guns (the things the book does mention) but it’s possible that they did use pikes and the historian just didn’t think it worth mentioning. Edit: The book does mention lances on the horsemen.
My (weakly held) take is that a category of ‘usual medieval weaponry’ obscures a lot of detail that turns out to be relevant. Like even talking about ‘swords’, a 3 foot sword made of Toledo steel is a very different beast from a macuahuitl. They’re about equally sharp and long, but the steel sword is lighter, allows fighting more closely together (note that, at this time, a lot of the successful European tactics require people somewhat tightly packed working in concert), and is more durable. (The obsidian blades, while they could slice clean through people and horses, weren’t very effective against mail and would break on impact with another sword.)
When I said “swords, bows, etc.” i meant the “etc.” to include pikes, spears, javelins, crossbows, etc. -- the usual medieval weaponry.
From what I’ve read so far, it is unclear whether they used the pike square or not. The book hasn’t mentioned any pikes or spears yet, which suggests that they used swords, crossbows, and a few guns (the things the book does mention) but it’s possible that they did use pikes and the historian just didn’t think it worth mentioning. Edit: The book does mention lances on the horsemen.
My (weakly held) take is that a category of ‘usual medieval weaponry’ obscures a lot of detail that turns out to be relevant. Like even talking about ‘swords’, a 3 foot sword made of Toledo steel is a very different beast from a macuahuitl. They’re about equally sharp and long, but the steel sword is lighter, allows fighting more closely together (note that, at this time, a lot of the successful European tactics require people somewhat tightly packed working in concert), and is more durable. (The obsidian blades, while they could slice clean through people and horses, weren’t very effective against mail and would break on impact with another sword.)
I agree with this; this is why I said “Steel weapons.”
This painting shows pikes, or at least spears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Tenochtitlan#/media/File:The_Conquest_of_Tenochtitlan.jpg