In medieval times anybody could use weapons, most of the time the army use them in war. There are many types of weapons that the soldiers used such as Swords, Blunt weapons like maces and clubs, spears, bows, rams, catapults etc. Not all weapons were used to kill people, for example: whips were used to train animals that were used for war. The "whip" was actually known as a weapon that breaks the sound barrier for a split second, in that process making a miniature sonic boom.
Swords are close combat, one handed weapons they were used by soldiers that wore heavy and thick armor that protect them form the enemies. The half and half sword was a one handed sword that got its name because only about one and a half of the wielders hand could fit on the grip. This sword was also considered a two handed sword. The most common sword in battle was the long sword also named as the "War sword". This sword was a sword that can be only wield if the wielder had great strength. This sword was also known because it could slice and also crush the enemy's armor. Swords were also two handed weapons, the reason for that is mostly because the sword was big or heavy. The Zweihander was a sword that weighed 15-20 lbs. The Zweihander is a German word that means two handed. Two handed swords are much heavier and much more dangerous than one handed swords. If a man would wield this he would have much more strength than someone that would wield a one handed sword. Before, swords weren't that tough, they would only be able to kill someone with no armor. Later on, they made swords sharper so that it would be able to penetrate the enemy's armor. Many times, the re other ways to invade castles; the ladder was a helpful object in wars because the invaders would be able to climb up onto castles. The disadvantage was that the defenders could just push the ladder down. A siege tower was often built during wars, a siege tower is a tower that matches the height of the castle walls, soldiers wheeled the tower to the castle and the soldiers pop out of the tower and attack. The siege tower was often filled with archers, a siege tower might have been a bad idea because archers would be able to fire burning arrows and burn it down. Catapults were machines that could hurl stones that weigh as much as 350 pounds and they could be thrown as far as 300 feet, they were used to destroy castle walls. Catapults were able to kill dozens of soldiers with a single shot! The Medieval times had great ideas when it came to creating weapons and siege engines. The trebuchet was known as the "Atom bomb of its time" because it was known to throw anything with great accuracy. Many people were needed to operate this machine; they would throw anything from stones to dead animals.
When warriors were on the battlefield, they couldn't have gone in everyday clothes. They needed armor made of metals to protect them from the enemy. Some types of armor that soldiers used were the chain suit. They were usually 45-55 pounds and they could protect against swords because they couldn't break through it. However, bows were able to get through the smalls holes of the chains. The chains are linked together and make the form of a suit.
Ranged weapons such as bows were also commonly use in medieval wars. The bow and arrow was a weapon that would shoot its arrow far distances. How this weapon was used is the archer pulled on the bowstring back which created pressure onto the bow. When it was released the bow would thrust forward with great force. If the archer was skilled with this weapon it could become very deadly with its great force and accuracy. The archers would usually be on the castle walls waiting for someone to get close enough so they can launch the arrow and hopefully kill them. The cross bow was a weapon that was also used on the castle by archers but it was not as great as a bow. The crossbow missed its target most of the time, it took a long time to reload and it was just to hard to handle. Over time it was improved but it still wasn't the weapon of choice, how it improved was that it could be reloaded while aiming at the enemy and it was not heavy. Longbows were as big as the archer, and if the archer was very skilled he couldkill someone in one shot. Later on, archers shot bows while riding horses, they would improve accuracy but they have less force.
Artilleries or "Siege Weapons" were meant to destroy castles and kill large groups of people. There welmets, and pants. They were usually used as under armor over the full body steel suits of armor. The suits of armor could protect from swords and arrows. Of course no armor could protect someone from catapults except for castles but they usually get destroyed in the process. The armor suits lasted to the renaissance time. Shields were used to block swords, axes, arrows etc. The Kite Shield is supposed to be as big as the wielder for full protection.