European Knightly Cavalry Tactics (1160s)

Timeline

1. 1161–1165France · FranceFrench and English knights in tournaments and actual combat widely adopted the charge with the lance couched under the arm, striking enemy infantry or cavalry lines in dense wedge formations; the combination of charge speed and armor protection became the knight's core combat advantage.
2. 1162–1167Northern Italy · ItalyDuring Frederick I Barbarossa's campaigns in Italy, the clash between imperial knightly forces and the infantry of the North Italian communes prompted both sides to adjust their tactics. Knightly charges required infantry crossbowmen to cover the flanks, while the communal armies used dense pike formations and ditches to slow the cavalry, pushing cavalry tactics toward combined-arms warfare.
3. 1162–1170Iberian Peninsula · Iberian PeninsulaCrusader knights adjusted the rhythm of their charges in the desert and mountain environments of the Levant, while on the Iberian Reconquista battlefields the clashes between Castilian knights and Almohad light cavalry also tested the adaptability and limitations of Western European heavy cavalry against different terrain and opponents.