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Due to the victorious conquest of the barbarians into Europe, the Romans were eventually defeated, therefore altering the weaponry that would dominate the battlefield of the Early Middle Ages (DeVries 9). As it was the Carolingian Empire that dominated this period, it is only right that there most "predominant weapon" get the first mention--the spear. The spear, although introduced in prehistoric periods and used extensively by the Roman Legionnaire, was slightly altered to adhere to the …

…their armaments. The mounted knight, relying on its steed and powerful lance, adopted the sword as its primary close-quarters weapon, and as their symbols of nobility. Although the infantry relied upon the spear to unhorse the charging knights, it was the introduction of the staff-weapon, namely the halberd, that caused the influx of bows to counter the growing numbers of infantrymen present on the battlefield, thus sealing the fate of the cavalry-heavy armies were decreasing.