When it came to conflict during the medieval period, various kinds of warriors arose.

Archers

Iconic for warriors in the Medieval period, archers were an essential part of a battlefield offensive.

Candidates needed to possess great strength as well as sharp eyesight to accurately launch their arrows.

Billmen

These Medieval soldiers take their name from the weapon they wielded, known as the billhook.

Billmen went through special training to tear opponents off of their horses.

Doing so would devastate the line of shields reinforcing the enemys forward thrusting movements.

Use of billmen reached a peak in the Late Medieval Period.

Boyars

Russian fighters during the Medieval era were called boyars.

They operated at the top of the ranks in the aristocracies in Russia between the 10th and 17th centuries.

The boyars achieved high levels of power, which they preserved because they propped up princes in Kiev.

Crossbowmen

Crossbowmen came about during the High Middle Ages.

Their skills, however, come from millennia ago, as the cross bow dates back to prehistoric times.

Crossbowmen were used in lieu of archers when the battle plans called for massive defense.

The term housecarl is the English version of the Old Norse word huskarl.

To pay for arming and maintaining housecarls, taxes were levied in England and Scandinavia.

You would see knights fighting on horseback as well as on foot as part of the infantry.

Weapons used by knights included the hand axe, arming sword and mace.

Over the gambeson they wore plated armor, making them highly defended during wars.

Knights Templar

Some of the most well known soldiers of the Medieval period were the Knights Templar.

They persisted for about 200 years after being endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Knights Templar had a reputation for being excellent fighters.

Oftentimes they received additional training in cavalry warfare.

Periodically the mamluks would wrest power from their rulers.

One such occurrence took place between 1250-1517 when the mamluks took over Egypt, forming their own sultanate.

It was not an enviable position, because spearmen lacked protective armor and therefore easier to injure and kill.

Spearmen are icon representatives of Medieval warfare.