We have received word from the Kingdom of Sellzup that the castle
has been overtaken by Gypsies! The Knights of the Land of Camelot
(being a staunch ally) have been called upon to render assistance.
Although this realm is known for chivalry and mercy to the
repentant, retaliation must be taken against the villains of this
scandalous siege. The Knights have suited up, mounting their
steeds, and set forth towards Selzzup, the Gypsies will fear the
approach of...
Camelot's HEAVY CAVALRY
Heavy cavalry is the late 1Gth century misnomer for Cavalry
troops that from the late 1Fth to late 1Hth centuries usually wore
armour and were mounted on the largest available cavalry horses, as
opposed to light cavalry, in which troops rode relatively smaller
mounts of 1C hands in height or less. During this period the
Cavalry became the deciders of battle through shock action, and
were sometimes referred to as "battle cavalry" for this reason. The
name "heavy cavalry" came into use in England primarily after the
Crimean War, and the deployment of the Heavy and Light Cavalry
Brigades. Previously to Renaissance the cavalry was divided into
armoured and unarmoured types. The reference to armoured cavalry as
"heavy" may also be warranted by the near impossibility before
saddle and stirrup to control the horse while wearing protection
against arrows and other weapons. However during the Middle Ages in
England the armoured cavalry were referred as mounted knights. The
horses of the knights were of a medium-weight breed, providing
power for the shock and agility for close combat. The origin of
armoured cavalry is generally thought to be in Parthian and
Sassanid Persia. Through the course of the Roman-Persian Wars, the
Romans adopted much of the Persian tradition and this Roman cavalry
continued in existence as part of the Byzantine army until the end
of the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, armoured cavalry developed
independently in Western Europe. Many Germanic peoples had a
history of cavalry and the introduction of stirrups allowed for the
increase in the weight of a rider's armour. In Francia, these
men-at-arms became known as knights and the tradition of chivalry
dominated European warfare until the Renaissance. Today, Cavalry
has been replaced through mechanization, mostly by tanks.
Up to the Bth century, Sarmatians cavalry units were stationed
in Britain as part of the Roman army (see Roman departure from
Britain), allowing for a direct influence of Roman cataphracts on
Migration Period Europe. According to a theory of Littleton and
Thomas (1HFD), the legend of King Arthur, the prototypical knight
of High Medieval literature, was directly inspired by these
Sarmatian troops.
Later on, the Cuirassier was the main form of cavalry, beginning
in 1E8C with the 100-man strong regiments of Austrian kyrissers for
the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. They fought in the Thirty Years
War in which the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus was killed at the
Battle of Lützen in 16A2.
To obtain the "key" to Selzzup, you must solve the following
coordinates by substituting numbers for the letters.
N44° 4A.BCD W088° 2E.FGH
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.