About the Book
War was epidemic in the late Middle Ages. It affected every land and all peoples from Scotland and Scandinavia in the north to the southern Mediterranean Sea coastlines of Morocco, North Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East in the south, from Ireland and Spain in the west to Russia and Turkey in the east. Nowhere was peaceful for any significant amount of time. The period also saw significant changes in military theory and practice which altered the ways in which campaigns were conducted, battles fought, and sieges laid; and changes in the leadership, recruitment, training, supply and financing of armies. There were changes in the relationship between those waging warfare, from generals to irregular troops, and the society in which they lived and for or against which they fought; the frequency of popular rebellions and the participation in them by townspeople and peasants; changes in the desire to undertake Crusades, and changes in technology, including but not limited to gunpowder weapons. This collection gathers together some of the best published work on these topics. The first section of seven papers show that throughout Europe in the later Middle Ages generals led and armies followed what are usually defined as "modern" strategy and tactics, contrary to popular belief. The second part reprints nine works that examine the often neglected aspects of the process of putting and keeping together a late medieval army. In the third section the authors discuss various ways that warfare in the fourteenth and fifteenth century affected the society of that period. The final sections cover popular rebellions and crusading.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction; Part I Military Theory and Practice: Edward III and the dialectics of strategy, 1327-1360, Clifford J. Rogers; The French plan of battle during the Agincourt campaign, Christopher Philpotts; The battle of Verneuil (17 August 1424): towards a history of courage, Michael K. Jones; Changes in the nature of war in early 14th century Italy, Louis Green; Sir John Hawkwood and the English condottieri in trecento Italy, Kenneth Fowler; One man and his wars: the depiction of warfare by Marshal Boucicaut's biographer, Norman Housley; Military manuals in 15th-century England, Diane Bornstein. Part II Late Medieval Armies: The organisation of indentured retinues in 14th-century England, N.B. Lewis; The Bridport muster roll of 1457, Thom Richardson; Mounted infantry in medieval warfare, J.E. Morris; The payment of army wages in Edward III's reign, A.E. Prince; Victualling estimates for English garrisons in Scotland during the early 14th century, Michael Prestwich; The military class and the French monarchy in the late Middle Ages, John Bell Henneman; The ransome of Olivier du Guesclin, Christopher Given-Wilson. Part III War and Late Medieval Society: Towns and defence in later medieval Germany, David Eltis; The impact of war and occupation on urban life in Normandy, 1417-1450, Anne E. Curry; Popular response to standing military forces in 15th-century France, Paul D. Solon; Purveyance for war and the community of the realm in late medieval England, W.R. Jones; Italy and the companies of adventure in the 14th century, William Caferro. Part IV Popular Rebellions: The soldiery in late medieval urban society, Philippe Contamine; Patterns of urban rebellion in medieval Flanders, Jan Dumolyn and Jelle Haemers. Part V Late Medieval Crusading and the Ottoman Threat: Frontier societies and crusading in the late Middle Ages, Norman Housley; The lack of a Western European military response to the Ottoman invasions of Eastern Europe from Nicopolis (1396) to Mohá
About the Author :
Kelly DeVries is Professor at the Department of History, Loyola College, USA Clifford J. Rogers, Christopher Philpotts, Michael K. Jones, Louis Green, Kenneth Fowler, Norman Housley, Diane Bornstein, N.B. Lewis, Thom Richardson, J.E. Morris, A.E. Prince, Michael Prestwich, John Bell Henneman, Christopher Given-Wilson, David Eltis, Anne E. Curry, Paul D. Solon, W.R. Jones, William Caferro, Philippe Contamine, Jan Dumolyn, Jelle Haemers, Kelly DeVries, Robert D. Smith, Richard Bean.
