Early medieval militarisation

Early medieval militarisation
Author: Ellora Bennett
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526138646

The societies of ancient Europe underwent a continual process of militarisation, and this would come to be a defining characteristic of the early Middle Ages. The process was neither linear nor mono-causal, but it affected society as a whole, encompassing features like the lack of demarcation between the military and civil spheres of the population, the significance attributed to weapons beyond their military function and the wide recognition of martial values. Early medieval militarisation assembles twenty studies that use both written and archaeological evidence to explore the phenomenon of militarisation and its impact on the development of the societies of early medieval Europe. The interdisciplinary investigations break new ground and will be essential reading for scholars and students of related fields, as well as non-specialists with an interest in early medieval history.

Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe

Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe
Author: John T. Baker
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Civil defense
ISBN: 9782503529561

This volume is the result of a conference at University College London in 2007 which addressed the scale and form of civil defences in early medieval Europe, c. 800-1000. Previous work has largely focussed on individual sites or specific categories of evidence. These papers offer new interdisciplinary perspectives driven by a landscape approach. Several contributions focus on civil defence in England around the time of King Alfred the Great, and together provide a new agenda for the study of Anglo-Saxon military landscapes. European case-studies facilitate a comparative approach to local and regional defensive structures and interpretive paradigms. Topics and themes covered include civil defence landscapes, the organization and form of defensive structures, and the relationships and dynamics between social complexity, militarization, and external threats. With papers ranging from England to Spain and Germany to Scandinavia the volume is of relevance to a range of disciplines including archaeology, history, onomastics, geography, and anthropology.

Social Militarisation and the Power of History

Social Militarisation and the Power of History
Author: Dick Harrison
Publisher:
Total Pages: 254
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book examines the scholarly treatment of three macro-regions: East Aasia, Southeast Asia and Mesoamerica. The early medieval history of Europe is also analysed from the point of view of militarisation.

The Medieval Way of War

The Medieval Way of War
Author: Gregory I. Halfond
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2016-03-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317024192

Few historians have argued so forcefully or persuasively as Bernard S. Bachrach for the study of warfare as not only worthy of scholarly attention, but demanding of it. In his many publications Bachrach has established unequivocally the relevance of military institutions and activity for an understanding of medieval European societies, polities, and mentalities. In so doing, as much as any scholar of his generation, he has helped to define the status quaestionis for the field of medieval military history. The Medieval Way of War: Studies in Medieval Military History in Honor of Bernard S. Bachrach pays tribute to its honoree by gathering in a single volume seventeen original studies from an international roster of leading experts in the military history of medieval Europe. Ranging chronologically from Late Antiquity through the Later Middle Ages (ca. AD 300-1500), and with a broad geographical scope stretching from the British Isles to the Middle East, these diverse studies address an array of critical themes and debates relevant to the conduct of war in medieval Europe. These themes include the formation and implementation of military grand strategies; the fiscal, material, and administrative resources that underpinned the conduct of war in medieval Europe; and religious, legal, and artistic responses to military violence. Collectively, these seventeen studies embrace the interdisciplinarity and topical diversity intrinsic to Bachrach’s research. Additionally, they strongly echo his conviction that the study of armed conflict is indispensable for an accurate and comprehensive understanding of medieval European history.

The Making of Medieval Sardinia

The Making of Medieval Sardinia
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 517
Release: 2021-08-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004467548

This landmark volume combines classic and revisionist essays to explore the historiography of Sardinia’s exceptional transition from an island of the Byzantine empire to the rise of its own autonomous rulers, the iudikes, by the 1000s. In addition to Sardinia’s contacts with the Byzantines, Muslim North Africa and Spain, Lombard Italy, Genoa, Pisa, and the papacy, recent and older evidence is analysed through Latin, Greek and Arabic sources, vernacular charters and cartularies, the testimony of coinage, seals, onomastics and epigraphy as well as the Sardinia’s early medieval churches, arts, architecture and archaeology. The result is an important new critique of state formation at the margins of Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West with the creation of lasting cultural, political and linguistic frontiers in the western Mediterranean. Contributors are Hervin Fernández-Aceves, Luciano Gallinari, Rossana Martorelli, Attilio Mastino, Alex Metcalfe, Marco Muresu, Michele Orrù, Andrea Pala, Giulio Paulis, Giovanni Strinna, Alberto Virdis, Maurizio Virdis, and Corrado Zedda.

The Circle of War in the Middle Ages

The Circle of War in the Middle Ages
Author: Donald J. Kagay
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 216
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780851156453

Medieval warfare on both land and sea examined by leading scholars in the field. Different aspects of medieval warfare form the focus for this collection of essays by both established and new scholars. They range from a reconsideration of several problems of military historiography to explorations of the medieval view of divine influence on the battlefield, and the emergence of complex strategic and tactical norms of naval warfare in the medieval Mediterranean. Other topics examined include the role of mercenaries; crusader warfare; and Anglo-Norman women at war.Contributors: BERNARD S. BACHRACH, THERESA M. VANN, PAUL E. CHEVEDDEN, STEPHEN MORILLO, EDWARD G. SCHOENFELD, KENT G. HARE, KELLY DEVRIES, STEVEN ISAAC, JEAN A. TRUAX, STEVEN G. LANE, DOUGLAS C. HALDANE, LAWRENCE V. MOTT

The Journal of Medieval Military History

The Journal of Medieval Military History
Author: Clifford J. Rogers
Publisher: Boydell Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2007-10-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781843833390

Latest volume of original articles on all aspects of warfare in the middle ages. The broad topic of medieval warfare is here explored across the full chronological range of the Middle Ages, using a wide variety of approaches, including literary, prosopographical, technological, and narrative-based analysis. Akey feature of the journal is its commitment to fostering debate on the most significant issues in medieval military history; that tradition is continued here with Bernard Bachrach's argument against the idea that early medieval military structures and practices were sharply different from Late Antique ones. Individual battles, the Hattin campaign of 1187 and Byzantine war against Bulgaria in 1254-1256, are the focus of two other chapters; an article by Richard Kaeuper (based on his De Re Militari special lecture at the International Congress of Medieval Studies) emphasizes the value of chansons de geste and other "romance" material for understanding the mentalité of the martial lay aristocracy of medieval Christendom; and there are further articles on the factors that motivated gentlemen to fight, in both open warfare, and individual combat. Weapons of warfare are not neglected, with chapters casting lighton the development of the crossbow and the trebuchet. CONTRIBUTORS: BERNARD S. BACHRACH, MICHAEL EHRLICH, MICHAEL BASISTA, NICHOLAS S. KANELLOPOULOS, JOANNE K. LEKEA, RICHARD W. KAEUPER, MARK DUPUY, MALCOLM MERCER, STEVEN C. HUGHES

Neglected Heroes

Neglected Heroes
Author: Terry L. Gore
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 239
Release: 1995-12-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1440821143

Contrary to prevalent military historical thinking, the early medieval general was not an ignorant warrior chieftain, but an able, astute, intelligent, and often very cunning commander. Through the use of contemporary literature, art, and archaeological evidence, this study argues that these generals could and did effectively exercise command control before, during, and after battle. Using the examples of a dozen or so leaders and drawing upon over 60 battles, this study brings to light the genius and the adaptability of medieval generals.

Civil–Military Entanglements

Civil–Military Entanglements
Author: Birgitte Refslund Sørensen
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2019-07-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1789201969

Military-civilian encounters are multiple and diverse in our times. Contributors to this volume demonstrate how military and civilian domains are constituted through entanglements undermining the classic civil-military binary and manifest themselves in unexpected places and manners. Moreover, the essays trace out the ripples, reverberations and resonations of civil-military entanglements in areas not usually associated with such ties, but which are nevertheless real and significant for an understanding of the roles war, violence and the military play in shaping contemporary societies and the everyday life of its citizens.

The Collapse of Complex Societies

The Collapse of Complex Societies
Author: Joseph Tainter
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1988
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780521386739

Dr Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory.