Nic Fields God’s Viking: Harald Hardrada. The Life and Times of the Last Great Viking (Pen & Sword, 2019) 366 pp. £20.00 Nic Fields attempts to go where others have been before in trying to write a history of the … Continue reading
Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike Vikings at War (Casemate, 2016) 400 pp. $39.95 An award-winning book when first published in Norwegian, this book is the scholarly and exhaustive English translation, and one that will likely please many who are interested … Continue reading
The Frankish Tribute Payments to the Vikings and their Consequences Simon Coupland Francia: v.26 n.1 (1999) “They ransom with tributes what they should defend with arms, and the kingdom of the Christians is laid waste.”2 “Ransom and tribute have now not … Continue reading
The Viking Hasting in Franco-Scandinavian Legend By Frederic Amory Saints, Scholars and Heroes: Studies in Medieval Culture (1979) Introduction: “Une histoire de Hasting à travers les chroniques serait fort instructive,” Lucien Musset has said, very truly. Not that such history has … Continue reading
English Logistics and military administration, 871-1066: The Impact of the Viking Wars Richard Abels Military aspects of Scandinavian society in a European perspective, AD 1-1300 (1997) King Harold Godwineson is remembered as one of the great `losers’ in history, the … Continue reading
From Saga Book: The Viking Society for Northern Research, Volume 22 (1989) Continue reading
The Annals of St. Vaast gives a long account of raids by Vikings in the years 882 to 886, including their siege of Paris in 885-886. Continue reading
Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree, John Cairns Road to Manzikert: Byzantine & Islamic Warfare, 527-1071 (Pen & Sword, 2021), 204pp. £14.99 As most Byzantine military historians know the Battle of Manzikert is seen as a decisive moment in the … Continue reading
Michael Livingston Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England (Oxford: Osprey, 2021), 224 pp. $28.00 Michael Livingston is carving a wide path in medieval military studies, through prolific publications and especially organizing primary source books in conjunction with … Continue reading
Lisa Deutscher, Mirjam Kaiser, Sixt Wetzler (eds.) The Sword: Form and Thought (Boydell & Brewer, 2019), 294 pp. $99.00 This book presents the proceedings for the second Sword Conference that was held in November 2015 at the Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen. … Continue reading
Georgios Theotokis (ed.) Warfare in the Norman Mediterranean (Boydell & Brewer, 2020), 252 pp. $99.00 Historians, even medieval historians, have their stars. These are peoples, things, ideas, movements that somehow we cannot leave alone. The Vikings, cultural renaissances, military revolutions, … Continue reading
Journal of Medieval Military History Volume 15: Strategies Edited by Leif Inge Ree Petersen, Manuel Rojas Gabriel This special edition of the Journal aims to respond to the lively debate in recent years as to whether medieval military history was … Continue reading
This thesis addresses the military aspects of the Albigensian Crusade in the region of Languedoc between 1209 and 1218. Continue reading
Observations upon a Scene in the Bayeux Tapestry, the Battle of Hastings and the Military System of the Late Anglo-Saxon State By M. K. Lawson The Medieval State: Essays Presented to James Campbell (2000) If a relative plethora of sources … Continue reading
The Guta Saga is a short chronicle, written sometime between 1220 and 1275, which details the history of Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. One of the last sections in this saga describes the arrangements made regarding what obligations did Gotlanders have in providing ships and men for the military campaigns of the Swedish kings. Continue reading
The following text deals with the final campaign of King Sverri, in which he besieges the Baglar forces under Hreidar Sendiman. Continue reading
Scott Lomax, Nottingham: The Buried Past Of A Historic City Revealed (Pen & Sword Archaeology, 2013) 176 pp. $24.95 In reading this book, it quickly becomes clear how important it is that the author himself has been involved with the … Continue reading
Bob Carruthers The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Illustrated and Annotated (Pen & Sword Books Ltd.: Barnsley, 2013) 372pp. $24.95. ISBN 9781781591482 Arguably the most important single work to our understanding of the Anglo-Saxon period of English history is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Without … Continue reading
Ibn al-Athīr’s Accounts of the Rūs: A Commentary and Translation By William E. Watson Canadian/American Slavic Studies, Vol.35 (2001) The evidence on the early Rūs contained in medieval Arabic geographical literature has long been part of the Normanist/anti-Normanist controversy.1 The … Continue reading
Killing or Clemency? Ransom, Chivalry and Changing Attitudes to Defeated Opponents in Britain and Northern France, 7-12th centuries Matthew J. Strickland Krieg im Mittelalter (2001) On 25 September, 1066, the forces of King Harold II of England fell upon the … Continue reading
The Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years’ War Clifford J. Rogers The Journal of Military History: v.57 (1993) The Military Revolution The concept of the “military revolution” first entered the historical literature with Michael Roberts’s famous inaugural lecture, “The Military … Continue reading
The recruitment of armies in the early middle ages: what can we know? Timothy Reuter Military Aspects of Scandinavian Society in a European Perspective, AD 1-1300 (Copenhagen, 1997) Abstract The study of medieval warfare has probably both benefitted and suffered from … Continue reading
English Refugees in the Byzantine Armed Forces: The Varangian Guard and Anglo-Saxon Ethnic Consciousness Nicholas C.J. Pappas (Sam Houston State University, 2004) One of the most interesting episodes in Byzantine military history and in medieval English history is the Anglo-Saxon … Continue reading
A Military History of Belarusian Lands Up to the End of Twelfth Century A.D. Jahor Novikaǔ Jahor Novikaǔ A Military History of Belarusian Lands Up to the End of 12th Century A.D. Vol. 1. (Minsk, Belarus: Łohvinaǔ, 2007). (Новікаў Я.У. … Continue reading
‘Treachery in the Remotest Territories of Scotland’: Northern Resistance to the Canmore Dynasty, 1130-1230 R. Andrew McDonald (University College of Cape Breton) Canadian Journal of History: vol. 33 (August 1999), pp. 161-192 The Annals of Ulster, a rich source of … Continue reading
Discretion and deceit: a re-examination of a military stratagem in Egils saga By Ian McDougall The Middle Ages in the Northwest: papers presented at an international conference sponsored by the Centres of Medieval Studies at the Universities of Liverpool and … Continue reading
The Militarisation of Roman Society, 400 – 700 Edward James (University of Reading) Military Aspects of Scandinavian Society in a European Perspective AD 1 – 1300 Historians and archaeologists have lavished attention on the new kingdoms established by various barbarian … Continue reading
Charles the Bald and the small free farmers, 862-869 Carroll Gillmor Military aspects of Scandinavian society in a European perspective, AD 1-1300, May (1996) In response to the Viking invasions, Charles the Bald in 862 ordered the construction of a … Continue reading
Raiding and Warring in Monastic Ireland Liz FitzPatrick History Ireland: Vol.1 (1993) The historiography of Irish monasticism emphasises the glory and piety of this enlightened era, with its myriad of saints espousing high art and learning, and not only moulding this … Continue reading
Carolingian Arms and Armor in the Ninth Century Simon Coupland Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies: v.21 (1990) This study seeks to ascertain the nature of the armament carried by the Carolingian army in the ninth century by examining the written, … Continue reading
King John’s expedition to Ireland, 1210: the evidence reconsidered Seán Duffy Irish Historical Studies, v.30, n. 117 (1996) The valiant efforts of certain professional historians to redeem the reputation of King John of England have had a limited impact on the … Continue reading
Theodricus Monachus’s De antiquitate regum Norwagiensium is one of the oldest historical works of Norwegian history. It is a Latin account of the kings of Norway from Hardaldr harfaagri (around the ninth century), to Sigurð Magnusson, who died in 1130. Continue reading
Caballus et Caballarius in Medieval Warfare Bernard S. Bachrach The Study of Chivalry: Resources and Approaches (1988) The little poem “For Want of a Nail” has for centuries conveyed to children a glimpse of the fundamental technical underpinnings of the … Continue reading
Timothy Venning An Alternative History of Britain: The Anglo-Saxon Age Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2013. 224 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-1-78159-125-3. “Nothing was inevitable.” In this one simple statement, printed on the back cover of Dr. Venning’s latest … Continue reading
Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree, and John Cairns Warfare in the Medieval World Pen & Sword, Barnsley-U.K., 2006. Pp. viii, 262. 47 Maps and 2 figure. Carey, assistant professor of history and military history in the American Military University … Continue reading
This account of the conflict comes from Knytlinga Saga: The History of the Kings of Denmark, an anonymous chronicle that may have been written in Iceland in the mid-thirteenth century. Continue reading
There are three great clichés in our view of the Albigensian Crusades which most historians find hard to resist. Continue reading
On the 26th of August 1071, an army under the command of the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenes (1068-1071AD) was defeated on the borders of Armenia by the army of the Seljuk Turkish Sultan, Continue reading
Saracen Archers in Southern Italy De Re Militari, June (2001) Giovanni Amatuccio During the first phase of their Southern Italian conquest, the Normans included archers in their troops; but such usage seems to have been sporadic and simple. The tactic … Continue reading
Following the dissolution of the Frankish Empire into three successor states in 843, Western Europe suffered from civil wars and invasions from Vikings from the North, and Muslim raiders from the south. Among these attacks was the sacking of Rome … Continue reading
The book brings together all kinds of evidence–historical, archaeological and onomastic–to provide an understanding of how the Anglo-Saxon state actually managed its defence. It is genuinely original and a fascinating read, with wider implications for the way in which medieval states managed warfare. Continue reading
HS 413: MEDIEVAL MILITARY HISTORY Professor: Dr. Kelly DeVries Objective: The Middle Ages was a bellicose era. From the Germanic Invasions to the Hundred Years War, from the Vikings to the Crusaders, the Middle Ages seem to have been one … Continue reading
A multi-book essay review by Sean McGlynn has appeared in the European Review of History/Revue europeenne d’histoire 20.1 (2013): 153-159. For those who have institutional access, you should be able to link to it here. The books reviewed en masse are Medieval Warfare 1000–1300, ed. … Continue reading
The Verbruggen Prize 2022: Alan Murray, Baldwin of Bourcq: Count of Edessa and King of Jerusalem (1100-1131) (Abingdon: Routledge) 2021: Nicholas Morton, The Crusader States and their Neighbours (Oxford: Oxford University Press) 2020: Florin Curta, Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 2 … Continue reading
De Re Militari is pleased to present reviews and notices of recent work on medieval military history, whether new books, journal articles, or scholarly appearances in media. For any questions or more information on becoming a book reviewer for De … Continue reading
We are pleased to offer this list of full text of books and articles about medieval military history. We thank the authors and publishers for their permission in republishing this material. Books/Dissertations | Intros/Chapters | Articles Books and Dissertations Ditcham, … Continue reading
We are in the process of re-doing the website after the malware attack, but the old pages from 2011 are available via the WayBack Machine at archive.org: HERE We will be slowly porting the old pages to the new system, … Continue reading
