Author Archives: DRM_peter

Black Camels and Blazing Bolts: The Bolt-Projecting Trebuchet in the Mamluk Army

by DRM_peter Posted on February 16, 2014

Black Camels and Blazing Bolts: The Bolt-Projecting Trebuchet in the Mamluk Army By Paul E. Chevedden Mamluk Studies Review, Vol. 8:1 (2004) The Mamluks pioneered the use of gunpowder ordnance, but their principal piece of heavy artillery was “the crushing, … Continue reading →

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A Plan to regain the Holy Land from the Master of the Hospitallers (c.1305)

by DRM_peter Posted on February 4, 2014

Following the expulsion of the Crusaders from their last outpost of Acre in 1291, several attempts and plans were made to bring back Christian rule to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. In the following memorandum, Fulk of Villaret, master of the Hospitallers, proposes this invasion plan. Continue reading →

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The Seventh Crusade (1249), according to Abu al-Faraj Gregory Bar Hebraeus

by DRM_peter Posted on January 20, 2014

Bar Hebraeus (1226-1286) is one the best known Syriac writers of the Middle Ages.  His Chronography contains a history of the world from creation until his own time.  Most of his information relates to events in the Middle East, including … Continue reading →

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Robert of Clari’s account of the Fourth Crusade

by DRM_peter Posted on January 20, 2014

Robert of Clari was a knight from Picardy who took part in the Fourth Crusade, which ended with the capture of Constantinople in 1204.  Robert seems to have returned to France in 1205, since although his work contains references up … Continue reading →

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Two accounts of the conquest of Cyprus by Richard the Lionheart (1191)

by DRM_peter Posted on January 11, 2014

The following are two accounts of the invasion of Cyprus by Richard I in 1191.  The Seljuk Turk under Saladin had recaptured Jerusalem in 1187 and Cyprus’ geographical position placed her on the route of the Crusaders from Western Europe … Continue reading →

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History of William the Marshal: The taking of Le Mans and the flight of Henry II

by DRM_peter Posted on January 5, 2014

The following section details the French capture of Le Mans in 1189.  War had broken out between Henry II against his son Richard and Philip Augustus, King of France.  Henry had gathered his forces, including William, at Le Mans, while … Continue reading →

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Frederick I ‘Barbarossa’ issues rules for his army (1158)

by DRM_peter Posted on December 30, 2013

The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I, nicknamed Barbarossa, often was engaged in campaigns in Italy against rebellious cities such as Milan. As he began one campaign in 1158, Frederick issued a set of rules for his army to follow. Frederick’s … Continue reading →

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The Siege of Tyre in 1111-12, according to the Chronicle of Ibn Al-Qalanisi

by DRM_peter Posted on December 18, 2013

One of the most interesting contemporary accounts of the crusades comes from a twelfth-century resident of Damascus.  Ibn Al-Qalanisi was a distinguished scholar in Damascus, and was twice elected the mayor of that city.  His Chronicle begins in 1097 with … Continue reading →

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The Battle for Antioch in the First Crusade (1097-98) according to Peter Tudebode

by DRM_peter Posted on November 21, 2013

Peter Tudebode was a Poitevin priest who was part of the First Crusade, perhaps with forces of the count of Toulouse. He wrote his account, the Historia de Hieroslymitano Itinere, by at least 1111, which was after many of the … Continue reading →

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The Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066) and the life of Haraldr Sigurðarson, according to Theodoricus Monachus

by DRM_peter Posted on November 7, 2013

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 →

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The Battle of Hastings according to Gaimar, Wace and Benoit: rhetoric and politics

by DRM_peter Posted on October 14, 2013

According to Jean Blacker, the Norman Conquest was ‘the most visible cause of the upsurge in historical writing in twelfth-century England’ and in the continental territories controlled by successive Anglo-Norman and Norman-Angevin rulers. Continue reading →

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The Siege of Tarsos in 965, according to Leo the Deacon

by DRM_peter Posted on September 11, 2013

The history, divided into ten books, covers the years from 959 to 976, that is, the reigns of Romanus II (959-963), Nicephorus Phokas (963-969) and John Zimisces (969-976). It describes the wars against the Arabs including the recovery of Crete from the Arabs in 961, the conquest of Antioch and Northern Syria (968-969), the Bulgarian War (969) and the defeat of the Southern Russians (971), one of the most brilliant periods of the later Empire. Continue reading →

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The Viking Hasting in Franco-Scandinavian Legend

by DRM_peter Posted on July 21, 2013

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 →

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Episodes of Medieval Warfare from the History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours

by DRM_peter Posted on June 12, 2013

One of the most important sources from the early medieval period is The History of the Franks, written in the late sixth century by Gregory of Tours, the bishop of Tours for twenty-one years and an important political figure in the Merovingian kingdom. Continue reading →

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A Byzantine campaign in the Balkans (594), according to Theophylact Simocatta

by DRM_peter Posted on June 5, 2013

Theophylact Simocatta, who wrote in the early seventh century during the reign of Heraclius (Herakleios) (610-41), was the last in the succession of secular classicizing historians devoted mainly to the military, diplomatic, and political history of the Roman empire. Continue reading →

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Byzantine conquest of Italy in the Sixth-Century, according to the Chronicle of Marcellinus

by DRM_peter Posted on June 5, 2013

In this anonymous addition to the Chronicle of Marcellinus Comes, the events from 534 to 547 are described, with much of the text devoted to the conquest of Italy by the Byzantine general Belisarius. Continue reading →

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The tournament at Lagny-sur-Marne, from the History of William the Marshal

by DRM_peter Posted on May 24, 2013

The following text details the tournament held at Lagni-sur-Marne, in 1179. Organized by Henry, count palatine of Champagne and Brie, this tournament was unusually large, with the writer of our history estimating that 3,000 knights attending. Continue reading →

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Beyond the Burghal Hidage wins 2013 Verbruggen Prize

by DRM_peter Posted on May 23, 2013

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 →

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