Tag Archives: Battle

The Battle of Berre River, 737 CE: The Account of the Fredegar Continuator

Summary: Charles Martel, along with other Frankish leaders, besieged and recaptured the city of Avignon. They then advanced south and besieged Narbonne. While the city was under siege, Omar ibn Khaled led a Muslim army north to relieve his comrades. Charles … Continue reading

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The Siege of Nottingham Castle in 1194

The Siege of Nottingham Castle in 1194 Trevor Foulds Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire: v.95 (1991) The last years of King Henry II’s reign were troubled by fierce family squabbles between him and his sons, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and … Continue reading

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Contemporary Views of Edward III’s failure at the Siege of Tournai

Contemporary Views of Edward III’s failure at the Siege of Tournai Kelly DeVries Nottingham Medieval Studies: v.39 (1995) The naval battle of Sluys, the first major conflict of the Hundred years War, was fought on 24 June 1340. By the … Continue reading

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God, leadership, Flemings and Archery: Contemporary Perspectives of Victory and Defeat at the Battle of Sluys 1340

God, leadership, Flemings and Archery: Contemporary Perspectives of Victory and Defeat at the Battle of Sluys 1340 Kelly DeVries American Neptune: v.55 (1995) Most historians of the Hundred Years War see the battle of Sluys, fought on June 24, 1340, … Continue reading

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Byzantine Heavy Artillery: The Helepolis

Byzantine Heavy Artillery: The Helepolis George T. Dennis Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies: v.39 (1998) Abstract The military manual (Strategikon) attributed to the emperor Maurice stipulated that the infantry contingents should be followed by a train of wagons, some of which … Continue reading

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The Byzantines at Battle

The Byzantines at Battle George T. Dennis Byzantium at War (1997) Although the Byzantines were constantly under attack or under threat of attack, they regarded warfare as the least desirable method of defending themselves. Leo VI prefaced his Tactical Constitutions … Continue reading

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

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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Caballus et Caballarius in Medieval Warfare

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

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Medieval siege warfare: A reconnaissance

Medieval siege warfare: A reconnaissance Bernard S. Bachrach The Journal of Military History, vol. 58 no. 1 (January, 1994) Abstract Historians writing during the later nineteenth and the twentieth centuries unambiguously recognized the importance, indeed the central role, played by siege … Continue reading

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The Military Revolution from a Medieval Perspective

The Military Revolution from a Medieval Perspective Andrew Ayton and J.L. Price The Medieval Military Revolution: State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe Although there is continuing disagreement concerning the essential nature of the military revolution; … Continue reading

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From Alfred to Harold II: The Military Failure of the Late Anglo-Saxon State

From Alfred to Harold II: The Military Failure of the Late Anglo-Saxon State Richard Abels The Normans and their Adversaries at War: Essays in Memory of C. Warren Hollister (Boydell, 2001) Abstract “It would be a serious error,” Warren Hollister acutely … Continue reading

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“Fino alle mura di Babilonia”. Aspetti militari della conquista normanna del Sud

“Fino alle mura di Babilonia”. Aspetti militari della conquista normanna del Sud Giovanni Amatuccio Rassegna Storica Salernitana, n.30 (1998) L’apparizione dei Normanni nell’XI  sullo scenario mediterraneo si caratterizza, a livello militare, come un incontro-scontro con le diverse realtà preesistenti: Longobardi, Bizantini … Continue reading

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Saracen Archers in Southern Italy

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

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French Chronicle of London: Naval Battle of Sluys (1340), Siege of Tournai (1341)

The French Chronicle of London, detailing events from 1259 to 1343, provides one of the best accounts of the naval battle of Sluys, and the siege of Tournai by Edward III in 1340. 12 Edward III. [A.D. 1337, 8]. Henry … Continue reading

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Alessandro Beneditti, The Battle of Fornovo (1495)

Charles VIII, attempting to seize control of southern Italy for use as a platform for war against the Ottoman Turks, lead the most powerful army in Europe at that time down through Italy, defeating one Italian province after another. Continue reading

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Annals of Fulda: Battle of Fontenay (841)

The Annals of Fulda are the principal narrative source written from a perspective east of the Rhine for the period in which the Carolingian Empire gave way to a number of successor kingdoms.  The text covers the period from the last … Continue reading

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The First Crusade (1095-99), A short narrative from contemporary sources.

If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me… Continue reading

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Letter from the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, with news of the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk (July 22, 1298)

On Saturday the Feast of St. Peter’s Chains (August 1st), there came a messenger from Sir Walter de Langestone, Bishop of Coventre and Lychfeld, and Treasurer to our Lord the King of England, bringing a letter from the said Bishop … Continue reading

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Jan Duglosz, The Battle of Tannenberg or Grunwald (1410)

On July 15, 1410, one of the most important battles took in the later middle ages.   Fought between Tannenberg and the nearby village of Grünwald, Polish and Lithuanian forces under Ladislaus II (Wladyslaw Jagiello) halted the eastward expansion of the … Continue reading

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Christofordo da Soldo, Battle of Caravaggio (1448)

The following is an account of the battle of Caravaggio, fought on September 15,1448, in which the Milanese army led by Francesco Sforza defeated the Venetians under Michele Attendolo.  The text is from the Chronicle of Cristoforo da Soldo. Alli … Continue reading

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John Cantacuzenus, “History”, The War of Galata (1348)

One of the most important figures in the history of fourteenth century Byzantium was John Cantacuzenus, a military commander under Andronicus III, who then rebelled against the regency government of Anna of Savoy, and himself emperor from 1347 to 1354.  … Continue reading

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Dino Compagni, Battle of Campaldino (1289)

Dino Compagni was a prominent silk merchant and an active member of the Florentine government until 1301.  His chronicle, which deals mostly with the internal turmoil of Florence, contains an account of a battle between Arezzo and Florence in 1289. … Continue reading

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