Debacle at Manzikert, 1071: Prelude to the Crusades
By Brian T. Carey Medieval History Magazine, Issue 5 (January 2004)
By Brian T. Carey Medieval History Magazine, Issue 5 (January 2004)
This study will seek to argue that such categories were of secondary importance to both Christian and Muslim contemporaries who either fought in the battle or lived through the summer of 1187 when compared with religious explanations. Continue reading
The Battle of Jerez was fought in 1231 between the forces of Ferdinand III, king of Castile and León, and Ibn Hud, ruler of Murcia and the de facto successor of the Almohads. It took place near the modern city of Jerez … Continue reading
One of the most important battles fought on the Iberian peninsula, this was the culmination of a major campaign by Alfonso VIII of Castile against the Almohads. The battle took place on July 16, 1212. The first account comes from … Continue reading
The Battles at Colbridge By F.T. Wainwright Saga Book, Vol.13 (1947)
Historical Invasions/Historiographical Inventions: Snorri Sturluson and the Battle of Stamford Bridge By Elizabeth Ashman Rowe Medievalia: A Journal of Medieval Studies, Vol. 17 (1994)
The Tactics of the Battles of Boroughbridge and Morlaix By T.F. Tout English Historical Review v.19 (1904)
Some Neglected Fights between Crecy and Poitiers By T.F. Tout English Historical Review v.20 (1905)
The anonymous author of the Vita Edwardi Secundi provides one of the best accounts of the reign of Edward II. This includes his description of the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, where the Scots under Robert Bruce defeated Edward and … Continue reading
The Punishment of Pride: Castilian Reactions to the Battle of Aljubarrota Thomas M. Izbicki Medieval Iberia: Essays on the History and Literature of Medieval Spain On August 13, 1385, the fate of Portugal was decided at the battle of Aljubarrota. … Continue reading
On July 11, 1302, the townsmen of Courtrai and other Flemish rebels defeated a French army outside the walls of their city, in what is considered one of the most important battles in the Middle Ages. The victory of infantryman … Continue reading
Roger of Wendover (d.1236) was a monk at St.Alban’s monastery in England. His work, Flores historiarum (Flowers of History) is a chronicle that starts at creation and goes to 1235. From 1201 to 1235 his work is original. In the … Continue reading
On July 12, 1214, Philip II Augustus, the King of France, defeated the combined forces of emperor Otto IV, the count of Flanders, and King John of England, near Bouvines in northern France. The Marchiennes account of the Battle of … Continue reading
The Annals of Roger of Hoveden provide an account of the Battle of Gisors between Richard I of England and Philip Augustus of France, which took place in 1198. Hoveden writes down two versions of this battle, and includes a … Continue reading
One of the most important events in this war was the battle of Lincoln, fought on February 2, 1141, where Stephen was defeated and captured by Robert, Earl of Gloucester. Continue reading
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
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
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
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
Richard, prior of the church of Hexham, wrote an account of Scotland’s invasion of England in 1138, along with their defeat at the Battle of the Standard. Continue reading
After the Crusader’s disastrous defeat at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, the Christian forces regrouped under Guy de Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, and Conrad, marquis de Montferrat, and went back on the offensive. In 1189, the crusaders laid siege … Continue reading
On July 4, 1187, the Crusader army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem suffered a crushing defeat in the hills a few miles to the west of the Sea of Galilee. The victor was that most famous of all medieval Muslim … Continue reading
William the Marshal, earl of Pembroke, was one of the most noteworthy knights of the Middle Ages. After almost being killed by King Stephen when he was a child, William grew up to be a prominent tournament competitor, and then … Continue reading
German bishops and archbishops were important military commanders in the Holy Roman Empire, often leading troops to battle. In the following account by Otto of Saint Blasien, the chronicler describes how a Roman army besieged Reinald, the archbishop of Cologne … Continue reading
The Development of Battle Tactics in the Hundred Years War Matthew Bennett Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War (1994) It is a common aphorism that the history of war is too important to be left to military … Continue reading
Fleet Operations in the First Genoese-Venetian War, 1264-1266 John E. Dotson Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies v. 30 (1999) This brief article is not intended to review the history of the First Genoese-Venetian War over its whole length from 1257 … Continue reading
This victory not only brought a temporary halt to the Christian advances on Muslim lands, but also led to the establishment of the Almoravid empire in Spain between 1091 and 1094. 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
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
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
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
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
William of Jumieges provides accounts of two battles fought between the Normans and the French. Continue reading
What motivated the Muslims to move north of the Pyrenees? What do the Latin and Arabic sources reveal about what transpired in the course of the battle? Precisely when and where did the encounter occur? Can we attach a macrohistorical significance to the battle? Continue reading
In 1044, Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou, besieged the city of Tours. Theobald and Stephen, sons of Odo II of Blois, attempted to relieve the city, but were defeated by Geoffrey at the Battle of Nouy on August 21, 1044 Continue reading
The study of medieval warfare has suffered from an approach that concentrates on its social, governmental and economic factors to the detriment of military methods and practice. Continue reading
John Sadler Towton: The Battle of Palm Sunday Field, 1461 South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books, 2011. 186 pp. £19.99/$39.95 USD. ISBN 978- 1844159659. John Sadler’s latest work departs once more from his customary focus on the battles and wars … Continue reading