Richard I and the Science of War in the Middle Ages

By John Gillingham

War and Government: Essays in Honour of J.O. Prestwich, edited by John Gillingam and J.C. Holt (Boydell, 1984)

Introduction: So far as most historians are concerned there was no such thing as a science of war in the Middle Ages. This is a profoundly mistaken view, but for the purposes of this paper I propose to concentrate on one aspect of war only – strategy, the planning and conduct of campaigns, and in particular in the 12th and 13th centuries, though I shall try to draw out some of the wider implications for other periods.

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