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. Continue reading
The following is clause 180 of this text, which describes the surrender of a Templar castle after the fall of Antioch in 1268. It was against the Order’s rule for members to abandon their castles without permission, with a punishment of expulsion from the Templars to those who transgressed. Continue reading
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
William of Puylaurens covered events relating to the history of Languedoc from the twelfth century to the mid-1270s. The main subject of his history is the Albigensian Crusade, which lasted from 1209 to 1229. Along with the Historia Albigensis of … Continue reading
The Use of Gunpowder Weaponry by and Against Joan of Arc During the Hundred Years War Kelly DeVries (Loyola University) War and Society: v.14 (1996) Abstract This article explores the possibility of a link between Joan of Arc and the … Continue reading
The Chronicle of John of Worcester is the only source that records the attack on Worcester in 1139, by Miles of Gloucester, who rebelled against King Stephen earlier that year. In retaliation, Waleran, count of Meulan, sacked Sudelely. One morning … Continue reading
This section of the Gesta Stephani deals with events in Bristol in 1138. Geoffrey Talbot had just lost his bases of Hereford and Weobley to Stephan, while Gilbert de Lacy was an enemy of Miles of Gloucester, who at that … Continue reading
Adh-Dhababi’s Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299-1301 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 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
Thessaloniki, one of the largest cities of the Byzantine empire in the early tenth century, was captured and pillaged in 904 by a Muslim force led by Leo of Tripoli. 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
Ammianus Marcellinus was an army officer of Greek origin who left a history of the wars and conflicts that beset the Roman Empire in the latter half of the fourth century. Although he is more famous for his account of … Continue reading
This poem, written in French, is thought to be authored by Walter of Exeter, a Franciscan friar. The story details the siege of the Scottish castle of Carlaverock in July 1300 by Edward I. The first portion of the poem … Continue reading
Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (1483-1530), born prince of Fergana in Transoxiana (modern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), was scion of the dynasty of Tamerlane, which ruled throughout eastern Iran and Central Asia. By the age of twelve, Babur had become the ruler of … Continue reading
In the following letter, the Patriarch of Antioch describes events in the Crusader States that took place in 1164. To describe briefly, the King of Jersualem, Amalric I, joined forces with a Kurdish emir, Shirkuh, to besiege the Egyptian city … Continue reading
Boncompagno da Signa (1168?-1240?) was an important Italian scholar who wrote several treatises and other works as he moved around between cities such as Ancona, Bologna and Venice. His account of the siege of Ancona, which he wrote around 1201, … Continue reading
Ammianus Marcellinus was an army officer of Greek origin who left a history of the wars and conflicts that beset the Roman Empire in the latter half of the fourth century. Although he is more famous for his account of … Continue reading
James I, King of Aragon (1208-76), king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1213-76), was nicknamed the Conquerer because of his many wars and conquests, which included the capture of the Balearic Islands (1229-35) and Valencia (1238) form the Moors, … Continue reading
Peter Purton A History of the Early Medieval Siege c.450-1220. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2009. Pp. xxvii+505. ISBN 978-1-84383-448-9. As the date range in the title implies, this book is only half of the author’s history of medieval siege warfare. … Continue reading
