Medieval Military History

Recommended Prerequisites

Good knowledge of European political history of the Middle Ages. Reading compreension in English.

Teaching Methods

The teaching of this course is based on theoretical-practical classes, supported by a great diversity of iconographic elements, completed by the analysis  of literary and documentary sources. Classes may include the presentation of small papers by students (depending on the number of students enrolled in this elective course).

Learning Outcomes

This course will enable students to understand and contextualize the main frames of the evolution of the European art of war, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the end of the 15th century. The main topics addressed are: recruitment; arms and armour; castles; logistics and financing; military thought; campaign strategy; tactical models; and social consequences of war. Due to the great amount and diversity of sources available, special emphasis will be given to the period between the 12th and the 15th centuries and the following geographical spaces: the Iberian peninsula, France, England and Italy; allusion will be made to the military situation in Germany, Switzerland and the Low Countries (besides the Near East, during the Crusades period).

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1.The art of war from the end of the classical world to the beginnings of the medieval era(3rd-4th centuries):
1.1.The late Roman army;
1.2.The barbarian armies;
1.3.The case of the battle of Adrianople(378)–the encounter of two worlds.
2.The art of war during the Early and Central Middle Ages(5th-11th centuries):
2.1.The Frankish armies during the Merovingian and Carolingian period(from Clovis to Charles Martel and Charles the Great);
2.2.The Norman conquest of England(Hastings 1066):two military models in confrontation.
3.The art of war during the late Middle Ages(12th- 15th centuries):
3.1.Military recruitment;
3.2.Arms and armour;
3.3.Castles and strongholds;
3.4.Organization, financing and chain of command;
3.5.Logistics and marching columns;
3.6.Strategy and military thought–the influence of Vegetius;
3.7.Tactical models:from the Crusades in the Holly Land to the military renovation of the early 14th century;
3.8.The signs of war.
3.9.The Hundred Years War.

Assessment Methods

Assessement
Research work: 100.0%

Bibliography

1. Christopher Allmand, The De Re Militari of Vegetius. The Reception, Transmission and Legacy of a Roman Text in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

2. Clifford J. Rogers (editor-in-chief), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Oxford University Press, 2010 (3 vols.).

3. Philippe Contamine, La Guerre au Moyen Âge. Paris, P.U.F., 1986.

4. John France, Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades (1000-1300). Cornell University Press, 1999.

5. Kelly DeVries, Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century. Discipline, Tactics and Technology. Woodbridge, The Boydell Press, 1996.