The Medieval Military Engineer

Sheds light on the skills and techniques of the medieval military engineer, over a thousand year sweep.

This is the first study dedicated to the military engineer Bernard de Gomme, builder of many English citadels and forts. Very heavily illustrated, and produced in a large format, it includes reproductions of many of de Gomme's original plans and drawings. Bernard de Gomme started his English career when Prince Rupert recruited him as a fortifications expert at the beginning of the English Civil War; after the Restoration he became Surveyor-General of the Ordnance Office. Though Dutch in origin, he was the contemporary equivalent of Louis XIV's great engineer Vauban. De Gomme personifies the development of English military engineering during the late 17th century, at a time when bastioned fortification in Europe was at its most sophisticated. De Gomme's life and work are the central elements of the book. But the book also provides an education in 17th century military fortification theory and practice.

What do the mysterious Roman author Vegetius, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI, and the Chinese general Li Jing all have in common? They are three of the dozens of authors across the medieval Mediterranean world and beyond who wrote works of military literature, sometimes called military handbooks, manuals, or treatises. This book brings together a multidisciplinary international team of scholars who present cutting edge essays on diverse aspects of medieval military literature. While some chapters offer novel approaches to familiar authors like Vegetius, some present research on under-valued topics like Byzantine military illustrations, and others provide holistic studies on subjects like early modern treatises, they all move the discussion of medieval military literature forward. Contributors are Michael B. Charles, Georgios Chatzelis, Pierre Cosme, Maxime Emion, Immacolata Eramo, Michael Fulton, David Graff, John Haldon, Catherine Hof, John Hosler, Savvas Kyriakidis, Łukasz Różycki, Katharina Schoneveld, Georgios Theotokis, Conor Whately, Michael Whitby, and Nadya Williams.

A study of French military engineers at a crucial point in the evolution of modern engineering.

The leading academic vehicle for scholarly publication in the field of medieval warfare. Medieval Warfare

First full-length study of the use and perception of deceit in medieval warfare. Deception and trickery are a universal feature of warfare, from the Trojan horse to the inflatable tanks of the Second World War. The wars of the Central Middle Ages (c. 1000-1320) were no exception. This book looks at the various tricks reported in medieval chronicles, from the Normans feigning flight at the battle of Hastings (1066) to draw the English off Senlac Hill, to the Turks who infiltrated the Frankish camp at the Field of Blood (1119) disguised as bird sellers, to the Scottish camp followers descending on the field of Bannockburn (1314) waving laundry as banners to mimic a division of soldiers. This study also considers what contemporary society thought about deception on the battlefield: was it a legitimate way to fight? Was cunning considered an admirable quality in a warrior? Were the culturally and religious "other" thought to be more deceitful in war than Western Europeans? Through a detailed analysis of vocabulary and narrative devices, this book reveals a society with a profound moral ambivalence towards military deception, in which authors were able to celebrate a warrior's cunning while simultaneously condemning their enemies for similar acts of deceit. It also includes an appendix cataloguing over four hundred incidents of military deception as recorded in contemporary chronicle narratives.