The Medieval Warhorse From Byzantium To The Crusades

Originally published in 1994, an illustrated study of the role and importance of the warhorse, which examines how specially bred and trained horses emerged from the Roman and Byzantine eras and took their place as an essential element in the military campaigns of medieval Europe.

A textbook on the history of the warhorse, looking at its importance and how its role changed.

Examines a wide variety of the aspects of knighthood, ranging from its emergence as an identifiably noble estate to the appropriation of chivalric trappings to serve bourgeois interests.

Warfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East explores in fascinating detail the key campaigns, battles and sieges that shaped the crusading period of the Middle Ages, giving special attention to military technologies, tactics and strategies. Key personalities and political factors are addressed, including the role of papal monarchy in initiating the crusading expeditions, the relationship between Catholic Europe and the Byzantine empire, the role of the religious military orders, and Islamic and Mongol military capabilities. Chapters are devoted to each of the major crusades to the Levant – First, Second, Third and Fourth crusades – and an analysis of the Islamic response. The rise of the Mamluks in Egypt, with their innovative military organization, is covered, as are the failed Egyptian and Tunisian campaigns. The concluding chapters describe the Mongol campaigns in the Levant, the Mamluk response, and the final siege of Acre in 1291. This original and perceptive study of a key stage in medieval military history features regional, strategic and multi-phase tactical maps that illuminate the narrative and provide a valuable resource for students, historians and wargamers alike.

Unlike traditional references that recount political and military history, this encyclopedia includes entries on a wide range of aspects related to daily life during the medieval crusades. The medieval crusades were fundamental in shaping world history and provide background for the conflict that exists between the West and the Muslim world today. This two-volume set presents fundamental information about the medieval crusades as a movement and its ideological impact on both the crusaders and the peoples of the East. It takes a broad look at numerous topics related to crusading, with the goal of helping readers to better understand what inspired the crusaders, the hardships associated with crusading, and how crusading has influenced the development of cultures both in the East and the West. The first of the two thematically arranged volumes considers topics such as the arts, economics and work, food and drink, family and gender, and fashion and appearance. The second volume considers topics such as housing and community, politics and warfare, recreation and social customs, religion and beliefs, and science and technology. Within each topical section are alphabetically arranged reference entries, complete with cross-references and suggestions for further reading. Selections from primary source documents, each accompanied by an introductory headnote, give readers first-hand accounts of the crusades.

Dr Ayton has transformed understanding of Edward III's armies - compulsory reading for anyone interested in the Hundred Years War. WAR IN HISTORY [Michael Prestwich] The mounted, armoured knight is one of the most potent symbols of medieval civilisation; indeed, for much of the middle ages the armoured warhorse was what defined a man as a member of the military class. However, despite the status of the knightly warrior in medieval society, the military service of the later medieval English aristocracy remains an unaccountably neglected subject, and the warhorse itself has never attracted a major study based upon archival sources. This book seeks to open up new fields of research: it focuses on the horse inventories, documents which offer detailed lists of men-at-arms and their appraised warhorses, the valuation of which is a measure of its owner's social and military status. Dr Ayton is primarily concerned with the inventories and related records for Edward III's reign, a period which witnessed significant changes in the organisation of the English fighting machine. Thedocuments produced during this period of `military revolution' cast valuable light on the character and attitudes of the aristocratic military community at a time when its traditional role was in the course of re-evaluation. Dr ANDREW AYTON is senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull.

In 1095 the First Crusade was launched, establishing a great military endeavour which was a central preoccupation of Europeans until the end of the thirteenth century. In Western warfare in the age of the Crusades, 1000-1300 John France offers a wide-ranging and challenging survey of war and warfare and its place in the development of European Society, culture and economy in the period of the Crusades. Placing the crusades in a wider context, this book brings together the wealth of recent scholarly research on such issues as knighthood, siege warfare, chivalry and fortifications into an accessible form. Western warfare in the age of the Crusades, 1000-1300 examines the nature of war in the period 1000-1300 and argues that it was primarily shaped by the people who conducted war - the landowners. John France illuminates the role of property concerns in producing the characteristic instruments of war: the castle and the knight. This authoritative study details the way in which war was fought and the reasons for it as well as reflecting on the society which produced the crusades.