The Place Of War In English History 1066 1214

A leading medievalist of his generation studies Anglo-Norman practice in the raising and maintaining of armed forces, and its effect on the government and economy.

The English scholar John of Salisbury was a major intellectual of the twelfth century whose contributions to the fields of education, grammar, political theory, and rhetoric are well-known. His significance is amplified further in John of Salisbury: Military Authority of the Twelfth-Century Renaissance, in which John D. Hosler examines his heretofore overlooked contributions to the ideals and practice of medieval warfare. This book surveys an array of military topics present within John’s extant corpus, including generalship, strategy, tactics, logistics, military organization, and training; it also collates John’s military lexicon and charts the influence of classical texts upon his conceptualization of war. John of Salisbury, it argues, deserves inclusion in the roll-call of military theoreticians and writers of pre-Reformation Europe.

A new appraisal of the military careers and activities of soldiers from elite medieval families.

The years between 900 and 1200 saw transformative social change in Europe, including the creation of extensive town-dwelling populations and the proliferation of feudalised elites and bureaucratic monarchies. In England these developments were complicated and accelerated by repeated episodes of invasion, migration and changes of regime. In this book, scholars from disciplines including history, archaeology and literature reflect on the major trends which shaped English society in these years of transition and select key themes which encapsulate the period. The authors explore the landscape of England, its mineral wealth, its towns and rural life, the health, behaviour and obligations of its inhabitants, patterns of spiritual and intellectual life and the polyglot nature of its population and culture. What emerges is an insight into the complexity, diversity and richness of this formative period of English history.

"Although this book provides a selection from sources and interpretations of warfare in Viking-Age England, and presents a consideration of them, it is more than a purely historiographical study. It investigates the current state of scholarship and the key points of its development, indicating areas for enquiry and point out some less familiar sources along the way. The intention is not to deal with the canon of historical works on the Anglo-Saxon army, for remarkably there is no 'canon' as such. Much, though by no means all, scholarship on the organization of military systems in the Anglo-Saxon state has been undertaken by historians and scholars from related disciplines for whom warfare is not a primary concern. Many of the sources used will be familiar to students of early medieval England, but others are included because they are less often considered ... I have not attempted to use a chronological structure, nor have I retold any particular narrative history of the English Kingdom during the Viking Age, although for the reader's convenience a chronology of events is included as an appendix. The focus is rather the exploration of the practice and politics of warfare."--Preface.

The story of the war at sea in the reign of Edward III, including the important sea battles, and an analysis of the development of the English navy in the period. This book describes naval warfare during the opening phase of the Hundred Years War, a vital period in the development of the early Royal Navy, in which Edward III's government struggled to harness English naval power in a dramatic battle for supremacy with their French and Spanish adversaries. It shows how the escalating demands of Edward's astonishing military ambitions led to an intense period of evolution in the English navy and the growth of a cultureof naval specialism and professionalism. It addresses how this in turn affected the livelihoods of England's mariners and coastal communities. The book covers in detail the most important sea battles of Edward III's reign -Sluys, Winchelsea and La Rochelle - as well as raids and naval blockades. It highlights the systems by which ships were brought into service and mariners recruited, and explores how these were resisted by mariners and coastal communities. It also tells the story of the range of personalities, heroes and villains who influenced the development of the navy in the reign of Edward III. GRAHAM CUSHWAY holds a PhD in Maritime History from the University of Exeter.

This is an updated and expanded edition of a classic introduction to medieval England from the reign of William the Conqueror to Edward I. Includes a new chapter on family and gender roles, revisions throughout to enhance the narrative flow, and further reading sections containing the most up-to-date sources Offers engaging and clear discussion of the key political, economic, social, and cultural issues of the period, by an esteemed scholar and writer Illustrates themes with lively, pertinent examples and important primary sources Assesses the reigns of key Norman, Angevin, and Plantagenet monarchs, as well as the British dimension of English history, the creation of wealth, the rise of the aristocracy, and more

This Cambridge Companion offers readers a comparative cultural history of north-western Europe in the crucial period of the eleventh century: the age of William the Conqueror. Besides England, Normandy, and northern France, the volume also explores Scandinavia, the North Sea world, the insular world beyond the English Channel, and various parts of Continental Europe. This Companion features essays designed specifically for those wishing to advance their knowledge and understanding of this important period of European history using a holistic and contextual perspective, deliberately shifting the focus away from William the man and onto the rich and fascinating culture of the world in which he lived and ruled. This was not the age created by William, but the age that created him. With contributions by leading international experts, this volume provides an inclusive and innovative study companion that is both authoritative and timely.