Download or read book Warfare Raiding and Defence in Early Medieval Britain written by Erik Grigg and published by The Crowood Press. This book was released on 2018-05-21 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warfare, Raiding and Defence in early medieval Britain is an examination of warfare in the period AD400-850, often called the Dark Ages, which is roughly the period between the end of Roman rule and the arrival of large Viking armies. It uses written sources, archaeological evidence and surviving features in the landscape to analyse the nature of warfare in those days, paying particular attention to the large defensive earthworks typical of the period. Luckily these earthworks survive long after the warriors have turned to dust; their locations in the landscape are mute witness to the nature of early medieval warfare. This period helped forge and mould the nations of modern Britain. This book shows that raiding was the driving force behind the political, cultural and linguistic changes that affected post-Roman Britain, and provides a picture of how raids and counter-raiding measures worked in practice. Includes 70 colour illustrations.

Download or read book Life in Early Medieval Wales written by Nancy Edwards and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-07-23 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research for and the writing of this book was funded by the award of a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship. The period c. AD300—1050, spanning the collapse of Roman rule to the coming of the Normans, was formative in the development of Wales. Life in Early Medieval Wales considers how people lived in late Roman and early medieval Wales, and how their lives and communities changed over the course of this period. It uses a multidisciplinary approach, focusing on the growing body of archaeological evidence set alongside the early medieval written sources together with place-names and personal names. It begins by analysing earlier research and the range of sources, the significance of the environment and climate change, and ways of calculating time. Discussion of the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries focuses on the disintegration of the Roman market economy, fragmentation of power, and the emergence of new kingdoms and elites alongside evidence for changing identities, as well as important threads of continuity, notably Latin literacy, Christianity, and the continuation of small-scale farming communities. Early medieval Wales was an entirely rural society. Analysis of the settlement archaeology includes key sites such as hillforts, including Dinas Powys, the royal crannog at Llangorse, and the Viking Age and earlier estate centre at Llanbedrgoch alongside the development, from the seventh century onwards, of new farming and other rural settlements. Consideration is given to changes in the mixed farming economy reflecting climate deterioration and a need for food security, as well as craft working and the roles of exchange, display, and trade reflecting changing outside contacts. At the same time cemeteries and inscribed stones, stone sculpture and early church sites chart the course of conversion to Christianity, the rise of monasticism, and the increasing power of the Church. Finally, discussion of power and authority analyses emerging evidence for sites of assembly, the rise of Mercia, and increasing English infiltration, together with the significance of Offa's and Wat's Dykes, and the Viking impact. Throughout the evidence is placed within a wider context enabling comparison with other parts of Britain and Ireland and, where appropriate, with other parts of Europe to see broader trends, including the impacts of climate, economic, and religious change.

Download or read book The Battles of King Arthur written by Tony Sullivan and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2022-07-20 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ninth century Historia Brittonum is the first source that mentions Arthur and lists twelve battles, including the famous Badon Hill. Much ink has been spilt debating the identity and location of Arthur. This book will demonstrate that some of the battles can indeed be located with some confidence. Rather than fit a specific theory as to his identity the battles are placed in the fragmenting provincial, political and military context of the late fifth and early sixth century Britain. At a time of rapid changes in cultural identity and a significant increase in Germanic material culture and migration. These battles might be expected to be found along borders and in zones of potential conflict. Yet this is not what is discovered. In addition the simplistic idea of Romano-Britons holding back invading Anglo-Saxons is found wanting. Instead we discover a far more nuanced political and cultural situation. One with increasing evidence of continuation of land use and the indigenous population. The most Romanised and urbanised regions of the south and east are the very areas that experienced the arrival of Germanic settlement. The conclusion gives the reader a new insight into what sort of man Arthur was and the nature of the battles he fought.

Download or read book Military Strategy written by Jeremy Black and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A global account of military strategy, which examines the practices, rather than the theories, of the most significant military figures of the past 400 years Strategy has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this new account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation, and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact on the development of the global power system. Taking a “total” view of strategy, Black looks at leading powers—notably the United States, China, Britain, and Russia—in the wider context of their competition and their domestic and international strengths. Ranging from France’s ancien régime and Britain’s empire building to present-day conflicts in the Middle East, Black devotes particular attention to the strategic practice and decisions of the Kangxi Emperor, Clausewitz, Napoleon, and Hitler.

Download or read book The Early Anglo Saxon Kings written by Tony Sullivan and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2023-03-09 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book takes a new look at the archaeological and literary evidence and focuses on the fragmenting Diocese, provincial and civitas structures of post-Roman Britain. It places events in the context of increased Germanic immigration alongside evidence for significant continuation of population and land use. Using evidence from fifth century Gaul it demonstrates dynamic changes to cultural identities both within and across various groups. Covering the migration period it describes the foundation stories of Hengest and Horsa in Kent, Cerdic and Cynric, first kings of the West Saxons and Ælle founder of the kingdom of the South Saxons. Ælle is the first king Bede describes as holding imperium and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls Bretwalda. Covering the figures of Ceawlin, Æthelberht and Rædwald it ends with the death of Penda, the last great pagan king. As life under Roman authority faded into history we see the emergence of a ‘warband’ culture and the emergence of petty kingdoms. The mead hall replaced crumbling villas and towns as the center of social life. These halls rang with the poems of bards and the stories of great warriors and battles. Arthur and Urien of Rheged. The famous Mons Badonicus and the doomed charge of the Gododdin at Catraeth. A chapter on weapons, armor, warfare and accounts of contemporary battles will help paint a picture of dark age warfare. From the arrival of Saxon mercenaries in the fifth century to the death of Penda, the last pagan king, at Winwaed in 655.

Download or read book Borderlands written by Phil Sidebottom and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2023-09-30 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period AD 450-1066 was a tumultuous time for the British Isles, and this was in particularly true of what became South Yorkshire. Existing on the borderland between the great Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, South Yorkshire remained contentious in the struggles between the rival polities, with land ceded and taken, over the best part of four centuries. Evidence suggests that most of southern Yorkshire remained largely occupied by native British inhabitants, rather than Saxon or Viking incomers, at least until the later-Saxon period and after the Viking take-over which began in the 9th century. With a focus on the previously academically-neglected archaeology of the region, this book features new evidence to paint a full picture of South Yorkshire in the Anglo-Saxon and Viking Periods. Included are pre-Conquest charters and the enigmatic Tribal Hidage tribute list, as well as an analysis of place-names and looks at the archaeological record of dark-age earthworks, burials, fortified places and finds. The author uses his expert knowledge of Anglo-Saxon carved stone monuments to supplement the historical and archaeological evidence to identify centers of settlement and control in the area and which also offers a tantalizing insight into local ethnicity. The research is brought to life with maps, figures, and photographic evidence throughout the book. In pulling together our current knowledge of South Yorkshire during this pivotal era, the book acts as a reminder of how the wealth of local character is easily destroyed unless we become more aware of its fragility and celebrate its diversity. Written in accessible language, this book will be of interest to both academics and anyone who wants to know more about South Yorkshire in the post-Roman and Early Medieval periods.

Download or read book King Arthur and the Battle for Britannia written by Tony Sullivan and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2024-07-30 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: King Arthur and the Battle for Britannia is the last in a series of three books. The first, King Arthur: Man or Myth, weighed the evidence for and against a historical figure. The second, The Battles of King Arthur, looked in detail at the famous battle list from the Historia Brittonum. Having looked at the questions of whether and where, this final book takes on the different question of who was Arthur? The book is intended to save readers time and money wading through the scores of competing theories. It explains the problems with many of these theories to date, their failure to gain widespread support and why many historians remain sceptical about the existence of a historical Arthur. There is however a reasonable consistency in medieval genealogies and a good reason why Arthur does not appear in any of the list of kings of early kingdoms. Instead he is placed in the context of a fragmenting post-Roman provincial structure, alongside the emergence of petty kingdoms with new cultural identities. A heroic Brythonic culture in the west and north and a Germanic culture in the east and south. The book looks at the evolution of the legend comparing the chivalric French Romances with the Arthur of the darker Welsh tradition. A mythical figure may have emerged from the mead halls and war band culture of the sixth century. However the book describes how a historical figure may have been mythologised and who such a warrior may have been.

Download or read book Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West 450 900 written by Guy Halsall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-01-28 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warfare was an integral part of early medieval life. This book looks at warfare in a rounded context in the British Isles and Western Europe between the end of the Roman Empire and the break-up of the Carolingian Empire.

Download or read book Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe written by Andrew Reynolds and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the result of a conference at University College London in 2007 which addressed the scale and form of civil defences in early medieval Europe, c. 800-1000. Previous work has largely focused on individual sites or specific categories of evidence. These papers offer new interdisciplinary perspectives driven by a landscape approach. Several contributions focus on civil defence in England around the time of King Alfred the Great, and together provide a new agenda for the study of Anglo-Saxon military landscapes. European case-studies facilitate a comparative approach to local and regional defensive structures and interpretive paradigms. Topics and themes covered include civil defence landscapes, the organization and form of defensive structures, and the relationships and dynamics between social complexity, militarization, and external threats. With papers ranging from England to Spain and Germany to Scandinavia the volume is of relevance to a range of disciplines including archaeology, history, onomastics, geography, and anthropology.John Baker is Research Associate at the University of Nottingham, Stuart Brookes is Research Associate, and Andrew Reynolds is Professor in Medieval Archaeology, both at the UCL Institute of Archaeology.

Download or read book Early medieval militarisation written by Ellora Bennett and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The societies of ancient Europe underwent a continual process of militarisation, and this would come to be a defining characteristic of the early Middle Ages. The process was neither linear nor mono-causal, but it affected society as a whole, encompassing features like the lack of demarcation between the military and civil spheres of the population, the significance attributed to weapons beyond their military function and the wide recognition of martial values. Early medieval militarisation assembles twenty studies that use both written and archaeological evidence to explore the phenomenon of militarisation and its impact on the development of the societies of early medieval Europe. The interdisciplinary investigations break new ground and will be essential reading for scholars and students of related fields, as well as non-specialists with an interest in early medieval history.

Download or read book The Anglo Saxons at War 800 1066 written by Paul Hill and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historian and archeologist presents a vivid and comprehensive account of warfare in early Medieval England. In this compelling new study, Paull Hill reveals what documentary records and the growing body of archaeological evidence can tell us about war and combat in the age of the great Anglo-Saxon kings. The violent centuries before the Norman Conquest come to life in this detailed account of how and why the Anglo-Saxons fought, how their warriors were armed and trained, how their armies were organized, and much more. The role of combat in Anglo-Saxon society is explored, from the parts played by the king and the noblemen to the means by which the men of the fyrd were summoned to fight in times of danger. Land and naval warfare are both explored in depth. Hill also covers the politics and diplomacy of warfare, the conduct of negotiations, the taking of hostages, the use of treachery, and the controversial subject of the use of cavalry. The weapons and armor of the Anglo-Saxons are described, including the spears, scramsaxes, axes, bows, swords, helmets, shields and mail that were employed in the close-quarter fighting of the day. Drawing on this wealth of information, Hill presents a vivid recreation of the actual experience of fighting in the campaigns against the Danes; the battles of Ashdown, Maldon and Stamford Bridge; and the sieges at Reading and Rochester.

Download or read book Warfare in Medieval Europe c 400 c 1453 written by Bernard S. Bachrach and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-08-30 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warfare in Medieval Europe, now in its second edition, offers considerably more attention to the transition from the later Roman Empire to the early Middle Ages, the composition of the armies of the opponents of the West, and the experience of commanders and individual combatants on the battlefield. This second revised and expanded edition provides a more in-depth thematic discussion of the nature and conduct of war, with an emphasis on its overall impact on society, from the late Roman Empire to the end of the Hundred Years’ War. The authors explore the origins of the institutions, physical infrastructure, and intellectual underpinnings of warfare, with chapters on military topography, military technology, logistics, combat, and strategy. Bernard and David Bachrach have also added a new chapter, which provides two detailed campaign narratives that highlight the themes treated throughout the text. The geographical scope of the volume encompasses Latin Europe, the Slavic World, Scandinavia, and the eastern Mediterranean, with a particular focus on the conflict between Western Christianity and the Islamic Near East. Written in an accessible and engaging way, Warfare in Medieval Europe is the ideal resource for all students of the history of medieval warfare.

Download or read book Warfare in Medieval Europe 400 1453 written by Bernard S Bachrach and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 639 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warfare in Medieval Europe c. 400-c.1453 provides a thematic discussion of the nature and conduct of war, including its economic, technological, social, and religious contexts, from the late Roman Empire to the end of the Hundred Years’ War. The geographical scope of this volume encompasses Latin Europe from Iberia to Poland and from Scandinavia and Britain to Sicily and includes the interaction between Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the context of the crusading movement. Bernard and David Bachrach explore the origins of the institutions, physical infrastructure, and intellectual underpinnings of medieval warfare and trace the ways in which medieval warfare was diffused beyond Europe to the Middle East and beyond. Written in an accessible and engaging way and including chapters on military topography, military technology, logistics, strategy and combat, this is a definitive synthesis on medieval warfare. The book is accompanied by a companion website which includes interactive maps of the chief military campaigns, chapter resources, a glossary of terms and an interactive timeline which provides a chronological backbone for the thematic chapters in the book. Warfare in Medieval Europe is an essential resource for all students of medieval war and warfare.

Download or read book Armies Chivalry and Warfare in Medieval Britain and France written by Matthew Strickland and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The proceedings of the 1995 Harlaxton Symposium comprise twenty essays which testify to the diversity of current approaches to the study of medieval warfare, employing not only a variety of chronicle and documentary sources, but also contemporary literature and iconography, from the early middle ages to the sixteen century. Contributors include Maurice Keen, Christopher Allmand, Carol Edgington, Richard Morris, Jim Bradbury, Toby Purser, Charles Coulson, Andrew Ayton, Kay Lacey, Michael Prestwich, Kelly DeVries, Mathew Strickland and Frederique Lachaud.

Download or read book The Circle of War in the Middle Ages written by Donald J. Kagay and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 1999 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Medieval warfare on both land and sea examined by leading scholars in the field. Different aspects of medieval warfare form the focus for this collection of essays by both established and new scholars. They range from a reconsideration of several problems of military historiography to explorations of the medieval view of divine influence on the battlefield, and the emergence of complex strategic and tactical norms of naval warfare in the medieval Mediterranean. Other topics examined include the role of mercenaries; crusader warfare; and Anglo-Norman women at war.Contributors: BERNARD S. BACHRACH, THERESA M. VANN, PAUL E. CHEVEDDEN, STEPHEN MORILLO, EDWARD G. SCHOENFELD, KENT G. HARE, KELLY DEVRIES, STEVEN ISAAC, JEAN A. TRUAX, STEVEN G. LANE, DOUGLAS C. HALDANE, LAWRENCE V. MOTT

Download or read book Castles Battles Bombs written by Jurgen Brauer and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-11-15 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Castles, Battles, and Bombs reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics—with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France’s decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today’s military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq. "In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."—Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly "This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."—Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics

Download or read book Early Medieval Britain c 500 1000 written by Rory Naismith and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-15 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early medieval Britain saw the birth of England, Scotland and of the Welsh kingdoms. Naismith's introductory textbook explores the period between the end of Roman rule and the eve of the Norman Conquest, blending an engaging narrative with clear explanations of key themes and sources. Using extensive illustrations, maps and selections from primary sources, students will examine the island as a collective entity, comparing political histories and institutions as well as societies, beliefs and economies. Each chapter foregrounds questions of identity and the meaning of 'Britain' in this period, encouraging interrogation and contextualisation of sources within the framework of the latest debates and problems. Featuring online resources including timelines, a glossary, end-of-chapter questions and suggestions for further reading, students can drive their own understanding of how the polities and societies of early medieval Britain fitted together and into the wider world, and firmly grasp the formative stages of British history.