Articles fundamental to the study of warfare in England and Normandy in the 11th and 12th centuries collected here in one volume.
The influence of war on late Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman society was dominant and all-pervasive. Here in this book, gathered together for the first time, are fundamental articles on warfare in England and Normandy in the 11th and12th centuries, combining the work of some of the foremost scholars in the field.
Redressing the tendency to study military institutions and obligations in isolation from the practice of war, equal emphasis is given both to organisation and composition of forces, and to strategy, tactics and conduct of war. The result is not only an in-depth analysis of the nature of war itself, but a study of warfare in a broader social, political and cultural context. The Themes dealt with largely span the period of the Conquest, offering an assessment of the extent to which the Norman invasion marked radical change or a degree of continuity in the composition of armies and in methods offighting.
This important collection, with an introduction and select bibliography, will be is essential not simply for the student of medieval warfare, but for all studying Anglo-Norman society and its ruling warrior aristocracy whose raison d'être was war.
Contributors: NICHOLAS HOOPER, MARJORIE CHIBNALL, J.C. HOLT, J.O. PRESTWICH, R. ALLEN BROWN, JOHN GILLINGHAM, JIM BRADBURY, MATTHEW STRICKLAND, MATTHEW BENNETT.
The housecarls in England in the 11th century, N. Hooper; some observations on the navy in late Anglo-Saxon England, N. Hooper; military service in Normandy before 1066, M. Chibnall; the introduction of knight service in England, J.C. Holt; war and finance in the Anglo-Norman state, J.O. Prestwich; mercenaries and the "Familia Regis" under Henry I, M. Chibnall; the military household of the Norman kings, J.O. Prestwich; the status of the Norman knight, R.A. Brown; William the Bastard at war, J. Gillingham; the Battle of Hastings, R.A. Brown; battles in England and Normandy - 1066-1154, J. Bradbury; Richard I and the science of war in the Middle Ages, J. Gillingham; securing the north - invasion and the strategy of defence in 12th century Anglo-Scottish warfare, M.J. Strickland; Wace and warfare, M. Bennett; war and chivalry in the "History of William the Marshal", J. Gillingham.
