#medieval-warfare

#medieval-warfare

Every culture that has made and used swords has viewed them as extraordinary objects. They feature predominantly in the history, cosmology and mythology of communities across the globe, from Africa to northern Europe, from East Asia to the Indian sub-continent. Their appeal is not solely attributable to humanity's timeless fascination with death. This is clear from the spectrum of meanings attached to swords across time and space, encompassing power, wisdom, joy, protection - and fear.

Bernie and I had never considered or even discussed the possibility of writing a global history of warfare, or even one that "merely" covered Eurasia and the Mediterranean world. Our first foray into this type of work was in 2014, when we pitched the idea to Routledge that would eventually become Warfare in Medieval Europe. That book took almost two years to write because of the need to synthesize a vast range of scholarship outside of our own areas of specialization.

The trebuchet was the most fearsome weapon of medieval times, a giant catapult that could lay waste to any fortress by battering its walls with boulders.

The course offers a sweeping panorama of military history from 1000 to 1300, analyzing the development of land warfare across several crucial regions.