Curated by two of the leading experts in medieval military history, the readings in Medieval Warfare tell a story of terrors and tragedies, triumphs and technologies in the Middle Ages.

Edited by Kelly DeVries and Michael Livingston

Maps
General Introduction
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgements

Part I: The Casualties of War

Those Who Mourned

1. On the Thuringian War (after 561)
2. Wulf and Eadwacer (ca. 1000)
3. A Crusader’s Lament
4. Destruction from the Hundred Years War (1361)

Those Who Fought

5. Riddles on Armaments (ca. 1000)
6. Massacre at Civetot (1096)
7. Battle of Waun Gaseg (1410)
8. Pity the Veteran Soldiers (ca. 1420)

Those Who Feared

9. After the Siege of Arles (507-08)
10. Devastation of Villages (1215)
11. Local Atrocities (1358)
12. The Poor in War (1425)

Part II: The Preparations for War

Theories of War: Just War

13. The Just War (before 430)
14. The Call to Crusade (1095)
15. Take Her Husband, Please (1212)
16. How We Die (1481)

Regulating War

17. Declaration of a Truce of God (1063)
18. Criticism of the Second Crusade (1149)
19. Curse on Those Who Require the Making of Arms (1374)
20. Wyclif Against War (1375)
21. End the Hundred Years War (1395)

Training for War

22. Vegetius on Fortifications and Siege Preparation (ca. 388)
23. Rule of the Templars (1135-65)
24. Practice Archery, Not Games (1363)
25. The Training of Boucicaut (1409)
26. How to Conduct a Siege (ca. 1425?)

Chivalry

27. The Function of Knighthood (1159)
28. The Decadence of Knights (1250)
29. Becoming a Knight (1352)
30. Peace-time Jousts at St-Inglevert (1390)
31. The Decline of Chivalry (1483-85)

Financing War

32. Military Obligations of Landholders (743)
33. The Saladin Tithe and Crusader Ordinances (1188)
34. Poll Tax (1379)

Outfitting for War: Individual

35. Renting a Suit of Armor (1248)
36. The Arming of Sir Gawain (ca. 1360)
37. Margaret Paston to Her Husband (1449)

Outfitting for War: Militia

38. Florentine Militia Requirements (1260)
39. Provisions for the Ostend Militia (1436)
40. Troyes Arsenal (1474)

State

41. Fortifications at Dara (6th c.)
42. Construction of Saphet Castle (ca. 1263)
43. A Weapons Dowry (1449)

Recruiting and Obligations

44. Charlemagne’s Way of Raising Troops (801-11)
45. Pope Gregory Pleads for Matilda to Lead a Crusade (1074)
46. Levy of Troops for the Wars in Bohemia (1422)
47. Indenture of War (1415)

Part III: The Waging of War    

Plans and Rules

48. Barbarossa’s Rules of the Army (1158)
49. Spring Is for Warfare (1184-88)
50. Payment for Camp Workers (1378)
51. Ordinances of a Combined Army (1385)
52. Battle Plan for Agincourt (1415)
53. Maintaining Discipline (1419)
54. How to Attack Venice (1517)

The March

55. Accounts of the Third Crusade (mid-1190s)
56. Costs of the Seventh Crusade (1256)
57. Army on March and in Camp (1304)
58. Itinerary of the Crécy Campaign (1346)
59. Array of Verona (1386)
60. Agincourt: March and Battle (1415)
61. Transport of Artillery (1474)

Declaration and Oration   

62. Oration against the Thuringians (6th c.)
63. Battle of the Standard (1138)
64. Declaration of War Against Philip Augustus (1212)
65. A King’s Challenge (1340)
66. Joan of Arc’s Letter to the English (1429)

The Fight: On Land

67. Battle at Adrianople (378)
68. Battle of Dara (530)
69. Battle and Aftermath of the Catalaunian Plains (551)
70. Battle of Hastings (1066)
71. Battle of Hattin (1187)
72. Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212)
73. Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302)
74. Battle of Crécy (1346)
75. Battle of Othée (1408)
76. Battle of Barnet (1471)

The Fight: At Sea  

77. Battle of Nisa (1062)
78. Landing in Egypt (1249)
79. Naval Warfare Between Pisa and Genoa (1284)
80. Fighting the Saracens at Sea (1325-32)
81. Battle of Winchelsea (1350)

In Siege  

82. Siege of Jerusalem (614)
83. Siege of Paris (885-86)
84. Siege of Thessaloniki (904)
85. Fight at Finnesburh (ca. 1000)
86. Siege of Jerusalem: Wood and War (1099)
87. Siege of Lisbon (1147)
88. Siege of Orléans (1429)
89. Siege of Constantinople (1453)
90. Siege of Rhodes (1480)

Feats of Bravery   

91. Battle of Maldon (991)
92. Gathering Bolts at Tournai (1340)
93. Archer-woman of Karia (1341)
94. The Maid of Orléans (1429-31)
95. The Unconquered Knight (ca. 1440)

The Margins of War   

96. Camp-Followers Win a Battle (1018)
97. Hiring a Foreign Engineer (ca. 1180)
98. Slaughter of Non-combatants (1203)
99. Piracy in the English Channel (ca. 1250)
100. Contract for Genoese Mercenaries (1337)
101. Payment for Spies (1343)
102. English Mercenaries in Italy (1361-64)
103. Mercenaries Disguise as Women (1388)

Duels   

104. Song of Hildebrand and Hadubrand (ca. 800)
105. Siege, Duel, and Battle at Halidon Hill (1333)
106. Joust between Armies (1387)

Part IV: The Outcomes of War
   
Wounds of War   

107. Death on the Field (1289)
108. Curing a Royal Head-wound (1403)
109. Cauterizing a Wound (ca. 1440)
110. After the Battle of Barnet (1471)
111. Richard III’s Death (1485)

Victory and Surrender   

112. The Taking of Autun and the Blinding of Leodegar (675)
113. Jomsvikings Meet Their End (986)
114. Aftermath of Hattin (1187)
115. Execution of the Prisoners at Acre (1191)
116. Execution of the Prisoners at Nicopolis (1396)

Pillage and Booty   

117. Siege of Worcester (1139)
118. Plundering Relics (1204)
119. Razing Enemy Property (1403)

Prisoners and Ransoms   

120. Enslaving Noble Hostages (511)
121. Gospel Book Ransomed from Vikings (ca. 800)
122. Surrender to Blanche of Navarre (1218)
123. Announcement of Victory (1356)
124. Ransom of a Knight (1356)

The Fallen

125. Mongol Devastation in Hungary (1241)
126. Destruction of the Mongols (1247)
127. Identifying the Dead (1346)
128. Expenses for the Quartering of Hotspur (1403)

An End of War   

129. Two Sides of a Treaty (1245)
130. The Burghers of Calais (1346)
131. General Amnesty to Rebels (1411)
132. After the Fall of Constantinople (1453)
133. Ottoman Treaty with the Venetians (1478)
134. Surrender of Rhodes to Suleyman (1522)

Memorialization   

135. Battle of Brunanburh (ca. 955)
136. Lament for Jerusalem (1099)
137. Defeat of Igor (1185)
138. Song of the Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302)
139. The Founding of Battlefield Church (1406)

Sources
Index