Table Of ContentWarfare in the Dark Ages
The International Library of Essays on Military History
Series Editor: Jeremy Black
Titles in the Series:
Modern Counter-Insurgency African Military History
Jan Beckett John Lamphear
Macedonian Warfare Warfare in China to 1600
Richard Billows Peter Lorge
Warfare in Europe 1650-1792 World War I
Jeremy Black Michael Neiberg
Warfare in the Middle East since 1945 The Army oflmperial Rome
Ahron Bregman Michael F Pavkovic
The English Civil War The Army of the Roman Republic
Stanley D.M. Carpenter Michael F Pavkovic
Warfare in Latin America, Volumes I and II Warfare in South Asia from 1500
Miguel A. Centeno Douglas Peers
United States Military History 1865 to the The American Civil War
Present Day Ethan S. Rafuse
Jeffery Charlston
The British Army 1815-1914
Medieval Warfare 1300-1450 Harold E. Raugh, Jr
Kelly De Vries
The Russian Imperial Army 1796--1917
Medieval Warfare 1000-1300 Roger Reese
John France
Medieval Ships and Warfare
Warfare in the Dark Ages Susan Rose
John France and Kelly De Vries
Warfare in Europe 1792-1815
Naval History 1500-1680 Frederick C. Schneid
Jan Glete
The Second World War
Byzantine Warfare Nick Smart
JohnHaldon
Warfare in China Since 1600
Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450-1660 Kenneth Swope
Paul E.J. Hammer
Warfare in the USA 1784-1861
Naval History 1680-1850 Samuel Watson
Richard Harding
The Armies of Classical Greece
Warfare in Europe 1919-1938 Everett Wheeler
Geoffrey Jensen
The Vietnam War
Warfare in Japan James H. Willbanks
Harald Kleinschmidt
Warfare in Europe 1815-1914
Naval History 1850-Present, Volumes I and II Peter H. Wilson
Andrew Lambert
Warfare in the Darl< Ages
Edited by
John France
University of Wales Swansea
and
Kelly DeV ries
Loyola College, USA
Routledge
Taylor&Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2008 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10 0 17, USA
Routledge is an imprint oft he Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © John France and Kelly DeVries 2008. For copyright of individual articles please
refer to the Acknowledgements.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Warfare in the Dark Ages. -(The international library of
essays on military history)
I. Military art and science -History-Medieval, 500-1500
2. Europe-History, Medieval 3. Europe-History-392-814
I. France, John II. DeVries, Kelly, 1956-
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Warfare in the Dark Ages I edited by John France and Kelly DeVries.
p. em.-(International library of essays on military history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-2557-5
I. Military history, Medieval. I. France, John. II. DeVries, Kelly, 1956-
Dl28.W37 2007
3 55. 0094'09021-dc22
2007002604
ISBN 9780754625575 (hbk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Series Preface ix
Introduction xi
Walter Goffart (1981), 'Rome, Constantinople, and the Barbarians', American
Historical Review, 86, pp. 275-306.
2 Thomas Anderson, Jr (1995), 'Roman Military Colonies in Gaul, Salian
Ethnogenesis and the Forgotten Meaning of Pactus Legis Salicae 59.5',
Early Medieval Europe, 4, pp. 129--44. 33
3 Rudi Paul Lindner (1981 ), 'Nomadism, Horses and Huns', Past and Present, 92,
pp. 3-19. 49
4 Peter Heather (1995), 'The Huns and the End of the Roman Empire in Western
Europe', English Historical Review, 110, pp. 4--41. 67
5 Speros Vryonis, Jr ( 1981 ), 'The Evolution of Slavic Society and the Slavic
Invasions in Greece: The First Major Slavic Attack on Thessaloniki, AD 597',
Hesperia, 50, pp. 378-90. 105
6 E.A. Thompson (1958), 'Early Germanic Warfare', Past and Present, 14,
pp. 2-29. 119
7 J.M. Wallace-Hadrill (1975), 'War and Peace in the Earlier Middle Ages',
Transactions oft he Royal Historical Society, 5th series 25, pp. 157-74. 147
8 Thomas S. Burns (1973), 'The Battle of Adrianople: A Reconsideration',
Historia, 22, pp. 336--45. 165
9 Christopher Holdsworth (1996), '"An Airier Aristocracy": The Saints at War',
Transactions oft he Royal Historical Society, 6th series 6, pp. I 03-22. 175
10 R.A. Markus (1983), 'Saint Augustine's Views on the "Just War"', Studies in
Church History, 20, pp. 1-13. 195
11 Michael E. Jones (1986), 'The Historicity ofthe Alleluja Victory', Albion, 18,
pp. 363-73. 209
12 BernardS. Bachrach (1970), 'Charles Martel, Mounted Shock Combat, the
Stirrup, and Feudalism', Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, 7,
pp.49-75. 221
13 Simon Coupland (1990), 'Carolingian Arms and Annor in the Ninth Century',
Viator, 21, pp. 29-50. 249
14 Timothy Reuter (1985), 'Plunder and Tribute in the Carolingian Empire',
Transactions oft he Royal Historical Society, 35, pp. 75-94. 271
15 Charles R. Bowlus (1978), 'Warfare and Society in the Carolingian Ostmark',
Austrian History Yearbook, 14, pp. 3-30. 291
16 John France (1985), 'The Military History ofthe Carolingian Period', Revue
Belge d'Histoire Militaire, 26, pp. 81-99. 321
vi Warfare in the Dark Ages
17 Brian Dearden and Anthony Clark (1990), 'Pont-de-l' Arche or Pitres? A Location
and Archaeomagnetic Dating for Charles the Bald's Fortifications on the Seine',
Antiquity, 64, pp. 567-71. 341
18 Richard Abels (1985), 'Bookland and Fyrd Service in Late Saxon England', Battle, 7,
pp. 1-25. 347
19 N .P. Brooks (1979), 'England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat',
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th series 29, pp. 1-20. 373
20 Karl Leyser (1965), 'The Battle at the Lech, 955. A Study in Tenth-Century
Warfare', History, 50, pp. 1-25. 393
21 Alex Roland (1992), 'Secrecy, Technology, and War: Greek Fire and the Defense
of Byzantium, 678-1204', Technology and Culture, 33, pp. 655-79. 419
22 J.F. Haldon and H. Kennedy (1980), 'The Arab-Byzantine Frontier in the Eighth
and Ninth Centuries: Military Organisation and Society in the Borderlands',
Zbornik Radova Vizantoloshkog Instituta, 19, pp. 79-116. 445
Name Index 483
Acknowledgements
The editor and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright
material.
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the essay: Speros Vryonis, Jr (1981 ),
'The Evolution of Slavic Society and the Slavic Invasions in Greece: The First Major Slavic
Attack on Thessaloniki, A.D. 597', Hesperia, 50, pp. 378-90.
American Society of Church History for the essay: R.A. Markus (1983), 'Saint Augustine's
Views on the "Just War'", Studies in Church History, 20, pp. 1-13.
Antiquity for the essay: Brian Dearden and Anthony Clark ( 1990), 'Pont-de-l' Arc he or Pitres?
A Location and Archaeomagnetic Dating for Charles the Bald's Fortifications on the Seine',
Antiquity, 64, pp. 567-71.
Blackwell Publishing for the essays: Thomas Anderson, Jr (1995), 'Roman Military Colonies
in Gaul, Salian Ethnogenesis and the Forgotten Meaning of Pactus Legis Salicae 59.5', Early
Medieval Europe, 4, pp. 129-44; Karl Leyser (1965), 'The Battle at the Lech, 955. A Study
in Tenth-Century Warfare', History, 50, pp. 1-25; Alex Roland (1992), 'Secrecy, Technology,
and War: Greek Fire and the Defense of Byzantium, 678-1204', Technology and Culture, 33,
pp. 655-79.
Brepols Publishers for the essay: Simon Coupland (1990), 'Carolingian Arms and Armor in
the Ninth Century', Viator, 21, pp. 29-50.
Thomas Burns for the essay: Thomas S. Burns (1973), 'The Battle of Adrianople:
A Reconsideration', Historia, 22, pp. 336-45.
Cambridge University Press for the essay: N.P. Brooks (1979), 'England in the Ninth Century:
The Crucible of Defeat', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th series 29, pp. 1-
20. Copyright © The Royal Historical Society, published by Cambridge University Press,
reproduced with permission.
Copyright Clearance Center for the essay: Walter Goffart (1981), 'Rome, Constantinople, and
the Barbarians', American Historical Review, 86, pp. 275-306; Charles R. Bowlus (1978),
'Warfare and Society in the Carolingian Ostmark', Austrian History Yearbook, 14, pp. 3-30.
Oxford University Press for the essays: Rudi Paul Lindner (1981 ), 'Nomadism, Horses and
Huns', Past and Present, 92, pp. 3-19; Peter Heather ( 1995), 'The Huns and the End of the
Roman Empire in Western Europe', English Historical Review, 110, pp. 4-41; E.A. Thompson
(1958), 'Early Germanic Warfare', Past and Present, 14, pp. 2-29.
viii Warfare in the Dark Ages
Royal Historical Society for the essays: J.M. Wallace-Hadrill (1975), 'War and Peace in the
Earlier Middle Ages', Transactions oft he Royal Historical Society, 5th series 25, pp. 157-74;
Christopher Holdsworth (1996), '"An Airier Aristocracy": The Saints at War', Transactions
of the Royal Historical Society, 6th series 6, pp. 103-22; Timothy Reuter (1985), 'Plunder
and Tribute in the Carolingian Empire', Transactions oft he Royal Historical Society, 35, pp.
75-94.
University of Chicago Press for the essay: Michael E. Jones (1986), 'The Historicity of the
Alleluja Victory', Albion, 18, pp. 363-73.
Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently
overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first
opportunity.
Series Preface
War and military matters are key aspects of the modern world and central topics in history study.
This series brings together essays selected from key journals that exhibit careful analysis of military
history. The volumes, each of which is edited by an expert in the field, cover crucial time periods
and geographical areas including Europe, the USA, China, Japan, Latin America, and South Asia.
Each volume represents the editor's selection of the most seminal recent essays on military history
in their particular area of expertise, while an introduction presents an overview of the issues in that
area, together with comments on the background and significance of the essays selected.
This series reflects important shifts in the subject. Military history has increasingly taken a
cultural turn, forcing us to consider the question of what wins wars in a new light. Historians used
to emphasise the material aspects of war, specifically the quality and quantity of resources. That
approach, bringing together technological proficiency and economic strength, appeared to help
explain struggles for mastery within the West, as well as conflicts between the West and non-West.
Now, the focus is rather on strategic culture - how tasks are set and understood - and on how
resources are used. It involves exploring issues such as fighting quality, unit cohesion, morale,
leadership, tactics, strategy, as well as the organisational cultural factors that affect assessment and
use of resources. Instead of assuming that organisational issues were driven by how best to use,
move and supply weapons, this approach considers how they are affected by social patterns and
developments.
Former assumptions by historians that societies are driven merely by a search for efficiency
and maximisation of force as they adapt their weaponry to optimise performance in war ignored
the complex process in which interest in new weapons interacted with the desire for continuity.
Responses by warring parties to firearms, for example, varied, with some societies, such as those of
Western Europe, proving keener to rely on firearms than others, for example in East and South Asia.
This becomes easier to understand by considering the different tasks and possibilities facing armies
at the time-when it is far from clear which weaponry, force structure, tactics, or operational method
can be adopted most successfully - rather than thinking in terms of clear-cut military progress.
Cultural factors also play a role in responses to the trial of combat. The understanding of loss and
suffering, at both the level of ordinary soldiers and of societies as a whole, is far more culturally
conditioned than emphasis on the sameness of battle might suggest, and variations in the willingness
to suffer losses influences both military success and styles of combat.
Furthermore, war is not really about battle but about attempts to impose will. Success in this
involves far more than victory on the battlefield; that is just a pre-condition of a more complex
process. The defeated must be willing to accept the verdict of battle. This involves accommodation,
if not acculturation - something that has been far from constant in different periods and places.
Assimilating local religious cults, co-opting local elites, and, possibly, today, offering the various
inducements summarised as globalisation, have been the most important means of achieving it over
the years. Thus military history becomes an aspect of total history; and victory in war is best studied
in terms of its multiple contexts.
Any selection of what to include is difficult. The editors in this series have done an excellent job
and it has been a great pleasure working with them.
JEREMY BLACK
Series Editor
University of Exeter
