Western warfare in the age of the Crusades, 1000-1300

344 Pages·2001·1.98 MB·English

by  John France

Western warfare in the age of the Crusades,
1000–1300
Warfare and History
General Editor
Jeremy Black
Professor of History, University of Exeter
Published
European warfare, 1660–1815
Jeremy Black
The Great War, 1914–18
Spencer C. Tucker
Wars of imperial conquest in Africa, 1830–1914
Bruce Vandervort
German armies: war and German politics, 1648–1806
Peter H. Wilson
Air power in the age of total war
John Buckley
Ottoman warfare, 1500–1700
Rhoads Murphey
European and Native American warfare, 1675–1795
Armstrong Starkey
Vietnam
Spencer C. Tucker
Western warfare in the age of the Crusades, 1000–1300
John France
Forthcoming titles include:
English warfare, 1511–1641
Mark Charles Fissel
Seapower and naval warfare
Richard Harding
The Korean War
Stanley Sandler
Frontiersmen: warfare in Africa since 1950
Anthony Clayton
Western warfare in the age of
the Crusades, 1000–1300
John France
University of Wales, Swansea
© John France 1999
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.
First published in 1999 by UCL Press
UCL Press Limited
1 Gunpowder Square
London EC4A 3DE
UK
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001.
Disclaimer: For copyright reasons, some images in the original version of this book are
not available for inclusion in the eBook.
The name of University College London (UCL) is a registered trade mark used by UCL Press
with the consent of the owner.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available
ISBNs: 1-85728-466-6 HB
1-85728-467-4 PB
ISBN 0-203-00752-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-17348-1 (Glassbook Format)
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Plates and plans x
1 Proprietorial warfare 1
2 The weapons of war 16
3 War, society and technology 30
4 Warfare and authority 39
5 Men of war: cavalry 53
6 Men of war: infantry 64
7 The nature of the castle 77
8 Castles and war 96
9 Fortifications and siege 107
10 Armies 128
11 Commanders 139
12 Campaign, battle and tactics 150
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CONTENTS
13 Battle and the development of war 166
14 Europe, ideology and the outsider 187
15 Crusading and warfare in the Middle East 204
16 Perspectives 230
Appendix I: The Battle of Bouvines, 27 July 1214 235
List of Abbreviations 242
Notes 244
Bibliography 295
Index 321
vi
To my wife, Angela, a veteran of many muddy fields.
Acknowledgements
I am deeply indebted to an enormous number of people who have helped me in the
writing of this book. In 1995 I was able, through the generosity of the British Academy,
to travel in Italy and much of the Middle East. Subsequently, with help from the
University of Wales, Swansea, I went to the Lebanon and revisited Syria. During these
travels a large number of people provided a lot of practical help. In Italy, I would like,
in particular, to thank the local authorities at Manerbio and Frascati, whose officers
went out of their way to put their local knowledge at my disposal, and the librarians at
Avezzano who took so much trouble over my queries. Peter Clark and his colleague,
Hadeel Alahmad, at the British Council in Damascus were immensely helpful. Dr Alison
McQuitty, Director of the British School at Amman, provided hospitality and helpful
advice, as did Dr R. Harper, Director of the British School at Jerusalem, who also laid on
a memorable tour of castles. Dr Mohammed Moain Sadek, Director of Tourism and
Antiquities for the Palestinian National Authority, was kind enough to escort me
around some fascinating sites in Gaza. In all these countries and others I was received
with great kindness, for which I offer thanks.
I must acknowledge great debts in terms of ideas. Professor J. C. Holt, though
writing in a different context, first fixed my mind on the importance of landed property.
I owe a great deal to the ideas of Professor John Gillingham, whose work on war has
been so influential. It was thanks to Professor Bernie Bachrach that I was invited to
address the Haskins Society at Houston, providing me with an opportunity to sharpen
my ideas at a critical time: as a result of these discussions I owe a particular debt to
Professor Richard Abels and Dr David Crouch. Kelly de Vries is a splendidly robust
person to try ideas out on. Ronnie Ellenblum of Hebrew University was kind enough
to share with me his enormous knowledge of crusader archaeology, while Denys
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Pringle has generously provided much knowledge and assistance on crusader castles.
On Middle Eastern warfare I owe a great deal to Yaacov Lev of Bar Ilan University.
Valerie Eads was extraordinarily generous with her research on the wars of the Countess
Mathilda of Tuscany and I look forward to it coming to fruition. I have been able to
draw upon Matthew Strickland’s profound knowledge of the Anglo-Norman world.
Numerous discussions with Matthew Bennett of the Royal Military Academy,
Sandhurst have contributed greatly to my knowledge of the nitty-gritty of medieval
warfare. Dr David French, former Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at
Ankara, fixed the importance of roads in my mind, while Peter Edbury and Helen
Nicholson of University of Wales, Cardiff have been extraordinarily helpful. Professor
Malcolm Barber of Reading University and his colleague, Tom Asbridge, have both
provided much stimulation. I owe a great debt to Jonathon Phillips of Royal Holloway
who runs the Crusades Seminar so well. Susan Edgington kindly allowed me to use her
forthcoming edition of Albert of Aachen and provided many references. A. V. Murray
of the University of Leeds was relentless in the pursuit of bibliography on my behalf.
Andrew Lambert of King’s College stimulated my interest in the Lebanon. Professor
Gerrit Schutten of Groningen was kind enough to provide assistance on maritime
history.
I owe special thanks to Professor Bernard Hamilton who read Chapter 1 and improved
it enormously, and to my colleagues Bill Zajac and I. W. Rowlands who looked at many
parts of the text and were generous with their time and knowledge. I must thank
Professor Jean Richard, Professor Michel Balard, Professor J. Riley-Smith and Professor
Gérard Dédéyan, for their kindness and encouragement at various times. Professor
David Eastwood and my colleagues in the History Department of University of Wales,
Swansea deserve thanks for putting up with my enthusiasms. For all these ideas and
advice I am enormously grateful, but of course responsibility for the material is mine
alone.
All scholars rely heavily on learned institutions and libraries. The staff of the
University of Wales, Swansea library, Cambridge University Library and the Institute
of Historical Research have been extraordinarily helpful, but I must also thank those
who work at the British Library and the National Library of Wales.
The staff of UCL Press have given me considerable and useful guidance, and the
General Editor of this series, Professor Jeremy Black, has been a great inspiration.
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