Medieval Warfare. A Bibliographical Guide.
How to review a bibliography? It is not a task that falls one’s way very often and the very nature of the material, essentially a book-list, is not inspiring, no matter how useful it may be. The first point that occurred to me was that there is no consideration of source-material. In one sense this would be an impossible task, because we gain information about aspects of war from a wide variety of sources. However, as the author says, a major bibliography is a very important guide for research students looking for topics, and a discussion of the most valuable sources might have been helpful. The Murder of Charles the Good is an exceptionally useful source for military history, and Helmold has been under-exploited in this direction. Laura Napran at Cambridge is producing a translation of Gilbert (or Gislebert) of Mons for Manchester University Press: this contains a remarkable amount of material on twelfth-century warfare and desperately needs to be better known. For the later period Jean le Bel and, of course, Froissart are tremendously useful. Whether to put in such a discussion is a matter for judgement and it is appreciated that it would be difficult and different in nature to the rest of the work.
The author, sensibly, did not exclude early material: Brunner, for instance, whose 1887 article had such an abiding influence on thinking about Carolingian war and the origins of the knight, is rightly cited. However, the bulk of the material listed here is post-1960 and a lot of it is very recent, reflecting the vigorous growth of the field in recent years. An index of authors and editors is provided, which is referenced by page and not (as in the International Medieval Bibliography) by entry: this works very well, though sometimes you have to search for names carefully, especially if the main reference is to an article in a book by the author you are hunting. It is an analytic work, in that it attempts to sort and classify the 3000 publications it lists. A work like this stands or falls by its organisation. It is divided into chapters, each dealing with a distinct topic. Some of these are, quite naturally, very big : Chapter 1 War in the Middle Ages (1-47), Chapter 2 Battles (49-59), Chapter 4 Arms and Armour (73-86), Chapter 9 Fortifications (103-136), Chapter 11 Recruitment and Service (143-58). These large chapters are subdivided, always by area but only sometimes by period. I have some reservations about the simple division between early and late Middle Ages used in Chapter 1, because the former section seems to have nothing after 1000 and the latter nothing much before 1300. Of course, there are works listed in other sections covering the years 1000-1300, but you have to look for them. There are inevitable omissions and sometimes they are very puzzling. M.Prestwich is a very notable writer and is often listed in this book, but his Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: the English Experience (Yale: Yale University Press,1996), which should surely have found a place in Chapter 1, Subsection England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, is missing. A much more serious criticism concerns the classification schema itself: there is no section on the Crusades. J.Riley-Smith’s excellent First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (London: Athlone,1986) sits oddly in Chapter 1 War in the Middle Ages, Subsection Muslim States, as does my own Victory in the East. A Military History of the First Crusade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1994). The fact is that the military history of the Muslim States (and indeed Byzantium which is usually lumped in with them) is quite distinct from crusading warfare, which needs its own section. It is perhaps the failure to recognise this that leads to the most important omissions which I have noted in this book. It is incredible that this bibliographical guide finds no place for R.C.Smail, Crusading Warfare 1097-1193 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956) because this book has had enormous influence on writers about the crusades, about warfare in the east and, more generally, on large numbers of those interested in warfare. Neither is there reference to the work of Smail’s pupil, C.Marshall, Warfare in the Latin East 1192-1291 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1992) who, in effect, continued his work to the end of the thirteenth century. This is all the odder because other publications by both Smail and Marshall are noted. A number of publications on the origins of the crusade are included in Chapter 15 The Laws of War, but if this was a deliberate strategy the chapter could have done with considerable expansion and a new title; something along the lines of ‘War, Ideas and Ideology’ would have been better. In passing, readers might like to note the publication, far too recent to appear in Crosby’s work, of an important study of Holy War: J.Flori, La guerre sainte. La formation de l’idée de croisade dans l’Occident chrétien (Paris : Aubier, 2001).
On the other hand, Crosby shows that he has his finger on the pulse of the discipline with the range of chapters. It is especially good to see a Chapter 12 Finance and Supply devoted to what is becoming and increasingly important aspect of the study of medieval warfare. It is a pity there is no reference to M.Barber, ‘Supplying the Crusader States: the Role of the Templars’, in The Horns of Hattin ed. B.Z.Kedar (London: Variorum,1992), 314-26. Chapter 13 The Spoils of War, Booty and Ransoms is very valuable as is Chapter 17 Military Treatises. Chapter 18 Warfare Illustrated draws attention to a sector of study which has been somewhat neglected. It would be a worthwhile research project to bring together, with dating as precise as possible, representations of military matters. For example, there is an enormous body of twelfth-century sculptures on military themes: a systematic collection and study would illuminate the development of arms and armour. The nearest thing we have to such a collection is D.Nicolle’s magisterial Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era,1050-1350 2 vols (New York: Kraus,1988). This, of course, is a collection made from a particular viewpoint, but it would be possible to use this as the starting point for a collection of, for example, military sculptures of the twelfth century. Nicolle’s magnificent work does not appear in this section or in the very long chapter, noted above, on arms and armour though again, other works by him are cited.
The extensive Chapter 4 Naval Operations is very useful, but perhaps I could draw attention to one omission. S. Foster, Some aspects of Maritime Activity and the Use of Sea Power in relation to the Crusading States which is an unpublished D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford,1978. Chapter 3 Sieges, Chapter 6 Archery and Chapter 7 Cavalry, are all helpful, though perhaps the last is rather short. The inclusion of these chapters on specialised aspects of war is greatly to be praised. Almost all are of great value and show a writer abreast of current thinking and the enormous diversification of this field of study. I am rather less enthusiastic about a separate Chapter 10 Rural, Urban, and Coastal Defenses because there was little in it that could not have been incorporated into the preceding chapter on fortifications, and what could not, like A.Z.Freeman, ‘Wall-breakers and river-bridgers’, could have found a home elsewhere.
But consideration of this book raises a much wider point. Crosby has obviously laboured hard to produce a list, but it was, inevitably, out of date the moment it was produced. The Bulletin of the Society for the Study of the Crusades carries updates on members publications every year, but this is only cumulative by collecting the annual bulletin, and of course even then it is fragmented. The technology exists to remedy this situation and De Re Militari has pointed the way by offering a database of books and articles on its web-site. If this could be systematised it would be an enormous benefit to us all.
The fact that it is possible and necessary to produce a bibliography of the kind under review is testimony to the expansion of medieval military history in the last few years. This book is undoubtedly useful. However, while it is recognised that any such work must be selective, its authority is undermined by some very notable omissions. There is much to admire in its system of classification, despite the faults pointed to above. In designing this Crosby shows excellent knowledge of the field and real flair and imagination. The author is quite right to point to certain gaps in the field (xv) notably medical care, training methods, pay, morale, propaganda, women at war and conditions on the home front. On intelligence, which is highlighted here, perhaps I can mention an early effort: J.Deuvre, Les Services Secrets Normands. La guerre secrete au Moyen Age, 900-1135 (Condé-sur Noireau :Corlet,1990). Overall, this is a worthwhile book, though one with some limitations. Those interested in the crusades, another flourishing and developing field, will find it particularly disappointing.
JOHN FRANCE
Department of History, University of Wales Swansea
Page Added: October 2001