Minutes from the De Re Militari Business Meeting
Held Friday, May 8, 2003
1. Report on the De re militari sessions: Prof. Kelly
DeVries, Coordinator
Kelly's report began with praise
for Jay Roberts' session on the Roman Balista project. Kelly then moved on to
discuss the special speakers who are chosen two years in advance in order to
arrange funding for the Europeans. Next year, we will have Prof. Richard
Kaeuper, the winner of the first Verbruggen Prize. De re will be making an
offer to John Gillingham for 2005. Two of the articles which appeared in
volume 1 of the Journal of Medieval Military History were directed at
Gillingham's school. Richard Abels indicated that he will step into the
breach if Gillingham does not agree. Kelly noted the difficulty of
European scholars in getting travel grants. Kelly submitted the proposal
to name the special lecture "The Annual
Journal of Medieval Military History Lecture" in order to publicize
the journal.
For future meetings, other sessions will be proposed, retaining the
present divisions of Early, High, and Late Medieval periods and including topics
on military lands and feudalism. Future topics should discuss what has
happend to the "f" word with the inclusion of Susan Reynolds' work.
Kelly urged scholars, especially graduate students, to send in their titles and
abstracts.
2. Report on the Journal: Prof. Bernard S. Bachrach
The first volume is out and was done to a very high standard. Volume 2
will be out before next year's conference at Kalamazoo. The editorial
board is planning on a regular schedule of publication. The board has a
number of articles for volume 3. Potential contributors to the journal
should follow the Speculum style sheet and should have their submissions in
preferably by Xmas. The main concern is to have the articles in on time and in
shape.
Bernie advised that future articles be grouped around the following
topics:
1. feudalism
2. revisiting the military revolution from a deep medieval perspective.
3. more articles on the post-medieval period, showing the continuity from
the Middle Ages into the Early Modern period.
4. military transitions from the Late Roman period into the Middle Ages
3. Production and Membership of the Journal: Susan
Dykstra-Poel, Boydell & Brewer
Susan reported that vol. 1 came out in the UK, but missed shipment at the
end of December. The production of subsequent issues will stick to the end of
February schedule so that the volume can be displayed at the Medieval Academy of
American meeting, the medieval conference at Kalamazoo, and the Military History
Association conference.
Susan indicated that her office will continue to serve as a central
clearing house for articles, and she will then send them to the reviewers.
She advised potential contributors to get their articles in by August or
September for a first look so that final revisions can be submitted by December.
The journal will accept illustrations. Maps must be of quality picture
form. Boydell & Brewer has a cartographer for maps. Permissions
have to be obtained by the authors. Kelly has the necessary form letters.
Peter Konieczny will add a hyperlink to the DRM website to the Speculum
style sheet.
Subscriptions number over 100.
30% are from outside the U.S. and include non-academic military enthusiasts as
indicated by the section of the subscription form asking for affiliations and
interests. This information is also used for making contacts about
articles and finding appropriate book
Susan noted that the publisher ran out of stock for volume 1 and has
produced a new shipment.
As to renewals, members should not pay Susan now. She will send out the
renewal notices in the next few months. Regular subscriptions are still $35.00.
Institutions are $70.00. Susan will ask Peter to create an institutional
membership form. Faculty can then give the form to their libraries. JMMH
is classified as an annual and is considered as a series subscription instead of
a journal. This classification should encourage more libraries to pick up
the subscription.
One member inquired about a secure server to facilitate payment by credit
card. Susan indicated that setting up a secure server is expensive. She also
said that Peter will place a link to the Boydell and Brewer secure website.
4. Report on the website: Peter Konieczny's report read
by Steven Morillo
-The website is receiving 100 hits
per day.
-Language websites have been
added. New book reviews have been added.
-Peter can make a page for
students.
-The annual cost of maintaining
the website is $50.00
-The website has tremendous
breadth, including sections on warrior elites and Central Asian nomads
-Cambridge University Press has
placed the first chapters of their books on the DRM website to increase sales.
-The position of book review
editor is open.
5. Treasurer's Report: Carroll Gillmor
| Income
Fee for opening account (paid by treasurer) 83 memberships at $35.00 each Interest Total |
$30.00 2,905.00 38.46 2,973.46 |
| Expenses publication of vol. 1 JMMH postage insufficient funds for member check fee for processing bad check total |
2,490.00 120.00 35.00 10.00 2,665.00 |
Balance:
$308.46
Susan reported that an additional amount of about $100
would be coming in from new subscriptions.
This would allow DRM to pay the following expenses:
1. honorarium to special lecturer
$150.00
2. reimbursement for maintenance of website to Beau Harbin $50.00
3. reimbursement to Peter
Konieczny for
postage in sending
6. Society for Military History: Prof. Cliff Rogers
The Society has co-sponsorship of the
DRM sessions at Kalamazoo and encourages membership and
The Society has made a donation for the
Roman Balista project.
The Society has received criticism that
it is too modern and too American. The Society has responded with a
special panel on medieval generalship to be presented at their next meeting in
Bethesda, MD. Bernie Bachrach and Richard Abels will present
papers. The Society has been very supportive of DRM and encourages
submissions on medieval topics.
The theme for the next AHA meeting in
January 2004 will be war and conflict.
7. The Verbruggen Prize: Prof. Paul Gans
The present composition of the committee
is three people serving a concurrent term. This will change to a three
year staggered term so as to replace one member each year. John France
will be the next person to serve on the committee.
The recipient of this year's Verbruggen Prize is Cliff Rogers for his recent book War, Cruel and Sharp: English Strategy under Edward III, 1327-1360.
We thank Carroll Gillmor for providing us with the minutes from this meeting.