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Primary
Sources on Warfare in the Middle Ages
This section contains primary source materials
that we have added to our website, which are loosely organized by century. Works
that cover a period of more than one century will be placed in the century where
the work ends. For more primary sources, see our List of
Primary Sources from External Websites
Fourth Century (301-400)
The
Siege of
Amida from Ammianus Marcellainus
Sixth Century (501-600)
The
Siege of Amida in 502, according to Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite
Warfare and Military Affairs in the Letters of
Cassiodorus
Warfare
between Persia and the Byzantine Empire in the sixth-century, according to the
Chronicle of John Malalas
Byzantine
conquest of Italy in the sixth-century, according to the Chronicle of
Marcellinus
A
Byzantine campaign in the Balkans (594), according to Theophylact Simocatta
Seventh Century (601-700)
Antiochus
Strategos' Account of the Sack of Jerusalem in AD 614
The
Campaigns of Emperor Herakleios (620-6), according to the Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor
Episodes of
Medieval Warfare from the History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours
Ninth Century (801-900)
Charlemagne:
Translated Sources
Charlemagne's
way of raising troops
The
Battle of Fontenay in 841, according to the Annals of Fulda
Disorder
and Warfare according to the Annals of Xanten (844 -861)
Viking Raids
in France and the Siege
of Paris in 882-886
The
Arab invasions of Southern Italy, according to The Chronicle of Ahimaaz
Tenth Century (901-1000)
The
Siege of Thessaloniki in 904, from the letter of John Kaminiates
The
Siege of Tarsos in 965, according to Leo the Deacon
The
Fourth Book of The Chronicle of Æthelweard
Eleventh Century (1001-1100)
Selections
from Agrip at Noregskonungasqum
Knut's
Invasion of England in 1015-16, according to the Knytlinga Saga
War
in the Orkney Islands in the Eleventh Century
The
Battle of Nouy,
from Ralph Glaber
Eleventh
Century Battles between France and Normandy
The
Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066) and the life of Haraldr Sigurðarson, according
to Theodoricus Monachus
Ransoming
of English prisoners by St. Margaret of Scotland
Warfare
in Eleventh-Century Spain (Al-Andalus), according to The Tibyan
The Battle
of Zallaqa, 1086
The
Career of Robert Guiscard, according to the Annales Lupi Protospatharii
Eyewitness
accounts of the First Crusade
The
Siege of
Antioch from Peter Tudebode's Historia de Hierosolymitano Itinere
Twelfth Century (1101-1200)
Warfare
between Henry I and Robert Curthose, according to Wace
The
Siege of Tyre in 1111-12, according to the Chronicle of Ibn Al-Qalanisi
Pisan
raids on the Balearics, 1114
War
between Henry V and the city of Cologne, 1114
Selections
from the Life of Louis VI, by Suger
The
Battle of Bremule, By Orderic Vitalis
Warfare
in Flanders and the Siege of Bruges, 1127
Description
of a Motte and Bailey Castle from Flanders, 12th century
Warfare
in the Crusader States (1104-1127), according to the Chronicle of Matthew of
Edessa
The
Battle
of the Standard, 1138, from the Hexham chronicle
Warfare
in Bristol and Bath, from the Gesta Stephani
The
Siege of
Worcester, from the Chronicle of Worcester
Five
works on the battle of Lincoln, 1141
Geoffrey of
Mandeville's rebellion in 1143-44
The Genoese
expedition to Almeria, 1147
Letters of Conrad III during the Second Crusade
Letters
concerning the Second Crusade
The Siege
of Ascalon (1153)
Frederick I
'Barbarossa' issues rules for his
army (1158)
Letter
from Aymeric, Patriarch of Antioch, to Louis VII, King of France (1164)
Levy
an Army in Wales, 1164
The
Battle of Tusculum, 1167
The
History of the Siege of Ancona (1173),
according to Boncompagno da Signa
Warfare in England and France in 1173-74,
according to William of Newburgh
Portions
of Two Poems by the Twelfth-Century Knight-Troubadour Bertran de Born
The
Battle of Norafiord (1184), according to the Sverrissaga
Warfare
in 12th century Russia, according to the Kievan Chronicle
The
Battle
of Gisors, 1198, from the Annals of Roger of Hoveden
Contemporary
reactions to the foundation of the Templars
Hugh
‘The Sinner’: Letter to the Knights of Christ in the Temple at Jerusalem
Three
Christian Sources on the Battle of Hattin
The
Battle of Hattin from a Muslim source
Naval
Battle off of Acre (1190)
Two
accounts of the conquest of Cyprus by Richard I (1191)
The Battle
of Alarcos, 1195
Thirteenth Century (1201-1300)
The
Siege of the Rock of Tunsberg (1201), from the Sverrissaga
Warfare
in Normandy, 1201-1204, according to Rigord's Deeds of Phillip Augustus
Robert
of Clari's account of the Fourth Crusade
The History
of William the Marshal
The Siege of
Termes (1210), according to the Song
of the Cathar Wars
The
Siege of Termes (1210), according to the Historia Albigensis
The Battle
of Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212
The
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, according to The Latin Chronicle of the Kings
of Castile
The
Battle
of Bouvines, 1214, from several sources
The
Battle of Lincoln (1217), according to Roger of Wendover
The Siege of Toulouse in 1217-18, according to The
Chronicle of William of Puylaurens
Muslim
accounts of warfare in al-Andalus
The Battle of
Jerez, 1231
The
Siege
of Burriana (1233), according to the Chronicle of James the Conqueror
Jacques de
Vitry: Sermons to a Military Order
Philippe
de Remy's description of a fictionalised tournament at Ressons-Gournay (c.1241)
Description
of Mongol warfare from Friar John of Plano Carpini (1247)
The
Sixth Crusade (1249), according to Abu al-Faraj Gregory Bar Hebraeus
Selection
about warfare from The King's Mirror, a thirteenth century
Norwegian text
Warfare
in Thirteenth Century Iceland
Laws
concerning warfare and the military, from Las Siete Partidas
Thirteenth
Century Warfare between Norway and Scotland
Ibn
al-Athīr's Accounts of the Rūs (10th to 13th centuries)
The
Siege of Padua in 1257, according to Rolandino Patavino
Warfare in 13th century Byzantium, according to George Akropolites
The
Mongol Invasion of the Middle East (1258-1260), according to Rashiduddin
Fazlullah
Military
Organisation in the Guta Saga
Documents
Relating to the Baltic Crusade (1199-1266)
The
surrender of Gaston castle (1268), according The Catalan Rule of the Templars
Bologna
against Faenza and Forli, 1275
The
Battle of Stillfried, 1278, from the Gesta Hungarorum
A Naval
battle between Pisa and Genoa, 1284
Warfare
between Reggio and Gesso, 1287
Battle
of Campaldino, 1289, according to Dino Compagni
Battle
of Campaldino, 1289, according to Giovanni Villani
Descriptions
of warfare in The Rhyme Chronicle of Livonia
Accounts
about the Loss of Acre (1291)
Crusade
planning in the late thirteenth century
A
Plea Roll of Edward I's Army in Scotland, 1296
Journal
of the Movements of King Edward I in Scotland, 1296
Letter
reporting on the battle of Falkirk, 1298
Fourteenth Century (1301-1400)
Adh-Dhababi's
Record of the Destruction of Damascus by the Mongols in 1299-1301
The
Battle of the Golden Spurs, 1302
A
plan to regain the Holy Land from the Master of the Hospitallers (c.1305)
Naval
Contract by the Papacy against the Turks (1334)
The
Siege of
Florence, 1312, according to Giovanni Villani
The Battle of the Bannockburn (1314), according
to the Vita Edwardi Secundi
Warfare
in Fourteenth Century Hungary, from the Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum
Warfare in
Italy, 1332-3, according to Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Description
of English soldiers in Italy by Filippo Villani
Warfare
between England and Scotland in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth
centuries from the Scalacronica
Warfare
between England and Scotland in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth
centuries from the Chronicle of Lanercost
Warfare
Between England and Scotland, 1299 - 1301, according to Documents from the
English Government
Siege
of Carlaverock, 1300
The City of
London and Warfare in the 14th century
Petitions
dealing with warfare from Fourteenth century Berwick, Cumbria and Durham
Edward
III's Letter detailing his campaign in France, 1339
The
French Chronicle of London on the battle of Sluys and the siege of Tournai
Descriptions
of warfare found in the Chronicle of Louth Park Abbey, 1314-1346
The Battle
of Crécy according to Jean Froissart
The
War of Galata, according to the History of John Cantacuzenus, 1348
Letter
from Edward the Black Prince, about the Battle of Poitiers, 1356
The
Chronicle of Pere III: Campaign in Roussillion, 1344
Peasants at War in France: Guillaume l'Aloue in
1359
Contrat
de maître Barra, facteur d’arbalètes et autres artilleries, pris au
service du consulat de Cahors le 1er octobre 1369
English
Troops in Portugal in 1381, according to Fernao Lopes -
The
Crusade of the Bishop of Norwich in 1383, according to the Chronicle of Henry
Knighton
The Crusade of the Bishop of Norwich
in 1383,
according to the Westminster Chronicle
The
Crusade of the Bishop of Norwich in 1383, according to the Chronica maiora of
Thomas Walsingham
Warfare in France and Flanders, 1381 to 1386,
according to Buonaccorso Pitti
The
Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, according to Johann Schiltberger
The
Tree of Battles, by Honoré Bonet
A
Muslim Manual of War from the Fourteenth Century
The Skill of Archery from a 14th century
Mamluk-Kipchak Military Treatise
Fifteenth Century (1401-1500)
Sources on Tamerlane (1336-1405), including the
Battle of Angora (1402)
Battles
and Campaigns from The Chronicle of Adam of Usk
The Battle
of Tannenburg or Grunwald in 1410, according to Jan Dlugosz
Annals
of Owain Glyn Dwr, 1400-1415
The
Battle
of Agincourt, 1415
The
Capture of Ceuta by the Portuguese (1415)
Battle
Tactics of the Hussites
Joan
of Arc's victory at Orleans (1428), according to the Commentaries of Pius II
Joan
of Arc's campaigns, from the Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet
The
Battle of Caravaggio (1448)
The
Siege of Constantinople (1453), according to Nicolo Barbaro
The
Siege of Constantinople (1453), according to George Sphrantzes
The Siege of Constantinople (1453), according to Kritovoulos
The
Chronicles of Celje (in medieval German)
Schioppettieri
a
Venezia (1477)
Two
Documents concerning Crossbow-shooting in the Marquisate of Mantua in the
15th century
Warfare in
Fifteenth Century Italy, according to a Florentine merchant
A
Description of a Castle in Milan in 1480
A
Description of English soldiers during the Wars of the Roses
Defending
Milan in 1490
The
French Army in Italy (1494), according to Matteo Maria Boiardo
Warfare
in the city of Perugia in 1495
The
Battle of Fornovo (1495), according to Alessandro Beneditti
The
Sack of Montopoli in Val D'Arno (1498)
Castel
Bolognese (1500)
Sixteenth Century and Later (after 1501)
Babur's capture and loss of Samarkand (1501),
according to the Baburnama
The
Asahina Battle Chronicle of early Sixteenth Century Japan
The
Battle of Pavia in 1525, according to a Jewish chronicler
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