3 Volumes -- minor shelfwear. ; Three Volumes--Journal of Medieval Military History; Vol. 123; 0.81 x 9.74 x 6.26 Inches; Warfare is one of the central themes of medieval history. Until now, however, there has been no journal dedicated specifically to this area. The Journal of Medieval Military History, the new annual journal of De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History will remedy this situation by publishing top-quality scholarly articles on topics across the full thematic and chronological ranges of the study of war in the middle ages. Medieval society was dominated by men who considered themselves more as soldiers than landlords, judges or administrators. More of society's resources went into fortifications than cathedrals; deeds of arms were a topic rivalled in literature only by love; and in many times and places the common people dreaded war far more than famine or plague. War was the greatest force in determining the evolution of medieval governments. Although the study of war, its conduct and its impact, has never been absent from medieval historiography, the past few decades have seen this field rise to new prominence. Contributors to this first issue: EMILIE AMT, BERNARD BACHRACH, DOUGLAS BIGGS, CHARLES BOWLUS, JOHN FRANCE, STEPHEN MORILLO, CLIFFORD ROGERS, and J. F. VERBRUGGEN. The second issue of this new undertaking broadens its geographical and practical range, widening its focus to draw in the amateur specialist in addition to military historians: the study of the origins of the crossbow industry in England is a case in point. Other papers include studies of campaigns (Henry II in Wales and Henry of Lancaster in France) , articles on weaponry and Spanish fortifications in the Mediterranean, a brief life of the mercenary Armengol VI of Urgel, and case studies of the interpretation of chronicles in reconstructing battles and military action. Taken together, the articles reinforce the centrality of fighting and warfare in the middle ages, adding valuable detail to an understanding of medieval society. Contributors: DAVID S. BACHRACH, ROBERT J. BURNS, KELLY DEVRIES, JOHN B. GILLINGHAM, JOHN HOSLER, DONALD KAGAY, BERNARD F. REILLY, CLIFFORD J. ROGERS, THERESA M. VANN, J. F. VERBRUGGEN. Volume III of De Re Militari's annual journal once again ranges broadly in its chronological and geographic scope, from John France's article on the evidence which early medieval Saints' Lives provide concerning warfare to Sergio Mantovani's examination of the letters of an Italian captain at the very end of the middle ages, and from Spain (Nicolas Agrait's study of early-fourteenth-century Castilian military structures) to the eastern Danube (Carroll Gillmor's surprising explanation for one of Charlemagne's greatest setbacks). Thematic approaches range from 'traditional', though revisionist in content, campaign analyses (of Sir Thomas Dagworth, by Clifford J. Rogers, and of Matilda of Tuscany, by Valerie Eads) , to tightly focused studies of a single document (Kelly DeVries on militia logistics in the fifteenth century) , to controversial, must-read assessments of the broadest topics in medieval military history (Stephen Morillo and Richard Abels on change vs. Continuity from Roman times; J. F. Verbruggen on the importance of cavalry. ) CONTRIBUTORS: RICHARD ABELS, NICOLAS AGRAIT, KELLY DEVRIES, VALERIE EADS, JOHN FRANCE, CARROLL GILLMOR, SERGIO MANTOVANI, STEPHEN MORILLO, CLIFFORD J. ROGERS.
