The Soldier in Later Medieval England - Hardcover

Bell, Adrian R.; Curry, Anne; King, Andy; Simpkin, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199680825 ISBN 13: 9780199680825

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2013

Synopsis

The Hundred Years War was a struggle for control over the French throne, fought as a series of conflicts between England, France, and their respective allies. The Soldier in Later Medieval England is the outcome of a project which collects the names of every soldier known to have served the English Crown from 1369 to the loss of Gascony in 1453, the event which is traditionally accepted as the end-date of the Hundred Years War. The data gathered throughout the project has allowed the authors of this volume to compare different forms of war, such as the chevauchées of the late fourteenth century and the occupation of French territories in the fifteenth century, and thus to identify longer-term trends. It also highlights the significance of the change of dynasty in England in the early 1400s.

The scope of the volume begins in 1369 because of the survival from that point of the 'muster roll', a type of documentary record in which soldiers names are systematically recorded. The muster roll is a rich resource for the historian, as it allows closer study to be made of the peerage, the knights, the men-at-arms (the esquires), and especially the lower ranks of the army, such as the archers, who contributed the largest proportion of troops to English royal service. The Soldier in Later Medieval England seeks to investigate the different types of soldier, their regional and national origins, and movement between ranks. This is a wide-ranging volume, which offers invaluable insights into a much-neglected subject, and presents many opportunities for future research.

About this title

Product Description

The Soldier in Later Medieval England Collects the names of every soldier known to have served the English Crown from 1369 to the loss of Gascony in 1453, and seeks to investigate the different types of soldier, their regional and national origins, and movement between ranks. Full description

Review

The authors, together and separately, bring an enormous amount of expertise to bear and are all well represented in the impressive and useful bibliography ... My ambling through some of the areas discussed in this book does not do justice to its vast amount of factual information. (Livia Visser-Fuchs)

The book affords an excellent example of today's new kind of military history, its methodology turning not so much on the study of battles and campaigns as on the detailed analysis of the structure and composition of armies, the group dynamics within them and the social networks and hierarchies that underpinned them, all with a close bearing on the armies effectiveness in the field ... This book is as enjoyable as it is instructive. (Nigel Saul, History Today)

A brilliant piece of social and military history ... Essential. (CHOICE)

an outstanding work of original research ... Few recent works have brought us so close to the lives of the men who had to bear the impossible burden of making a King of England Duke of Normandy and King of France. (Jonathan Sumption, English Historical Review)

Without doubt ... this book represents a major contribution to our understanding of how the English waged war in the later Middle Ages. It also adds immensely to our picture of late medieval English society and culture. (David Grummitt, History)

a very fine and thought-provoking study that is a must-read for any student of military history in the later Middle Ages ... a rich source of information (Douglas Biggs, American Historical Review)

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199680825
• ISBN 13: 9780199680825
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 334