The Forgotten Battle of Bevershoutsveld, May 3, 1382: Technological Innovation and Military Significance
It may have been at Bevershoutsveld where gunpowder weapons first decided the outcome of a battle.
Diplomacy, bribery, trickery and ‘other means’: Defending the Byzantine Empire
I will try to figure out the delicate equilibrium between the appetite of the Byzantines for war, and their willingness to negotiate by ‘other means’, i.e diplomacy, or the employment of stratagems, craft, and bribery.
Did Henbane make Berserkers go Berserk?
A new study on the legendary Viking warriors known as berserkers suggests that they were able to achieve their battle trances and ferocity through the use of henbane.
Whetstones lead to new theory on why the Viking Age began
New article argues the Vikings were pushed out of Scandinavia and had to attack raid lands such as the British Isles, since they were prevented from attacking targets closer to home.
1066 and Warfare: The Context and Place (Senlac) of the Battle of ‘Hastings’
In this essay, I shall first be extremely traditional by focusing on the battle of Hastings (or better, Senlac) and then turn briefly to what happened afterwards.
The Assassination of Ahmad Ibn Ismail: Power Struggles in the Samanid Empire
The emir Ahmad ibn Ismail was assassinated in the year 914. This is the story of why he was killed and the power struggle that took place in the aftermath of his death.
Why battles could be so decisive in the Middle Ages
I just wrote a book about the Middle Ages viewed through the lens of the most potent and dramatic aspect of war – battle.
Bermejo and the armour of an archangel
What is conveyed by the armour in Bartolomé Bermejo’s Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil?
Horse Armour in the Medieval Islamic Middle East
The widely held view that horse armour was not used in the early Islamic Middle East is incorrect.
England and the Irish Sea Zone in the Eleventh Century
In this paper I seek to highlight Ireland’s significance in English affairs from the reign of Æthelred the Unready to that of William Rufus.
The death of Richard III
Read an excerpt from the newly published book, Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth, by Mike Ingram.
Contextualizing the Mongol Invasion of Hungary in 1241–42: Short- and Long-Term Perspectives
Questions remain about the level and distribution of destruction and population loss, the role that environmental factors played in the invasion, the reasons for the Mongol withdrawal, and how this episode can be used for interpreting later thirteenth and fourteenth-century phenomena.
Warfare during the Crusades: Usama ibn Munqidh and his Memoirs
Some of the most useful sources on medieval warfare are the ones written by the warriors themselves.
On the Highway to Hell: History, Archaeology and the Crusader Defeat at the Battle of Hattin in 1187
Is there any archaeological evidence for the Battle of Hattin?
Byzantine strategy in the East and the key role of Armenia
What were the deeper reasons that drew the super-power of the time, Byzantium, into a protracted and ‘all-out’ conflict with the Arabs of Aleppo in the middle of the 10th century?
The past and future of De Velitatione Bellica and Byzantine Guerrilla Warfare
This manual contains a great deal of seemingly plausible advice on how to engage in low-intensity warfare along the Byzantine-Islamic frontier across the Tauros and Anti-Tauros Mountains.
Join the Navy! The Medieval version
How do you convince men to take a job on a medieval warship?
10 Moments in the Invention of Guns and Gunpowder
Here is our list of ten key moments in the development of guns and gunpowder during the Middle Ages.
The armour of the common soldier in the late middle ages
The designation Harnischrödel (rolls of armour) lumps together different kinds of urban inventories. They list the names of citizens and inhabitants together with the armour they owned, were compelled to acquire within their civic obligations, or were obliged to lend to able-bodied men
The Danger of the Soft Life: Manly and Unmanly Romans in Procopius’s Gothic War
Rather than uncovering the Goths, Byzantines, and Italians “as they really were,” this paper seeks to unearth some of the purpose and reasoning behind Procopius’s gendered depictions and ethnicizing worldview.
The Shortcomings of the Mongol Art of War as seen in China, Korea and Eastern Europe
This paper will briefly discuss the nature of the Mongol armies and some of their successes before exploring their shortcomings in a select number of regions
The Rise of the Buyid Brothers
The story of the Buyids in Iran and Iraq is an extraordinary tale of the rise from obscurity of three ambitious brothers to dominate the core regions of the Muslim world.
Warlords and Dynasties: How Daylami mercenaries came to power in the 10th century
In the fourth part of this series that looks at northern Iran in the Middle Ages, the decline of the Alid dynasty opens the door for Daylami mercenary leaders to seize power.
Pope Gregory VII and Count Eblous II of Roucy’s Proto-Crusade in Iberia c. 1073
This article surveys the surviving material regarding Gregory VII and Eblous of Roucy’s expedition to Iberia c. 1073.
