Military History Archive
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Á Þá Bitu Engi Járn: a brief note on the concept of invulnerability in the Old Norse Sagas
Posted on May 20, 2012 | No CommentsHarald made for Thorir's ship because he was the greatest berserk, and very brave. There was the fiercest fighting on both sides. Then the king ordered his berserks forward. They were called wolfskins; but iron could not bite on them and when they charged nothing could withstand them -
The Great Siege of Malta
Posted on May 18, 2012 | No CommentsTony Rothman recalls one of the turning points of early modern history, when a heroic defence prevented the rampant Ottoman forces from gaining a strategic foothold in the central Mediterranean. -
The Science of Fortification in Malta in the Context of European Architectural Treatises and Military Academies
Posted on May 18, 2012 | No CommentsIn order to understand why the fortifications of Malta evolved as they did, we need to study them in the context of the technical publications and military academies of the period. -
How did medieval Europeans deal with Greek debt? They sacked their capital city
Posted on May 18, 2012 | No CommentsThe real reason for the diversion to Constantinople in 1203 by the Venetians and the crusaders, and for their subsequent attack on the imperial capital in 1204, was a simpler and, in their minds, increasingly pressing concern: the payment of outstanding debts -
The introduction and use of the pavise in the Hundred Years War
Posted on May 16, 2012 | No CommentsWhen the Genoese had all been brought together and put in order, and after they had begun to approach their enemy, they started to shout as loud as they could to frighten the English. -
Ending an era : the Huang Chao Rebellion of the late Tang, 874-884
Posted on May 7, 2012 | No CommentsHuang Chao was a rebel leader during the late Tang dynasty; he and his followers successfully marauded through China from 875 until his death in 884 C.E. During that time, he conquered and sacked many important cities of the empire, such as Guangzhou and the capital city, Chang'an. -
Charity, War, and Peace in St. Thomas Aquinas
Posted on May 3, 2012 | No CommentsThomas’s treatment of the problem of war in the Summa Theologiae is refreshingly simple. -
The Vikings and a Turbulent Anglo-Scandinavian World
Posted on April 27, 2012 | No CommentsThis talk will track the Vikings' impact on medieval England, an impact with effects that are still evident today. -
From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages
Posted on April 23, 2012 | No CommentsAberth writes in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, both in his lively, readable style aimed at the nonspecialist and in his antiheroic, almost romantic portrayal of late medieval miseries. -
Impact of crusader castles upon European western castles in the Middle Ages
Posted on April 18, 2012 | No CommentsWhat was the order in which certain types of castle defense came to be during the middle ages and how do we first see them in the archaeological record from the time? -
Siege warfare during the Crusades
Posted on April 13, 2012 | No CommentsIt is from the accounts of the participants and observers that one gains some appreciation for the role of siege warfare in the crusades. -
Singers and Soldiers: Slavery in Early Abbasid Society
Posted on April 11, 2012 | No CommentsIndividuals of slave descent led significant households in Baghdad and Samarra, the capitals of the Abbasid caliphate, the second great empire of the Muslim world. -
The Harsh Life on the 15th Century Croatia-Ottoman Empire Military Border: Analyzing and Identifying the Reasons for the Massacre in Cepin
Posted on April 4, 2012 | No CommentsTurkish intrusions into what is today the continental part of Croatia began in 1391 and continued throughout the 15th, and the beginning of the 16th century when a large part of continental Croatia was incorporated into the Turkish Empire. -
Strategic Insights: The Battle of Crecy
Posted on March 25, 2012 | No CommentsThis paper will explore and analyze strategic decision making by Edward III, King of England, and Philip VI, King of France, at the Battle of Crecy using the critical thinking model as a conceptual framework, in conjunction with egocentrism and sociocentrism as the two main cognitive frames of reference. -
Re‐thinking the origins of the ‘Irish’ hobelar
Posted on March 18, 2012 | No CommentsThe hobelar is something of a sideshow in medieval military history.
