The Medieval Church as a Military Power
Discover how the medieval Church emerged as a major military power, mobilizing secular armies, launching crusades, and creating unique warrior-monks through the military religious orders.
The Medieval Church as a Political Power
Discover how the medieval Church operated as a political power—ruling territories, collecting taxes, and challenging kings across Latin Christendom.
How Medieval Thinkers Justified War: From Augustine to Aquinas
Explore how war was understood in the Middle Ages through the ideas of Augustine and Aquinas, including just war theory, public vs. private violence, and the role of sin and political authority.
The Medieval State: Kingdoms, Principalities, Communes, and Leagues Explained
The medieval world was politically diverse. From royal courts to self-governing cities and confederated leagues, power was expressed in many forms—often far from…
The Invention of the Idea of Sovereignty in the Middle Ages
Discover how the concept of medieval sovereignty evolved through Roman law, canon law, and political theory—shaping papal power, imperial authority, and the rise of sovereign kingdoms in the Middle Ages.
The Moral Purpose of the Medieval State
Explore how medieval thinkers from Augustine to Aquinas debated the role of government, from preserving peace and order to promoting virtue and human fulfillment in the pursuit of the common good.
The Medieval Invention of Political Community
Discover how medieval thinkers reshaped the concept of political community using ideas from Roman law, Christian theology, and Aristotelian philosophy—laying the intellectual foundations for the modern state.
The Medieval Fiscal Revolution: How Kings Took Control of Money and Taxes
Discover how medieval kings transformed their realms through a “fiscal revolution” that centralized control over coinage and taxation, reshaping the foundations of state power.
The Medieval Judicial Revolution: Royal Power and the Rise of State Justice
This article explores the so-called “judicial revolution” of the Middle Ages, showing how European monarchs reasserted control over legal systems and laid the groundwork for the modern state through centralized justice and royal authority.
The Medieval Military Revolution: How War Shaped the Rise of the State
Discover how medieval warfare evolved from feudal levies to royal armies—and how these changes laid the groundwork for the modern state in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Why Medieval Wars Were Fought: Power, Borders, and Sovereignty
Medieval wars weren’t always about religion or feudal duty—they were often about who had the right to rule and where. Beneath the surface of conflicts like England’s wars with Scotland and France were deeper struggles over sovereignty, territory, and the very shape of emerging states.
The Evolution of Papal Authority: Plenitudo Potestatis and Sovereignty in Medieval Canon Law
How did medieval canon law shape the idea of absolute papal authority? This article traces the evolution of key legal concepts—plenitudo potestatis, potestas absoluta, and pro ratione voluntas—from Pope Innocent III to Hostiensis, revealing their lasting impact on theories of sovereignty.
The Crusades: A Very Brief History, 1095-1500
Between the mid-11th and late-15th centuries, a historically specific configuration of material and ideational factors gave rise to a constellation of religious wars now known as “the Crusades.”
The Children’s Crusade: A Change of Interpretation Over Time
One fascinating yet unexamined part about this strange Children’s Crusade of 1212 is less so the facts behind the story, and rather how the story changes over time.
A Decisive Battle? Richard the Lionheart vs Saladin at Arsuf
While Arsuf was a tactical and operational success, it was far from “decisive” – or even very significant – on the strategic level.
The Black Death and the Great Transition
How did the Yersinia pestis pandemic that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351, and then returned five times before the end of the century, spark the transition from the feudal Middle Ages to capitalist modernity?
The Battle of Sluys: Naval Warfare in the Hundred Years’ War
As England was essentially an island nation, King Edward III was quick to realize the need for sea power if have was to conduct a cross-channel campaign to press his claim the French throne.
Oda Nobunaga and the Gunpowder Revolution in Japan
As in Europe, the military revolution in Japan was triggered by a technical innovation – the development of gunpowder weapons such as muskets and cannon.
The War of Saint Sabas and the naval battle in Acre’s harbor
The rapidly growing maritime power of these two republics placed them on a collision course.
The Siege of Constantinople, 717-718 AD – The Use of Naval Power
The Byzantine Empire’s skilled use of naval power can be seen during the Umayyad attempt to capture Constantinople in 717-718.
War at Sea in the Middle Ages
In this series of articles, we will nevertheless attempt to bring the phenomenon of medieval maritime warfare to light, drawing on the relatively sparse literature that does exist to paint a picture of naval warfighting during the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476 to the onset of the Protestant Reformation in 1513.
Medieval ideas of Utopia
If medieval people could design their own utopian political and economic system, what would it look like?
Justinian’s Plague and the Birth of the Medieval World
The Plague of Justinian, named after the Roman emperor who reigned from AD 527-65, arrived in Constantinople in AD 542, almost a year after the disease first made its appearance in the empire’s outer provinces
Sword of God: The story of Khalid Ibn Al-Walid
Khalid is widely regarded as the military leader responsible for the world-changing expansion of Islam beyond its initial home in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century. His story is fascinating.
