Innholdsfortegnelse for MW X1.2 i Medieval World Culture & Conflict Magazine

RELIGION IN THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF SICILY The fall of Sicily and the First Crusade could seem linked: in the ongoing debate on the antecedents of Christian war, the difficult conquest of a land that had been under Muslim control since the ninth century could be easily construed as the first blow struck against the Muslims in the creation of the idea of warring ‘Christendom’. After all, Southern Norman chroniclers themselves could be shown to embrace the idea. In a poem dedicated to Duke Roger Borsa of Apulia and Pope Urban II, William of Apulia praised Count Roger of Sicily for having dedicated his life to conquering Sicily from the “enemies of God” and described Palermo as a “city of demons”. Geoffrey Malaterra, Count Roger’s own chronicler, showed St George…

THE STORY OF JOHN NEVILLE, MARQUESS MONTAGU Montagu cut his teeth in warfare and politics in the early 1450s, but not in France. Instead, he waged his family’s private war for local dominance in the north. Only the Percys, headed by Henry, second Earl of Northumberland, matched the Nevilles’ influence in the region. As the hatchet-man for his family, Montagu was an active and violent participant in the feud between the two households. The event that pushed the families into open aggression was the marriage between Montagu’s older brother, Sir Thomas Neville, and Maud Stanhope, co-heiress to the manors of Burwell in Lincolnshire and Wressle in the East Riding. This land had previously belonged to the Percys, before being forfeited in 1408 for their rebellion against Henry IV. Hoping to…

CHARGING AN ENEMY IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY A part from northern France and the conquest of England, one could find Norman warriors fighting (and sometimes taking over) in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, the Holy Roman Empire, southern Italy, the Balkans, the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Land, and North Africa, and elsewhere. The key to their success was in large part the heavy cavalry. Norman knights and their other cavalry were devastating forces on the battlefield, as witnessed at the Battle of Hastings. There the cavalry was critical in breaking the Anglo-Saxon shield wall that had repelled the Norman army for hours. One of the central pieces of equipment belonging to the eleventh century Norman knight was the mail hauberk. At this time, the hauberk’s torso ranged from mid-thigh to knee…

WHAT WAS AROUND THE TOWER HOUSE? Consequently, I have tried to place them within wider contexts, not just examine their features and architecture in isolation. Today, the majority of the several thousand known examples from Ireland stand in isolation: were they also standalone masonry towers during their heyday, or were they the focal points of their surrounding communities? This is a tough question to answer, but new techniques and technologies are starting to shed light on this topic. Tower houses were built in both urban and rural locations in Ireland, so I have argued that they also can tell us much about the people who lived and worked around them. When we look at a tower house distribution across Ireland, the first thing that strikes us is that this is…

PERSPECTIVES FROM BYZANTINE MILITARY MANUALS Because the noun δύναμις (strength) has been associated with physical power since Homeric times, the defining features of the body of a commander have always been - instinctively - linked to imposing size, which in turn indicated strength and vigour. In the Taktika by Emperor Leo VI (ca.904), the general “must, inasmuch as possible, keep his body well-looking (εὐπρεπῆ) and strong (ῥωμαλέον)”. Moreover, a commander’s overall appearance in armour and the condition of his military equipment was of great concern. It directly reflected the quality of the equipment and the overall discipline of his soldiers. As such, it was a testament to the army’s fighting prowess and willingness to engage in combat. The Byzantine general Kekaumenos puts it best in his Strategikon (ca.1075): Compel your…

“AS ONE MISFORTUNE OFTEN FOLLOWS A WORSE” Roger had assumed the position of regent for Bohemond II in 1112, as the prince was only a young child. It was Roger’s good fortune to arrive at a time when the govern ance of Aleppo, the nearest and most powerful Syrian city, was plunged into chaos in the wake of the death of its long-reigning sultan, Fakhr al-Mulk Ridwan, in 1113. Roger wholeheartedly embraced the crusad ing spirit and would prove himself to be a fearsome warrior. Yet he had noticeable shortcomings as a strategist. He was impulsive and had a tendency to rush into battle against adversaries without heeding basic military precautions. In the wake of Ridwan’s death, the Aleppine plain became a hotly contested region. Seeking to take advantage of…

THE X TO XXII OF MEDIEVAL SWORDS Ronald Ewart Oakeshott was born in 1916. His uncle, Jeffery Farnol, a writer of historical fiction who collected ancient weapons, inspired his early interest in swords. Oakeshott was lucky to live in a time when, even with a modest income, one could build up an impressive collection. However, he grew frustrated about the lack of information about his new possessions. So he set out to do it himself – greatly aided by his training as a commercial artist, which contributed to his careful, analytical eye. With other interested collectors, scholars, and curators, he established the Arms and Armour Society shortly after the Second World War. To most people, Oakeshott’s name is now synonymous with the late medieval sword and, in particular, his pioneering…