A history of medieval warfare in Europe covers the fifth through the fifteenth century and discusses armor, artillery, strategy, and courage

War in the Middle Ages (English and French Edition)

History

Contamine, Philippe

Europe

Blackwell Pub.

Covering the ten centuries following the fall of Rome, War in the Middle Ages engages all aspects of its subject, including the military customs and conditions of the various Western European states; armor and weaponry recruitment; and rules of combat developed to limit bloodshed. 
Philippe Contamine writes with an awareness that, in both theory and fact, medieval warfare was constantly evolving. He opens with a chapter on Roman military disintegration and the practice of warfare in the barbarian kingdoms erected on the empire's ruins. He then shows how feudalization multiplied conflicts, and describes the resulting growth of the "great stone civilization" of the castle. In the area of military method, he emphasizes three innovations: gunpowder, standing armies and the increased use of infantry, supplying in each case a wealth of data and documentation. Contamine traces the rise of a new literature of strategy and changes in the concept of courage which he puts in the context of actual risk. He points out that the chivalric ideals of the later Middle Ages operated within narrow limits, outside which aristocrats and commoners freely slaughtered each other. Contamine also analyzes the theories of just and unjust war that developed at this time, and illustrates a phenomenon more typical of the period; the religious glorification of the warrior. Ever mindful of the chaos and devastation that war brings, War in the Middle Ages nonetheless offers a clear and consistent picture of the military ethos of a millennium.

War in the Middle Ages

Wiley/Blackwell

Covering the ten centuries following the fall of Rome, War in the Middle Ages engages all aspects of its subject, including the military customs and conditions of the various Western European states; armor and weaponry recruitment; and rules of combat developed to limit bloodshed. Philippe Contamine writes with an awareness that, in both theory and fact, medieval warfare was constantly evolving. He opens with a chapter on Roman military disintegration and the practice of warfare in the barbarian kingdoms erected on the empire's ruins. He then shows how feudalization multiplied conflicts, and describes the resulting growth of the "great stone civilization" of the castle. In the area of military method, he emphasizes three innovations: gunpowder, standing armies and the increased use of infantry, supplying in each case a wealth of data and documentation. Contamine traces the rise of a new literature of strategy and changes in the concept of courage which he puts in the context of actual risk. He points out that the chivalric ideals of the later Middle Ages operated within narrow limits, outside which aristocrats and commoners freely slaughtered each other. Contamine also analyzes the theories of just and unjust war that developed at this time, and illustrates a phenomenon more typical of the period; the religious glorification of the warrior. Ever mindful of the chaos and devastation that war brings, War in the Middle Ages nonetheless offers a clear and consistent picture of the military ethos of a millennium.

Barnes&Noble Books

La guerre au Moyen Age (Nouvelle Clio) (French Edition)

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Presses universitaires de France

La dénomination approximative, quant aux dates réelles de la Guerre de Cent Ans, a le mérite de souligner le principal caractère du conflit opposant la France et l''Angleterre à savoir son exceptionnelle longévité. Une telle durée contribue largement à la complexité de ces hostilités. Cet ouvrage s''attache à clarifier les causes, décrire les grandes phases, exposer les conséquences sans les isoler du cadre historique plus général.

La Guerre de cent ans (QUE SAIS-JE ?)

Que sais-je

Presses Universitaires de France (PUF)

Après tant d'écrits historiques et littéraires sur Jeanne d'Arc, dans toutes les langues (car sa célébrité est internationale), l'état des sources, riches et complexes, et la curiosité des lecteurs appelaient une mise au point documentée et argumentée. Le " cas Jeanne d'Arc " exige en effet une approche multiple : impossible à son sujet de se contenter de réponses toutes faites ou réductrices. Pour nous permettre de mieux appréhender cette figure si singulière, cet ouvrage restitue l'environnement matériel et mental d'où elle a surgi –; un tissu serré dont la trame est faite de malheurs et d'espérance. Ce livre s'attache de la même façon à examiner le " mystère de la vocation " et à relater le bref temps de la gloire, d'Orléans à Reims, suivi par les échecs, l'incompréhension, la prison, le procès et la mort par le feu. À l'évidence l'intervention, décisive, de Jeanne d'Arc bouleversa les calculs et les projets politiques de ses contemporains : il était logique qu'en un siècle où l'on croyait universellement à l'intervention de Dieu dans l'histoire des royaumes et des peuples, le débat politique s'appuie ou débouche sur un débat théologique. Tel est le fondement des procès de Jeanne d'Arc, illustrés par deux documents majeurs qui ont été conservés : celui relatif à la condamnation (1431), le plus émouvant, et celui concernant l'annulation de cette condamnation (1455-1456), le plus surprenant. Extraordinairement contrasté, le destin de Jeanne d'Arc fut aussitôt compris comme étant lié à l'histoire " providentielle " du royaume de France et de ses " Rois Très Chrétiens ". D'où l'attention que " la Pucelle " ne cessa de susciter –;, une attention faite d'admiration mais aussi, de façon minoritaire, de scepticisme et de raillerie.

Jeanne d'Arc - Histoire et Dictionnaire

Biographies & Memoirs

Bouzy, Olivier

Hélary, Xavier

Historical

BOUQUINS

LES CHEVALIERS

TALLANDIER

Guerre, état et société à la fin du moyen âge: Études sur les armées des rois de France 1337–1494 (Civilisations et Sociétés, 24) (French Edition)

Words, Language & Grammar

Walter de Gruyter

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