John France & Kelly DeVries 
Journal of Medieval Military History 
Volume XVIII

The Journal of Medieval Military History continues to consolidate its now assured position as the leading academic vehicle for scholarly publication in the field of medieval warfare. Medieval Warfare


This volume continues to reflect the vibrancy and diversity of the field, through the rich variety of topics and methodologies its chapters treat, and its geographical and chronological range. It includes an analytical narrative of the eastern campaigns of Henry II (1003-1017), demonstrating the strength and sophistication of German military institutions in this early period; a social-history approach to the First Crusade, looking at how European trends towards increasing political participation by the common people played out in the crusading army; an argument for radical change in Scandinavian naval warfare in the thirteenth century, including tactical innovations and the use ofnew types of large warships; and a toponymoographical approach to the continued presence of Pecheneg soldiers employing steppe tactics in Hungary in the thirteenth century. There are also essays on the sources used by English and French chroniclers to describe battles; the use of practical experimentation to determine the importance of different types of soft armor in helping mail to resist arrows; the role and importance of cavalry in the siege-based warfare of the later Hundred Years War; and the siege of Pisa in 1499, drawing on archival records to illustrate the logistical challenges facing the besiegers. The volume also includes freshly re-examined and re-edited manuscript texts of late-medieval gunpowder recipes


Contributors: Fabrizio Ansani, David S. Bachrach, Pierre Courroux, Michael John Harbinson, David Jones, Beñat Elortza Larrea, Jason Mac Leod, Clifford J. Rogers, Trevor Russell Smith, Sarolta Tátar.

Table of Content

The Eastern Campaigns of King Henry II of Germany, 1003-1017. – David S. Bachrach

Peace, Popular Empowerment and the First Crusade – Jason Mac Leod

The Transformation of Naval Warfare in Scandinavia during the Twelfth Century – Beñat Elortza Larrea

Auxiliary Peoples and Military Reform on Hungary’s Western Frontier in the Thirteenth Century – Sarolta Tatár

What Types of Sources Did Medieval Chroniclers Use to Narrate Battles? (England and France, Twelfth to Fifteenth Centuries). – Pierre Courroux

Experimental Tests of Arrows against Mail and Padding – David Jones

Four Misunderstood Gunpowder Recipes of the Fourteenth Century – Clifford J. Rogers

The Earliest Middle English Recipes for Gunpowder – Trevor Russell Smith

Horses and Horsemen in Fifteenth Century Siege Warfare, with Particular Reference to the Later Hundred Years War – Michael John Harbinson

Supplying the Army: The Siege of Pisa, 1499 – Fabrizio Ansani

About the author

David S. Bachrach is a professor of medieval history at the University of New Hampshire. His research interests include the administrative and military history of the Carolingian Empire as well as the medieval German and English kingdoms.