Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield
Groundbreaking reassessment of the role played by armour, weapons and heraldry in medieval warfare, showing their cultural as well as military significance.

A penetrating investigation of medieval martial display... The reader is struck by its originality, and by its sophisticated and critical interpretative engagement with historical and literary sources. Particularly notable is theauthor's subtle exploration of the function of armour: not only its practical role, but as a form of display... A refreshingly different approach to the world of the medieval combatant and his place within that ‘host of many colours' that was a medieval army, it adds a new dimension to our understanding of medieval warfare. ANDREW AYTON, University of Hull

The medieval battlefield was a place of spectacle and splendour. The fully-armed knight,bedecked in his vivid heraldic colours, riding out beneath his brightly-painted banner, is a stock image of war and the warrior in the middle ages. Yet too often the significance of such display has been ignored or dismissed as the empty preening of a militaristic social elite.
Drawing on a broad range of source material and using innovative historical approaches, this book completely re-evaluates the way that such men and their weapons were viewed,showing that martial display was a vital part of the way in which war was waged in the middle ages. It maintains that heraldry and livery served not only to advertise a warrior's family and social ties, but also announced his presence on the battlefield and right to wage war. It also considers the physiological and psychological effect of wearing armour, both on the wearer and those facing him in combat, arguing that the need for display in battle was deeper than any medieval cultural construct and was based in the fundamental biological drives of threat and warning.

Dr ROBERT W. JONES teaches Medieval History at Advanced Studies in England, a branch campus of Franklinand Marshall College, in Bath. He was formerly a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and an Associate Lecturer at Cardiff University.
1019360643
Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield
Groundbreaking reassessment of the role played by armour, weapons and heraldry in medieval warfare, showing their cultural as well as military significance.

A penetrating investigation of medieval martial display... The reader is struck by its originality, and by its sophisticated and critical interpretative engagement with historical and literary sources. Particularly notable is theauthor's subtle exploration of the function of armour: not only its practical role, but as a form of display... A refreshingly different approach to the world of the medieval combatant and his place within that ‘host of many colours' that was a medieval army, it adds a new dimension to our understanding of medieval warfare. ANDREW AYTON, University of Hull

The medieval battlefield was a place of spectacle and splendour. The fully-armed knight,bedecked in his vivid heraldic colours, riding out beneath his brightly-painted banner, is a stock image of war and the warrior in the middle ages. Yet too often the significance of such display has been ignored or dismissed as the empty preening of a militaristic social elite.
Drawing on a broad range of source material and using innovative historical approaches, this book completely re-evaluates the way that such men and their weapons were viewed,showing that martial display was a vital part of the way in which war was waged in the middle ages. It maintains that heraldry and livery served not only to advertise a warrior's family and social ties, but also announced his presence on the battlefield and right to wage war. It also considers the physiological and psychological effect of wearing armour, both on the wearer and those facing him in combat, arguing that the need for display in battle was deeper than any medieval cultural construct and was based in the fundamental biological drives of threat and warning.

Dr ROBERT W. JONES teaches Medieval History at Advanced Studies in England, a branch campus of Franklinand Marshall College, in Bath. He was formerly a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and an Associate Lecturer at Cardiff University.
36.95 In Stock
Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield

Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield

by Robert W Jones
Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield

Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield

by Robert W Jones

Paperback(Reprint)

$36.95 
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Overview

Groundbreaking reassessment of the role played by armour, weapons and heraldry in medieval warfare, showing their cultural as well as military significance.

A penetrating investigation of medieval martial display... The reader is struck by its originality, and by its sophisticated and critical interpretative engagement with historical and literary sources. Particularly notable is theauthor's subtle exploration of the function of armour: not only its practical role, but as a form of display... A refreshingly different approach to the world of the medieval combatant and his place within that ‘host of many colours' that was a medieval army, it adds a new dimension to our understanding of medieval warfare. ANDREW AYTON, University of Hull

The medieval battlefield was a place of spectacle and splendour. The fully-armed knight,bedecked in his vivid heraldic colours, riding out beneath his brightly-painted banner, is a stock image of war and the warrior in the middle ages. Yet too often the significance of such display has been ignored or dismissed as the empty preening of a militaristic social elite.
Drawing on a broad range of source material and using innovative historical approaches, this book completely re-evaluates the way that such men and their weapons were viewed,showing that martial display was a vital part of the way in which war was waged in the middle ages. It maintains that heraldry and livery served not only to advertise a warrior's family and social ties, but also announced his presence on the battlefield and right to wage war. It also considers the physiological and psychological effect of wearing armour, both on the wearer and those facing him in combat, arguing that the need for display in battle was deeper than any medieval cultural construct and was based in the fundamental biological drives of threat and warning.

Dr ROBERT W. JONES teaches Medieval History at Advanced Studies in England, a branch campus of Franklinand Marshall College, in Bath. He was formerly a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, and an Associate Lecturer at Cardiff University.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781783270279
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer, Limited
Publication date: 05/21/2015
Series: ISSN , #29
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 228
Product dimensions: 6.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Robert W. Jones is Alumni Association Coordinator and tutor at Advanced Studies in England, an independent study abroad programme based in Bath, England. He is also a Visiting Scholar in History at Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations vi

Acknowledgements ix

List of abbreviations xi

Introduction: Martial display and the peculiar death of Sir John Chandos 1

1 Heraldic display and the role of identification on the battlefield 11

2 The banner as a symbol of identity, authority, and status 33

3 Badges and communal display 57

4 Audible display on the battlefield 69

5 The practical function of armour on the battlefield 85

6 The psychological role of armour on the battlefield 97

7 The display value of the sword and horse on the battlefield 131

8 Religious symbolism in martial display 145

9 Martial display and the case for a fourteenth-century military revolution 161

Conclusion 177

Bibliography 181

Index 199

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