Warfare in Europe in the middle ages underwent a marked change of emphasis as urban life expanded. The concentration of wealth represented by a city was a valuable objective, and the static nature of a siege was infinitely preferable to the uncertainties of campaign. As the incidence of sieges increased, so pitched battles declined. The studies in this book, intended for specialists as well as general readers, follow the history of siege warfare, exploring the urban milieu within which it developed, and the evolution of siege technology up to the advent of gunpowder weaponry. The logistics of specific sieges, from the Crusader kingdoms in the Near East and the Byzantine Empire as well as medieval Europe, are also considered, with evidence from literature, engineering, architecture and cliometrics. IVY CORFIS is professor in the department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; MICHAEL WOLFE is professor in the department of history at Penn State University, Altoona. Contributors: MICHAEL WOLFE, JAMES F. POWERS, MICHAEL TOCH, DENYS PRINGLE, ERIC McGEER, PAUL E. CHEVEDDEN, MICHAEL HARNEY, HEATHER ARDEN, WINTHROP WETHERBEE, KELLY DEVRIES, MICHAEL MALLETT, BERT S. HALL.
| List of Illustrations | ||
| Acknowledgements | ||
| New Perspectives on Medieval Siege Warfare: An Introduction | 3 | |
| Life on the Cutting Edge: The Besieged Town on the Luso-Hispanic Frontier in the Twelfth Century | 17 | |
| The Medieval German City under Siege | 35 | |
| Siege Warfare and the Bonnes Villes of France during the Hundred Years War | 49 | |
| Town Defences in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem | 69 | |
| Byzantine Siege Warfare in Theory and Practice | 123 | |
| Artillery in Late Antiquity: Prelude to the Middle Ages | 131 | |
| Siege Warfare in Medieval Hispanic Epic and Romance | 177 | |
| The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Love in the Roman de la rose | 191 | |
| Chivalry under Siege in Ricardian Romance | 207 | |
| The Impact of Gunpowder Weaponry on Siege Warfare in the Hundred Years War | 227 | |
| Siegecraft in Late Fifteenth-Century Italy | 245 | |
| The Changing Face of Siege Warfare: Technology and Tactics in Transition | 257 | |
| Onomastic Index | 277 |
Overview
Warfare in Europe in the middle ages underwent a marked change of emphasis as urban life expanded. The concentration of wealth represented by a city was a valuable objective, and the static nature of a siege was infinitely preferable to the uncertainties of campaign. As the incidence of sieges increased, so pitched battles declined. The studies in this book, intended for specialists as well as general readers, follow the history of siege warfare, exploring the urban milieu within which it developed, and the ...