Castle construction was an important force multiplier in medieval warfare, where a small well-provisioned garrison behind well-constructed walls could hold out against a numerically larger siege force for weeks or even months until a relieving army a
Byzantine military manuals, known in medieval Greek as Strategika or Taktika, date back to the early medieval era, however, they build upon lessons learned in the military arts and sciences of the classical world dating back to the Hellenic Greece
Read more…During the Hussite Crusades (1420-1434) the brilliant Czech general Jan Žižka (“the One-Eyed”, 1360-1424) introduced an innovative tactic to late medieval warfare, the Wagenburg, that witnessed horse-drawn war wagons moving on campaign in columns, th
Read more…The most identifiable symbol of warfare in the European Middle Ages (c.500-c.1500 CE) is that of the mounted knight, and the foundation of that medieval heavy cavalry was the warhorse itself. The horse had to be a warrior in its own right, capable
Read more…The infamous Nizari Ismaili Assassins were a Shia religious sect created by a missionary named Hassan as-Sabbah (c.1034-1134) in the late eleventh century. With religious origins dating to the time of the prophet Muhammad (c.570-632), the sect of I
Read more…Before the Mongols struck out across most of Asia as the premier mounted warriors of their day, the Seljuk Turks carved an impressive empire stretching from their homeland in Central Asia, across Persia and Mesopotamia to the Levant and finally Ana
Read more…Located today at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Normandy, France, the Bayeux Tapestry was commissioned in 1077 by Bishop Odo of Bayeux to commemorate William of Normandy’s victory at the battle of Hastings in 1066, an event usually referre
Read more…The medieval naval battles of Svold (c.1000) and Nisa (1062) between two rival Viking fleets demonstrates the flexibility of Scandinavian tactics, essentially bringing land tactics to naval battles as a form of medieval marine warfare. These tactic
Read more…Right: Varangian Guardsmen, an illumination from the 11th century Skylitzes Chronicle. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. S
Read more…In the eleven-hundred-year history of the Byzantine Empire (337-1453) arguably the most well-known and celebrated military unit in the Byzantine army was the Varangian Guard. Referred to by Greek sources as “axe-bearing barbarians” for wielding their
Read more…By far the most devastating and widespread attacks in Europe during the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries came from the Vikings of Scandinavia, with their military tactics evolving from raiding proficiency at set-piece battles and sieges. The Vikin
Read more…Charlemagne (r.768-814 CE) undertook an unprecedented fifty-four military campaigns during his forty-six-year reign, greatly expanding the territory of the Frankish kingdom he inherited into the Carolingian Empire through the use of an adroit grand s
