Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume XVIII

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 of new types of large warships; and a toponymonographical 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.