Summary of Brian Todd Carey, Joshua B. Allfree & John Cairns's Warfare in the Medieval World

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The art of warfare underwent a significant transformation between the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia and the seventeenth century CE, when Europe began to revive. The primacy of the offensive, mass and economy of force, and the importance of shock and missile combat were all understood by ancient, classical, medieval, and early modern generals.
#2 The torch of Roman imperialism was passed to the Byzantine Empire, which would lose territory to the expansion of Islam in the seventh century. Facing a mounted and highly mobile enemy, Byzantines increased the percentage of cavalry to infantry in their armies.
#3 The Normans, a group of Viking invaders, mastered the art of combining castle building and pitched battles in their campaigns in Italy and England. They transformed the composition of medieval armies, replacing infantry with heavy cavalry.
#4 The mounted knight, the dominant fighting force in medieval warfare, was challenged by the return of a more balanced tactical mix in the late Middle Ages, which featured light infantry archers and heavy infantry battle squares against heavy cavalry.

Sujets

• medieval
• Europe
• Islam

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 04 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669349082
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Brian Todd Carey and Joshua B. Allfree & John Cairns's Warfare in the Medieval World
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The art of warfare underwent a significant transformation between the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia and the seventeenth century CE, when Europe began to revive. The primacy of the offensive, mass and economy of force, and the importance of shock and missile combat were all understood by ancient, classical, medieval, and early modern generals.

#2

The torch of Roman imperialism was passed to the Byzantine Empire, which would lose territory to the expansion of Islam in the seventh century. Facing a mounted and highly mobile enemy, Byzantines increased the percentage of cavalry to infantry in their armies.

#3

The Normans, a group of Viking invaders, mastered the art of combining castle building and pitched battles in their campaigns in Italy and England. They transformed the composition of medieval armies, replacing infantry with heavy cavalry.

#4

The mounted knight, the dominant fighting force in medieval warfare, was challenged by the return of a more balanced tactical mix in the late Middle Ages, which featured light infantry archers and heavy infantry battle squares against heavy cavalry.

#5

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries saw the Swiss farmer-militia train with polearms to fight against Habsburg and Burgundian heavy cavalry. The Swiss battle square was successful, and by the end of the medieval period, heavy infantry battle squares and light infantry archers were common features in European armies.

#6

The history of combined-arms tactical systems in the western world witnessed a watershed event in the fourth century bce, when warfare was revolutionized by the use of heavy infantry battle squares.

#7

The four weapon systems of ancient and medieval warfare were the infantry, the cavalry, the archers, and the javelineers. Each had strengths and weaknesses, but when used together, they were extremely powerful.

#8

The presence of a combined-arms army under the command of a brilliant general did not guarantee victory. Friction, which refers to the accidents, uncertainties, errors, technical difficulties or unknown factors on the battlefield, can affect decisions, morale and actions in warfare.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Byzantines, who called themselves Rhomaioi, continued to be associated with the achievements of the Roman Empire. They were able to do so, in part, because of their balanced combined-arms army.

#2

The Byzantine army, which was the main defense of the empire, had decayed significantly by the sixth century. The palatini, comitatenses and limitanei were replaced by a new army organization consisting of three categories of troops: the numeri, foederati and bucellarii.

#3

The height of Byzantine power and territorial expansion occurred during the reign of Justinian. He ordered Byzantine armies to beat off Persian attacks on the eastern frontiers while also regaining parts of Italy and north Africa from the Vandals.

#4

The Battle of Carrhae was a huge victory for the Romans. It was the first time the Romans had ever faced an army as large as theirs, and they were able to defeat it.

#5

The Battle of Dara illustrated the dominance of the cavalry arm in Byzantine tactics. Byzantine infantry, though present, played only a supporting role. Belisarius won by neutralizing his opponents’ superiority in infantry by placing his own footmen behind a formidable entrenchment.

#6

In 532, the same year the Perpetual Peace was signed between the Byzantines and the Persians, Justinian sent Belisarius and a small expeditionary force to conquer the Germanic kingdom of the Vandals in Tunisia.

#7

The Battle of Tricameron, in which the Vandals faced the Byzantines, was a victory for the Byzantines. Gelimer retreated west 100 miles and recalled his brother Tzazon from Sardinia, where he was putting down the rebellion. In mid-December, Belisarius sent nearly all of his cavalry toward Tricameron, following the next day with his infantry and a 500-horse reserve.

#8

The battle of Tricameron was the culmination of a series of engagements between the Vandals and the Byzantines. It was not very costly in lives, as the Byzantines only lost around 50 men, while the Vandals lost 800.

#9

In 535, Belisarius was ordered to invade Italy and attack the Ostrogothic king, Vitiges. Over the next five years, he conquered the peninsula, capturing the Gothic capital at Ravenna and all of Italy south of the Po valley.

#10

Justinian replaced Belisarius with his most trusted court advisor, Narses. Narses led an army of over 20,000 men, but only the core were Byzantine, the rest being barbarian foederati made up of Lombard, Hunnic, Armenian, Persian, and Arab mercenaries.

#11