Customer Reviews

Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War

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Perhaps the author was contractually obligated to deliver another book to the publisher; otherwise I see no reason for it to have been written. It reads like a junior's term paper, skimming over the period with the grossest of generalizations and no citations of sources. Because the sources are, in fact, inadequate to provide the depth and detail that the average reader would expect to find in a title like this, Urban pads them with fictional sources and tries to pass it off with the repeated excuse that fictional representations are at least as responsible as reality for forming modern notions of mercenaries. While this may be true, I picked up the book (for $10 from the History Book Club) expecting to get the straight dope; instead, I get quotations from Shakespeare. In short, if you want to know about medieval mercenaries, you'll learn practically nothing from this book.

This book is one of the more disappointing purchases I've made, especially considering it was written by a professional historian. It is a very poor example of scholorship. I have read books written by journalists with no real historical training that were more professionally done. I have read introductory textbooks that were more in depth, better documented, and more interesting reads. There is not even the element of a good flow to the title that could up its value. Topics are disconnected and seemingly random with very little beyond surface definitions involved. You will find no detailed examination of anything at all, just a very shallow overview of the historical era. The author seems to spend most of his time trying to convince the reader of his own clever wit rather than anything else. Unfortunatly, he falls short there as well. After the first few instances of the authors "witty" comments you are wishing you were reading a Terry Pratchett novel or watching The Holy Grail. At least those were legitimately entertaining. Although judging by the amount of times the author stresses the validity of historcal novels and film as legitimate sources makes me wonder if he didn't use Monty Python as a source.

In all, I do not reccomend this book to anyone.

I wish that i had not paid money to read this book but had got it out of the library instead. This book is not up to the standard that would be acceptable in a third year university history degree. It is staggering how an author could take such a rich and fascinating topic and yet produce a book that is so lacking in energy, content and interest. The book waffles and wanders into innumerable irrelevant areas. There is an entire section upon Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain and Ellis Peters that is utterly irrelevant and, in discussing Chaucer, at any moment i expected him to reference the Heath Ledger film The Knights Tale. The treatment of the entire subject is superficial and trite with poor attempts at humor thrown in.

Judging by the space dedicated to it the author seems to think that the only place that mercenaries were used was in the Hundred Years War and the Baltic. However, even throughout the discussion of the hundred years war, more space is given over to irrelevant details, annecdotes and asides than the actual business of raising and fighting mercenary armies.

There is only a superficial and inadequate coverage of Hawkwood and the italian wars, the theatre in which mercenary generals and armies raised their practices to the highest point of professional venality. It is only finally on page 229 that we are given anything of substance about the Italian Wars (then only 30 pages of inadequate detail and asides), indeed, the word "Condottieri" only appears for the first time on page 219, with a mere three paragraphs devoted to the entire subject on page 231. In discussing the Battle of Fornovo in 1494 i am at a loss to explain the relevance of the following sentance from page 246: "Tourists ignore the statues of tough condottieri in Venice and Padua and never think of Sylvester Stallone in Rocky".

I would thoroughly recommend Frances Stonor Saunders book on Hawkwood over this twaddle any day. Basically i'm really annoyed that i bought this book, its an utter waste of time and money.

The book is an eclectic series of anecdotes, without much of analyses or insight, and not always accurate.

The Middle Ages were a long time back and, despite the many fanciful references to those times in books and film, we often do not know what that life was truly like. Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War was written by a historian, who is also a university teacher, to help people to imagine that remote time.
He does this by recounting a large number of factual events and situations, in story form - almost like sports reporting but for battles and strategic developments - identifying and relating people and institutions in a way that is readily grasped. The presentation is orderly, going from early to "classic" mercenaries, chivalry, the Hundred Years War, the Baltic Crusades and more - but you can open the book wherever you like and find such readable accounts.
There is more to this book than the title indicates, though. It does provide data on the early mercenaries - who they were, where they came from, how necessary they were, how they were used - and also what it was like to have troops of restless mercenaries lying about in your castle or town after the job they were hired for was done! But the title might well have been lengthened to include "...and their Representation in our Literature." As one would expect, the references to the historical writing are ample (there are three pages of these, in small type, at the end of the book, so as not to interrupt the story), but a good part of this volume shows the way certain classics of European and American literature - Chaucer, Shakespeare, Arthur Conan Doyle, Twain - made dramatic use of these useful and disquieting outsiders.
Throughout the book, Urban suggests thought-provoking analogies to our own times, and the concluding chapter is a stimulating overview of the issues raised by this history and this way of telling history.

William Urban's trek into the world of medieval mercenaries, Medieval Mercenaries: the Business of War, is extremely interesting. Urban mixes historical fact from reputable sources with popular literature to create a better understanding of the mercenary in the tenth through sixteenth centuries. Mercenaries participated in every major and most minor conflicts of the medieval period. A mercenary is a professional soldier who enters into a conflict not for nationalism, but for profit. Urban discusses the intricacies, hazards, and profits of the mercenary soldier.
Urban kicks off his investigation with the Vikings, referred to as the Varangian Guards by the Byzantines, defending the imperial interests at Constantinople. Through their activities, the Varangian Guard helped Harold Hardrada, previously the King of Norway and at the time the commander of the Varangian Guard, gain a reputation as a powerful general. Hardrada had come to Byzantium to seek protection from rebels who had killed his half-brother. The Byzantine emperor employed him in the Varangian Guard, eventually promoting him to commander. This time spent in the employ of the Byzantine emperor and the reputation earned there helped Hardrada regain his throne in Norway.
The activities of the Vikings and the Varangian Guard in Byzantium are followed by the stories of William the Conqueror, Friedrich II, Edward II and III, Charles the Bold, a host of popes and too many would-be kings to name. These stories fill the pages with their quests for power, glory, and greed. At their service are thousands of mercenaries looking to get rich or die trying.
Urban gives extra focus to several medieval heroes and villains, most notably John Hawkwood. Hawkwood's humble beginnings and adventuresome spirit lead him to become one of the most notable mercenaries of the time. Hawkwood and his troop venture through Italy, working for popes and quarrelling noble families, fighting Greeks, Arabs, Italians, and other mercenary groups. Urban does a good job of illustrating how Hawkwood paid, hired, and deployed his mercenary forces, as well as how he dealt with difficult employers.
The business of war is a difficult one. Money runs out. Mercenaries switch sides mid-fight. Peace means unemployment. During the Hundred Years' War, mercenaries came to dominate the battlefield and were employed to supplement the feudal forces. However, during times of peace, they could turn on their employers and start a new conflict. Therefore, it was in the interest of all professionals to keep the wars as long and bloodless as could be managed.
The free companies of mercenaries operated all over Europe and were for hire to anyone who could afford them. The White Company, the Black Company, the Teutonic Knights, and other military organizations operated as standing armies without a nation. These groups did not have to look far to find a fight. Rivalry between kings and religious sects kept the free companies busy almost year round. Great profits were made and lost as mercenaries tried to survive to retirement. Very few died of old age however.
Urban uses several historic documents, as well as modern studies to compile the information of his book. Jean Froissart's writings are expertly placed throughout the book to back up the author's conclusions. Froissart, who lived through the first half of the Hundred Years' War, chronicled many of the events that took place during that horrible time. Urban includes poems by various authors as well as a section of artwork, pictures of castles, and maps of medieval Europe.
William Urban dissects the world of chivalry by using writings from Froissart, Shakespeare, Chaucher, and Mark Twain. Some of the writings examined by Urban are Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucher, The Prince and the Pauper, Saint Joan, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain. Urban devotes additional space to examining nineteenth-century adventure novels, like Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott and The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle's novel is given particular attention in a comparison of its accounts with historical accounts of the real White Company's activities.
William Urban is a dedicated author who brings to life medieval mercenaries in a way I had not known before. My knowledge of mercenaries has been strictly from newspaper articles and internet news on "private military companies." The mercenary is a tradesman who fills the very real need for well trained and professional freelance warriors who can go any where, at anytime, and fight. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in military and medieval history.