Customer Reviews

The Art of Warfare in Western Europe during the Middle Ages from the Eighth Century (Warfare in History)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a thorough study of the warfare of this age. It includes good information on the psychological state of the combatants and the development of different tactics throughout the time period. Much effort is spent dissecting the different uses of knights and foot troops with descriptions of battles as support. I read a lot of military history, but this book is a tough read. It is more like a reference work than anything else and the organzition within the chapters could be better. I recommend this only to the most ardent history buffs.

This book covers such a wide period of time and stretches across a great area of land and battlefields, that I was doubtful that a complete understanding of the period could emerge from this single work. I was very wrong. Although a bit hard to read at some points the writing is relevant, conclusive and leaves no "open-ended" ideas.
One thing missing though is a map of Europe with the place names of that time. besides this, a great work on medieval warfare. If you only plan to read a single book on the subject, this is the one !

Granted, the scope of this work doesn't allow for much detail, but Verbruggen's explaination of events that revolutionized warfare are thorough and well-reasoned. Also, Verbruggen debunks the myth that warfare in this period was near total anarchy with little rhyme or reason. Make time for this one!

Published in 1954, J.F. Verbruggen's The Art of Warfare in Western Europe during the Middle Ages: From the Eighth Century to 1340 offers the modern historian a tantalizing view of how Western scholarship functioned before the social revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s. Rather than focus on social critiques or groundless commentary, Verbruggen offers an exciting, engaging, and sound view on nearly every aspect of martial Medieval Europe.
Overflowing with useful information, the piece is also deftly written and I attribute this both to Verbruggen's literary skill and the zeal of his translators of the English edition, Colonel Sumner Willard and Mrs. R.W. Southern. He opens with a useful examination of the historiographical problems associated with Medieval research, laying out a transparent key to all of his work. Whatever the difficulties with primary resources, whatever the scarcity of evidence, Verbruggen is careful to inform the reader, allowing him to form more meaningful opinions. After this helpful introduction to medieval studies, Verbruggen dive into his work. In a piece covering such a large period organization often vexes the author. Verbruggen has aptly decided to eschew pure chronology and instead works in themes.
In the first section of the book, Verbruggen deals purely with the armaments, tactics, and backgrounds of the bipartite Medieval army: the knights and the foot soldiers. He discusses the weapons and armor favored by these men, how they trained and battle, and, when available, the opinions and values of the men who fought for king and God. Naturally, the piece favors the knights in depth and the sections about foot soldiers deal more the wealthy communal armies or mercenary corps but this is to be expected - their power and prestige ensured that a much larger corpus of evidence exists for these warriors. Verbruggen is however still able to offer serf armies and armed peasants their due, commenting on how feudal vassals were employed in the field and also covering local militias created as village defenses. His writings on both unit types are colored not only by equipment catalogs and chivalric lore but also psychological examinations and moral examinations all firmly grounded in the evidence. Following his comments grounding knights and foot soldiers, Verbruggen then examines their historical value through battle and treatise accounts. In this way he comments on both the realities and ideals surrounding the medieval army.
The last two chapters of the work deal with general tactics and strategy. Building upon the foundations laid in the previous two chapters, Verbruggen offers a much wider view of medieval warfare, no longer constrained by the type of warrior he is dealing with. Herein Verbruggen deals with how medieval commanders employed terrain, unit cooperation and command structure. He does this both by commenting on martial manuals of the time and through the accounts of battles which actually occurred. Verbruggen provides insightful and meaningful looks at medieval strategy, comparing what was written about the topic by contemporaries and how this was realized on the actual battlefield. The two major sections of the work provide the reader with an in-depth view of the men who fought on the plains of war and the men who led them into battle.
As noted in Matthew Bennett's introduction, a very great deal of literature now exists about medieval warfare. This is in stark contrast to Verbruggen's time when the few existing texts all criticized the tactics of that era. Verbruggen's work is of course not without its fault. Recently discovered manuscripts and the advances in medieval history made through archaeology have opened many new avenues of inquiry and the concerned reader would thus do well to seek out more modern texts to fully understand this topic. Verbruggen remains, however, an indispensible resource for examining medieval warfare. This is due as much to his resource, which cleaves strongly to the ancient chronicles, histories, and legends as to Verbruggen's writing style. Engaging yet insightful, easily digested yet full of information, Verbruggen has wed the heights of scholarship with ease of use. The Art of Warfare in Western Europe remains a paramount resource for any medieval historian, military scholar, or combat aficionado.

This second edition of Verbruggen, with the footnotes restored, is the best single book on medieval warfare.