The Hundred Years War (Part I): A Wider Focus, ed. LJ Andrew Villalon & Donald J. Kagay, Brill, 2005, 520pp (+lv)
This is an interesting and readable collection of essays on the Hundred Years’ War as it affected Spain and Italy, and on some ‘general’ aspects of warfare. It is the first (of three) volume by these editors on the subject, and is #25 in the series History of Warfare from the publishers, Brill of Leiden.
As with any collection, readers will find a number of items of greater and lesser interest, depending on their own areas of study.
From the Editors’ Introduction:
“The editors decided that a volume giving greater prominence to the issue of ‘geographic spillover’ might carve itself a niche in the voluminous literature on the Hundred Years War. Later on, in speaking to scholars who studies areas on ’the periphery’ of the conflict, it became clear that many shared a belief that their regions’ involvement in the conflict had also received inadequate attention; as a result, a number of essays could be gathered which would place the Hundred Years war into this wider geographic focus.”
“…The collection not only looks at how the Hundred Years War affected geographical areas outside the main theatres, it also contains articles that either deal with understudied aspects of the war or revise old shibboleths.”
The Contents are
ix: List of Illustrations
xi: List of Maps
xiii: List of Contributors
xix: Acknowledgements
xxi Abbreviations
xxiii: Introduction
PART ONE – THE SPANISH CONECTION
P003: Spanish Involvement in the Hundred Years War and the Battle of Najera – LJ Andrew Villalon
P075: The Southern Valencian Frontier during the War of the Two Pedros – Maria Teresa Ferrer i Mallol
P117: A Government Besieged by Conflict: The Parliament of Monzon (1362-1363) as Military Financier – Donald J Kaguy
P151: War and Peace in Medieval Iberia: Castilian-Granadan Relations in the Mid-Fourteenth Century – Clara Estow
PART TWO – OTHER THEATRES OF WAR
P179: ‘The Fox and the Lion’: The White Company and the Hundred Years War in Italy – William P Carferro
P211: The Duchy of Brabant Caught Between France and England: Geopolitics and Diplomacy during the First Half of the Hundred Years War – Sergio Boffa
PART THREE – URBAN REACTIONS
P243: London’s War Effort during the Early Years of the Reign of Edward III – Peter M Konieczny
P263: Tholosanna Fides: Toulouse as a Military Actor in Late Medieval France – Paul Solon
P297: The Invocation of Princeps namque in 1368 and its Repercussions for the City of Barcelona – Manuel Sanchez Martinez
PART FOUR – WOMEN AT WAR
P333: A Medieval ‘Rosie the Riveter’? Women in France and Southern England during the Hundred Years War – James E Gilbert
P365: Just War: Joan of Arc, and the politics of Salvation – Jane Marie Pinzino
PART FIVE – STRATEGY, TECHNOLOGY, AND COMBAT TECHNIQUES
P399: Henry V’s Military Strategy in 1415 – Clifford J Rogers
P429: ‘The Walls Came Tumbling Down’: The Campaigns of Philip the Good and the Myth of Fortification Vulnerability to Early Gunpowder Weapons – Kelly De Vries
P447: Wielding the Weapons of War: Arms, Armor, and Training Manuals During the Later Middle Ages – John Clements
P477: Appendix One – Genealogies
P485: Appendix two – Battles, Campaigns, Treaties
P489: Bibliography
P509: Index
The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus (History of Warfare) (History of Warfare (Brill))
The Hundred Years War (Part III) (History of Warfare)
PART ONE – THE SPANISH CONECTION
P003: Spanish Involvement in the Hundred Years War and the Battle of Najera – LJ Andrew Villalon
“Villalon examines how, in the mid-1360s, the conflict spilled over across the Pyrenees where it merged with a decade-long struggle, the War of the two Pedros (1356-1366), currently being fought between Castile and Aragon.”
“Peninsular events of this period had enormous repercussions for all involved: they reignited the conflict north of the Pyrenees, brought a new dynasty, the Trastamaras, to the throne of Castile, forged a long-lasting Franco-Castilian alliance that played an important role in French military success throughout the 1370s, laid low England’s greatest soldier, the Black Prince, and completed the military education of his French counterpart, Beltran DuGuesclin.”
P075: The Southern Valencian Frontier during the War of the Two Pedros – Maria Teresa Ferrer i Mallol
“In this region, that saw much of the war’s heaviest fighting, military activity took the form of a long series of sieges and raids, devoid of any set-piece battles. Ferrer i Mallol’s article explores the social cost of this ten-year struggle on southern Valencia and highlights the ‘nationalistic’ antagonisms born of the bitter struggle that subsequently clouded relations between Castile and the Crown of Aragon throughout the later Middle Ages.”
P117: A Government Besieged by Conflict: The Parliament of Monzon (1362-1363) as Military Financier – Donald J Kaguy
This article “focuses on a crucial meeting (parlamentum) of representatives from all three realms comprising the Crown of Aragon-Catalonia, Valencia, and Aragon proper. The general assembly held in Monzon, like others during this crisis-filled decade, was called for one reason: to fund Peter III’s war effort aimed at throwing back the Castilian armies that were progressively overrunning extensive territories along the southern and eastern borders.”
“…Catalan representatives, who found their region underwriting a disproportionate share of a war being fought largely to protect the other two realms, moved to take over from the crown the entire process of military funding. They won the power to appoint tax commissioners, hire soldiers, and even decide where they would be stationed. Extremely detailed records left by this parlemantum [sic] indicate just how diffuse the Crown of Aragon actually was, with the different realms squabbling bitterly among themselves in the midst of national crisis.”
P151: War and Peace in Medieval Iberia: Castilian-Granadan Relations in the Mid-Fourteenth Century – Clara Estow
This article “tracks the influence of the Hundred Years War beyond the borders of Christendom, into the one remaining Islamic outpost in western Europe, the kingdom of Granada.”
“[Estow] argues Granada owned [sic] its continued existence to two factors: first, Castile’s war against Aragon, a conflict that diverted its military attentions eastward and led inexorably to a growing involvement in the struggle north of the Pyrenees; second, a masterful diplomatic and military policy exercised by the contemporary Granadan ruler, Muhammad V (1354-1391), who skilfully played his Christian neighbours off against one-another. It was Muhammad’s careful maneuvering of the late 1350s and 1360s that spared the Muslim kingdom at a critical moment and helped postpone its demise for over a century.”
PART TWO – OTHER THEATRES OF WAR
P179: ‘The Fox and the Lion’: The White Company and the Hundred Years War in Italy – William P Carferro
“Caferro shows how the presence of these refugees from the Hundred Years War encouraged the future growth of their native counterparts, the Italian condotierri – a phenomenon roundly criticized a century and a half later in the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli.”
P211: The Duchy of Brabant Caught Between France and England: Geopolitics and Diplomacy during the First Half of the Hundred Years War – Sergio Boffa
“Sergio Boffa explores the conflict’s impact upon this small state and its reigning dukes. In steering their duchy through the vagaries of war, these fourteenth century nobles shifted sides several times and although ducal self-interest played an important part in dictating these diplomatic moves, it was by no means the only factor at work. Such things as the economic wellbeing of Brabant’s inhabitants and even popular sentiments helped shape policy decisions.”
PART THREE – URBAN REACTIONS
P243: London’s War Effort during the Early Years of the Reign of Edward III – Peter M Konieczny
“In addition to examining how the city carried out its military responsibilities, Konieczny shows the reaction of ordinary London residents to the demands for their support resulting from the war effort.”
P263: Tholosanna Fides: Toulouse as a Military Actor in Late Medieval France – Paul Solon
“In 1355, the destructive English Chevauchee through Languedoc gave the inhabitants of Toulouse a rude awakening… Paul Solon traces the impact of this event and the war of which it was a small part upon one of the great walled towns of France… Throughout the rest of the Hundred Years War and for some time thereafter, the city assumed control of its military and diplomatic destiny, maneuvering between two powerful regional rivals, the counts of Armagnac and Foix, alternately negotiating or fighting with the mercenary bands that troubled the countryside, repairing walls and raising forces, both to defend itself and serve the crown.”
P297: The Invocation of Princeps namque in 1368 and its Repercussions for the City of Barcelona – Manuel Sanchez Martinez
“Manuel Sanchez Martinez provides a detailed treatment of how the major city of eastern Spain recruited its troops during this volatile period.”
PART FOUR – WOMEN AT WAR
P333: A Medieval ‘Rosie the Riveter’? Women in France and Southern England during the Hundred Years War – James E Gilbert
“The author demonstrates that while women took little to no part on the battlefield, they were regularly involved in the raids and sieges that characterized period warfare [sic], often defending hearth and home against both regular soldiers and routiers and, on a few occasions, assuming leadership roles. The offensive actions of Joan of Arc, the principal female figure of the conflict (arguably the most famous individual of either gender), were an exception to the general rule. What is more, according to Gilbert, many of her actions, when viewed from a larger perspective, might actually be categorized as defensive “
P365: Just War: Joan of Arc, and the politics of Salvation – Jane Marie Pinzino
“In her article… Jane Marie Pinzino treats just war theory as it relates to Joan.”
“It is in the context of French society’s freshly evolving sense of self-identity that the Maid of Orleans’ successes are best understood. Joan demonstrated heaven’s ability to grant even the lowliest members of a society threatened by unjust war extraordinary powers to promote the common good.”
PART FIVE – STRATEGY, TECHNOLOGY, AND COMBAT TECHNIQUES
P399: Henry V’s Military Strategy in 1415 – Clifford J Rogers
“Based on the king’s strategic situation, personal experiences, and knowledge of history, Rogers argues convincingly that, in fact, Henry recognized the need for an early battlefield victory if he hoped to win a strategic success in his French campaign. Consequently, the march to Calais was really designed to lure the French into combat – at a time and on a field of Henry’s choosing.”
P429: ‘The Walls Came Tumbling Down’: The Campaigns of Philip the Good and the Myth of Fortification Vulnerability to Early Gunpowder Weapons – Kelly De Vries
“De Vries shows that despite possessing one of the most advanced artillery trains in western Europe, the dukes [of Burgundy] had surprisingly little success in attacking cities whose walls were still medieval in nature and argues on the basis of this that cannon of the period were not as effective against ‘old fashioned’ fortifications as ‘military revolution’ historians would have us believe.”
P447: Wielding the Weapons of War: Arms, Armor, and Training Manuals During the Later Middle Ages – John Clements
“Based in large part upon little-known combat manuals of the later Middle Ages as well as its author’s personal experience, this article provides the reader with information on the weapons commonly in use as well as how men actually trained and fought with such weapons during the so-called age of chivalry.”
ISBN-13:
978-9004139695
ISBN-10:
9004139699
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