Warfare in the Middle Ages

Essay and Seminar Questions

• What does the evolution of military tactics reveal about wider social and political changes in medieval Europe?
• How did late medieval warfare challenge traditional chivalric values?
• How did religious beliefs shape attitudes towards warfare?

Documents

• Jean Froissart,Chronicles.The Battles of Crecy and Poitiers, and the Prince of Wales' revenge on Limoges.
• A better translation of the above source can be foundhere
• The Ransom of Bertrand du Guesclin
• Treaty of Troyes, 1420 and Conditions in France in 1422

Essential Reading

e-resources

• The Internet Medieval Sourcebook has sections onwarfareLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window,the Hundred Years' WarLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, andlate medieval governmentsLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window.
• Kenilworth CastleLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowOne of England's great castles is only 15 minutes bybusLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowfrom the University.
• De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military HistoryLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window. The website includes a series of resources (primary sources, articles, and essays) relating tothe Hundred Years' WarLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window.
• The Myths of Medieval Warfare, Sean McGlynn
• Tales from FroissartLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window
• TheOnline Froissart. New online edition with translation.
• The Chronicles of FroissartLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window
• 'AgincourtLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window'.In Our Time. BBC Radio programme, Thursday 16 September 2004.
• The Royal ArmouriesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window
• International Joan of Arc Society

Further Reading

Warfare and Chivalry

Bachrach, D.S., & Bachrach, B.S., 'Writing the History of Warfare in the Global Middle Ages' inWarfare in the Global Middle Ages(Routledge, 2025)

Barber, Richard,The Knight and Chivalry(2000)

Contamine, Philippe,War in the Middle Ages, trans. Michael Jones (Oxford, 1984)

Hale, J.R.,War and Society in Renaissance Europe(Stroud, 1998)

Keen, Maurice, (ed.),Medieval Warfare: A History(Oxford, 1999)

Keen, Maurice, Chivalry (Yale, 1984)

Mallett, Michael,Mercenaries and their Masters(London, 1974)

Nicholson, Helen,Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window(Houndmills, 2004)

Taylor, Craig,Chivalry and the Ideals of Knighthood in France During the Hundred Years War(Cambridge University Press, 2013)

The Hundred Years' War

Anonymous,A Parisian Journal, 1405-1449, trans. Janet Shirley (Oxford, 1968)

Allmand, Christopher,The Hundred Years' War(Cambridge, 1988)

Allmand, Christopher,Society at War: The Experience of England and France During the Hundred Years War(Edinburgh, 1973)

Curry, Anne,The Hundred Years War(Basingstoke, 2003) [also onlineLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window]

Curry, Anne and Michael Hughes (eds),Arms, Armies, and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War(Boydell, 1994)

Dodd, Gwylim,'Agincourt: Henry's Hollow Victory',History Today, 65:10 (2015)

Froissart, Jean,Chronicles, ed. and trans. John Jolliffe (Harmondsworth, 1978) [The most important contemporary history of the Hundred Years' War] [also online hereLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, orhere]

Ormrod, W.M.,The Reign of Edward III(New Haven, 1990)

Saul, Nigel (ed.),The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England(Oxford, 1997)