Indulge in Medieval Warfare Vol V.1 - Betrayal and Treachery

Medieval Warfare Vol. 1

Topic: Betrayal and treachery - betrayal in the middle ages

The new year has begun, which means that a new issue of Medieval Warfare is Over has appeared. Volume V begins with a theme that may be familiar to some of you who also read our sister magazine, Ancient Warfare: Traitors and Treachery. A while ago, my colleague came up with this idea and we soon agreed to do an ancient version first and then a medieval one shortly after. The nature of the theme allowed us to cover different topics throughout medieval history, in Europe and the Near East, and I must say that I am very happy with the selection of articles we have chosen.

After a light introduction, kenneth cline begins the issue's theme by taking a closer look at perhaps the most illustrious family in byzantine history: the doukai. By showing how several members of the doukai family made clever use of byzantine court politics, which included betraying their adversaries several times, cline provides us with an illuminating picture of how byzantine politics was perfectly suited for ambitious and treacherous aristocrats. In the end, the actions of a few doukai may well have altered the course of byzantine history forever, setting them on the path to ruin. The following article, written by martin dougherty, focuses more on an overview of medieval siege tactics; more specifically, it addresses several of the less conventional methods used to take a fortified town or fortress. Through several anecdotes, dougherty teaches us that victories were not always a matter of attack or starve; Castles could easily be lost through mutual agreement, forged orders, and of course betrayal from within. This is followed by Nils Visser’s account of politics in the Low Countries in the early 15th century. While medieval politics may have been male-dominated, that does not mean that women played no role (as we have already seen in Medieval Warfare IV-2). In fact, due to the nature of medieval politics, women might have been even more susceptible to political betrayal than men. Visser describes how this was the case with Jacqueline de Hainault, who was stabbed in the back by both her family and her husbands.

While the focus of this issue is clearly on events closer to Europe, Filippo Donvito takes us much further, to the borders of the Chinese Tang Empire. While actual Asian warfare is not something we plan to cover in detail in Medieval Warfare, the clash between the Near and Far East remains important to our focus on Europe and the Middle East. After all, the outcome of such conflicts may well have had an impact on the battlefield closest to our subject. This seems to have been the case with the conflict between Tang China and the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate. In the end, it was the Tang Empire that would be defeated; not directly through conventional tactics, but through massive betrayal by Chinese Turkish auxiliaries. Donvito explains the historical background, ending with the course of the clash between East and Far East: the Battle of the Talas River. With the Far East covered, regular contributor Sidney Dean takes us back to English politics, looking at the Despenser War and the way in which King Edward II betrayed – and was in turn betrayed by – his nobles and allies, including even his wife, Isabella of France. The events surrounding the Despenser War paved the way for the rise of Edward III, who eventually had to turn on his own mother and take control of the country by force. Last but not least on the topic comes Joseph Hall, with his piece on perhaps the most famous of medieval traitors: the Stanley family. Hall explains how the Stanleys, though they started out as a minor family, managed to rise to the top through matrimonial politics and, most importantly, a clever use of political maneuvering and backing the right claimant. Thus, they managed to survive English politics during the chaotic events surrounding the Wars of the Roses. In fact, they were to prove pivotal in deciding who would ultimately win the throne.

As for non-topic articles, we again offer a varied selection. We begin with a rather unconventional article, in which Morgan Kuberry discusses some of the problems one encounters when moving a large collection of medieval objects from one museum to another. He does so based on his experiences in moving the collection from the Higgins Armory Museum (the second largest collection of arms and armor in the US) to its new home at the Worcester Art Museum. The following non-topic article is written by specialist Olivier Bangerter. While Swiss units and some of their weapons have been discussed before in Medieval Warfare, we felt it was time to shed more light on perhaps the most important weapon in their arsenal: the pike. In his article, Bangerter covers the most important aspects, including not only shape, size, and tactics, but also those countermeasures that would ultimately break the pike's dominance on the medieval battlefield. murray dahm closes this issue with his debate-style article on the possible reference to shieldwall tactics in the anglo-saxon poem waldere. finally, gareth williams explains the scene on the cover, talking about an event that is actually the origin of our own friday the 13th.
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