Medieval Warfare Vol VI.1 - The Reign of the Leper King

Medieval Warfare Vol VI.1 - Reign of the Leper King

Topic: Max Cronkite, Historical Introduction - The Legacy of Amalric

King Amalric of Jerusalem (r. 1163–1174) was the father and predecessor of King Baldwin IV. During his reign, the Middle East
was fractured between multiple kingdoms, states, caliphates, principalities, and counties. The result of Amalric's attempts to
expand his kingdom and his entourage of supporters against the growing power of Nur ad-Din would negatively affect the rule of
Baldwin IV.

Topic: Murray Dahm, The History of William of Tyre - Deeds Done Beyond the Sea

Archbishop William of Tyre wrote the Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum (A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea)
to record the history of the First Crusade and the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem up to 1184. The work is also referred to
as the Historia Ierosolymitana. It is a vital source for the history of the kingdom, the only one written in Latin by a
contemporary resident and Christian witness.

Topic: Robert Holmes, The Latin Field Army, ca. 1099–1187 - The Most Cautious Men in the World

The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem based its defense around an intricate chain of fortifications and its field army. However, while these
fortifications have become some of the most iconic medieval castles in the world, the Latin field army has been forgotten.
Although it lacked the personnel and resources to become completely self-sufficient militarily, the Latin field army developed
a tactical system that, by contemporary Western European standards, was highly innovative.

The Reenactor: Clive Kelly, The Reenactor - Clive Kelly

In this short article, we interview Clive Kelly, a reenactor of the Crusades period and the Early Middle Ages.

Topic: Gregory J. Liebau, The Kingdom of Jerusalem and Its Neighbors - Hostility in the Holy Land

It would take nearly a century after Crusader forces took Jerusalem in 1099 for Saladin to retake the city.
Meanwhile, political intrigues, personal feuds, and internal strife among Muslims would allow the Crusaders to gain
a foothold in Syria as well. The Franks were embroiled in local disputes and wars, which
they participated in against or alongside their Muslim neighbors.

Topic: William E. Welsh, The Battle of Montgisard, 1177 - A Day of Terrible Slaughter

Saladin’s 26,000-strong army crossed the southern border of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in mid-November 1177 on a large-scale raid
intended to expose the weakness of King Baldwin IV’s monarchy. The Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria had received intelligence
indicating that a significant portion of Baldwin’s knights and sergeants had marched north with Count Philip I of Flanders to
help Prince Raymond of Antioch fight the Muslims in Syria, and this information served as the catalyst for the raid.

Topic: Kim Stubbs, The Life of the Leper King - Baldwin IV

The future King Baldwin IV grew up in his father's court and, according to his tutor, the historian William of Tyre, showed great
promise as a ruler from an early age. He was an excellent horseman, possessed a retentive memory, a sharp intellect, and was
willing to follow good advice. Tragically, at the age of nine, he was diagnosed with leprosy, a disease that in the
Middle Ages was interpreted as a sign of God’s displeasure.

Special: Brian Burfield, The Influence of the Viking God of War - Odin, Warrior God

A Viking warrior who died on the battlefield would have expected to be among those chosen by the descending Valkyries to join
Odin’s great army in Valhalla. Soon, countless ravens would begin to feast on the dead and the severed limbs on
the battlefield. There would be those, still alive, who would have believed they saw a figure wrapped in a cloak in
the distance carrying a spear and wandering the battlefield, a wanderer. This form was known by many names, including: All-Father,
Father of the Slain, God of the Captives, and most notably, Odin. Odin, god of poetry and hidden wisdom, was also the god of
war and warriors, areas in which he had much experience.

The Weapon: Sidney E. Dean, Mobile Fortress of the Hussite Wars - Ziska’s Wagenburg

A prominent, perhaps even decisive, element of the Hussite Wars (1419–1436) was the wagenburg or tabor. When finding themselves
faced with superior enemy forces, the Hussites quickly organized their wagons to form a closed camp from which they unleashed intense fire
upon any attacker. Although surrounding or squaring transport wagons to create a defensive position or camp was nothing new, the Hussites
made this a central element of their military organization and tactics. Special 'war wagons' were designed and built to execute this
tactic, and much of the infantry was reorganized to take advantage of this adaptive technology.

Special: Frank Jastrzembski, The Military Career of St. Francis of Assisi: Soldier Before Saint?

Patron of wildlife. Guardian of lepers. Champion of the impoverished. Bearer of the stigmata. Battle-hardened soldier?
All these traits have been used to describe one of Christianity’s most prolific figures, Saint Francis of Assisi.


Special: Sean McGlynn, The Grand Chevauchée, 1355 - The Black Prince Unleashed

Scaring your enemy is the fundamental and probably the oldest weapon of war. The historians who wrote this quote
(Peter Calvocoressi, Guy Wint, and John Pritchard) were writing about the mass bombing campaigns of World War II, the aerial bombing
raids of destruction that shared common characteristics with the medieval chevauchée: destruction of the enemy’s economic base;
attempts to undermine morale; exposing the enemy’s weakness. In the Middle Ages, arguably the most famous practitioner
of the chevauchée was Edward the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).

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