Organization and armament of the Crusader troops. Weapons of real crusaders

The battles that marked the period of the Crusades were extremely bloody and more than cruel. The problem of cruelty was aggravated by the virtual absence of medicine, as well as the lack of sanitation methods, as well as undeveloped tactics. When it comes to the Middle Ages, we mean knights and crusades...

The weapons used in the battles of the Crusades were almost as hellish as any military tool then available.

Think about it - it's no surprise that the expression " go back to the Middle Ages“Some people are still struck with fear.

The warriors of the Crusades, for 200 years - from the end of 1000 to the middle of 1200 - were a mixed composition of peasants, mercenary soldiers and knights, and their combinations of weapons reflected the ways in which each could master his own weapon.

Peasants often had simple weapons - mostly tools used in agriculture(usually axes and clubs, as well as some derivatives based on them), - since they could not afford such luxury as a sword. Knights had more expensive swords as well as armor, while other knights used bows and arrows and spears.

So what were the most deadly species weapons found during the Crusades during the Middle Ages?

1. Mace or club

A mace is a type of club with a spherical structure at the top. When it comes to length, it ranges between two or three feet (60 to 91 cm). The handle was made of wood, while the spherical pommel was usually made of iron.

The pommel could be smooth and round, or have flanges. Although the mace was an infantry weapon, it was used by some cavalry. However, the cavalryman's mace had a slightly longer handle so that the rider could reach his enemy.

The purpose of using a mace was to crush the enemy's bone with a strong blow from a heavy mace. One blow from a mace could easily crush the base of a person's skull. Many maces also had flanges to inflict additional damage when striking the shoulders or body.

While the head of a mace crushed bone, a flanged mace could be used to penetrate flimsy armor, crushing the bones underneath and causing severe internal bleeding in the victim.

2. Dart (or pike)

Darts and pikes may have been simple in design, but they have proven to be effective melee weapons for thousands of years.

The length of the dart ranged from six feet (1800 mm) while the length of the pike was slightly longer - up to 9 feet (up to 2430 mm). The purpose of using a javelin in battle was to keep the enemy at a distance by piercing him with it, or if a given infantryman had additional javelins or a free hand with a shield, he could throw it at the enemy.

Throwing javelins were used not only against infantry, but also against cavalry units - and very effectively.

The purpose of using a pike for cavalry and infantry is to pierce, not tickle. A good pike in the hands of a trained person could pierce flesh and destroy bone, killing with one blow.

3. Bow arrows

An arrow fired from a bow provided the enemy with a nasty blow. Arrows used against cavalry were tipped to penetrate armor, while arrows used against poorly protected infantry were barbed to make removal from the body the most difficult.

The men who fought at the Battle of Dorylaeum in 1097 during the First Crusade learned this as they fought the Seljuk Turks, who fired volley after volley of arrows in their confrontation.

Although the Crusaders won the battle, the victory came at a high price, and they learned a valuable lesson about enemy tactics.

The purpose of using archery arrows is to hit the enemy from afar. However, many crusaders would soon learn to place chainmail as additional protection under their main armor. In this case, the arrows, as most historians say, did not pass through the chain mail and did not harm the warrior.

Although killing is the main goal, many forget that maiming in those days was quite sufficient to defeat the enemy. However, if an archer could not kill or maim his enemy, he could be a significant nuisance, and could also simply mock his opponent by shooting at him with his arrows.

4. Trebuchet - " scales with yoke»

Trebuchet (or " oar with yoke") is a siege engine first developed and used in Ancient Rome and preserved in Western armies, which took their continuity from Ancient Rome.

The Trebuchet was used in all of the early European wars, as well as during the First Crusade. Some historians claim that the Trebuchet was developed in China, and from there, was adopted by Islamic armies, however, at present, the reliability of this theory is under significant doubt.

The Trebuchet was a type of catapult that required many men to operate it due to its enormous size and weight.

The amount of energy required to send the projectiles to the appropriate range required each vehicle to have a team of more than 100 people to pull a dozen ropes that generated enough force to send a 130 lb (59 kg) projectile to a range of up to 500 feet ( up to 152 meters).

The purpose of using Trebuchet was to weaken and destroy fortress walls. This machine could not only fire stone projectiles, but also incendiary ones. While stone was intended to crush and destroy walls, incendiary projectiles were thrown over castle walls or city walls to set buildings on fire.

Of course, if you wanted to inflict special suffering on the defenders, you could start a plague; this was simply done by loading the bodies of plague victims and sending them over the walls, as the Mongols did at Caffa in 1347.

5. Battle ax

The medieval battle ax was used to great effect during the Crusades. What made the battle ax a favorite among fans of some Crusader-era fighters was that, while close in size to a sword, the battle ax was cheap to use and required limited skill - much like using a mace.

The battle ax was either light, when it could be used with one hand, or two-handed. The battle ax blade measured approximately 10 inches (24.5 cm) from the top and bottom points. Besides, battle axes, in the Middle Ages - evolved to battle axes. Where there were two axes on one handle.

This made the battle ax so destructive that not only could it crush the bones of an armored man, but it could also be used with one hand. In addition to cutting off enemy limbs, it was also used by doctors to amputate patients (though with no guarantee of success).

6. Sword

Of all the variety of weapons used to cause significant damage to the human body during the Middle Ages, the sword was considered the most prestigious. At that time knight's sword Many men could not afford it; first of all, it was used by the noble and rich.

For example, the most famous sword is considered to be Excalibur - the sword of King Arthur. Viking swords, such as Ulfberht, are also famous. Of course, over time, many more men appeared, especially those equipped with swords; however, over time, the sword was also considered a royal weapon.

However, the problem with swords in that period was the number various designs. The average crusader sword (or European sword) for a long period was 30 inches (76 cm) in length and was approximately 2 inches (5 cm) wide at the hilt.

What made the sword so popular was that it was a symbol of power. While its design offers power and great significance, the judgment it could inflict on an enemy was the most devastating.

The sword was designed to do three different things, smash, penetrate and slice. Of course, it depended on the blade of the sword. In any case, the sword's three functions gave it a greater advantage over other weapons of the time.

If he could not crush his enemy with one blow (by knocking him down or breaking his arm or leg), he could try to cripple the enemy where there was no armor. If this failed, they knocked him down and also beat him in the vulnerabilities body, such as: armpits, groin and knee joint.

Although the sword probably killed the least during the Crusades, it had the greatest impact as it was a symbol of conquest.

7. Knight's spear

I take my hat off to whoever can withstand the blow of a knight's spear. Yes, all of the weapons listed can kill if used correctly, but of all the weapons mentioned, they either crush, chop, cut, or pierce. In many cases, the victim survives or dies soon after, within a few days.

The name of the word " spear" comes from the word lancea - " dart» Roman auxiliary or throwing striking weapons. Although according to Oxford Dictionary English language(OED), the word " spear"may be of Iberian origin. Also the entomology of the word λόγχη (lónkhē or " spear"), has Greek roots for the terms " dart" or " spear».

A spear in its original sense was a light throwing weapon, or dart. English verb to activate: " throw, throw, throw" comes from the term (old French) and also from the rarer or poetic lance ‒ " spear».

The 17th century term means that this weapon definitely to the spear, not as a thrown weapon, but as used as a thrust by heavy cavalry, and especially in jousting. The thrusting spear used by infantry is usually called " pike».

During the classical and medieval periods of warfare, the javelin became the leading weapon in cavalry units, and was unsuitable for throwing or repeated thrusts, unlike the similar pike javelin weapon commonly used by infantry.

Spears were often equipped with a plate, a small round plate, to prevent the hand from sliding up the base of the spear during a strike. Although the spear was known as a military and sporting weapon used by European knights, it also spread widely in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, where there were suitable mounts.

As a secondary weapon, lancers of the medieval period also carried swords or maces for hand-to-hand combat, since spears were often disposable weapons. Assuming that the spear remained intact after the initial impact, it (unlike the pike) was too long, 9 to 14 feet (2,740 mm to 4,267 mm), heavy and unwieldy to be effective against the enemy in close combat.

In the 15th century, plate armor and complex types of pole weapons spread in Scandinavia. Scandinavia during this period ceased to actively participate in the Crusades. The center of gravity of the fighting in the Baltic is transferred to the possessions of the Teutonic Order.

Throughout the 15th century, armor became more specialized. New technologies have made it possible to produce armor cheaper and in large quantities. Iron plate is replacing chain mail everywhere. Plate armor was not only more durable, but also more comfortable. The fact is that there was no need to put a thick quilted gambeson under the plate armor, as had to be done when wearing chain mail. Armor becomes modular and composite. Even the torso was now covered not by two, but by four parts. All this increased the flexibility of the armor and the mobility of the warrior wearing it. Chain mail begins to fall out of use, giving way to plate armor. Often, only small inserts remain of the chain mail, covering weak points of the joints in the armpits, elbows and groin. Such armor as a brigandine was obtained if small plates were attached to a fabric base. Usually the brigandine did not have sleeves.

For mounted warriors, plate armor also covered the legs. Sometimes chain mail was worn under the plate armor. Upper part the hulls were protected by a thin reinforced jacket, to which a bib was attached on top, covering the torso, shoulders and arms. Although in general the design of the armor was uniform, there were numerous local features and popular in a particular region technical solutions. Jupont - padded armor, a derivative of the gambeson, but cut close to the figure and often worn over armor. In cold weather, the jupon was worn as warm clothing.

The bowler helmet retained its general shape, but absorbed some features of the sallet. The result was a deeper version of the helmet with wide brims and slits for the eyes.

The chapelle de fer was worn by infantrymen, but sometimes also by heavily armed horsemen, since such a helmet provided sufficient protection for the head without limiting the field of view.

The 15th century continued the lines of development outlined in the 14th century: polearms, powerful crossbows and firearms. In the latter case, development led to the appearance of powerful cannons and arquebuses. Changes in weapons, primarily the appearance of halberds, had a strong impact on battle tactics.

The halberd now had a shaft 130-200 mm long with a metal tip that combined chopping and piercing parts, and very often a hook was added to them. The halberd was easy to use and effective even against an enemy in heavy armor. The halberd became most effective if the warriors armed with it acted in close formation. In addition to halberds, other types of polearms appeared: including spears with an additional horizontal crossbar. Similar spears are depicted in Dolnstein's famous drawings. The development of this line of polearms culminated in the appearance of the protazan and the pike.

At the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV centuries. reeds developed. In some areas they came to be seen as chivalrous, noble weapons. Berdysh became especially widespread in continental Europe, while in Sweden and Norway they were not so popular. Berdysh were widely used in Germany, and then came to the knights of the Teutonic Order, from where they penetrated to the Baltic.

Throughout the 15th century, the sword continued to lengthen, acquiring an ideal design and becoming an aristocratic weapon. Several large swords have been discovered in noble tombs of the Swedish bishopric of Lund. In battle, the great sword was the weapon of the mounted knight. The mass of the sword grew so much that it had to be held with both hands. Only the strongest armor could withstand the blow of a large sword. An example of such armor is the armor on the statue of St. George in Storkyurkan, Stockholm, erected in honor of the victory of the Swedish army in the Battle of Brunkeberg.

During the 15th century, the ballock dagger became widespread and became an almost obligatory attribute of any man. The rondo dagger turned into dangerous weapon close combat with a narrow but durable blade. The importance of the dagger is emphasized in fencing books of the period. It says that now few people use a combination of sword and buckler, large shields have completely fallen out of use, but many now practice fencing while holding a sword and dagger.

As for the crossbow, crossbows received a more durable stock and powerful shoulders. It became almost impossible to cock a crossbow with muscular force, so mechanical devices were used for cocking: rack and pinion, crank, etc.

Photo: Michael Bobot/artchive. ru

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II proclaims the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. The Crusades were bloody and required effective weapon. Today we’ll talk about the most popular military weapons of the Crusaders.

SWORD
The noblest and most common weapon of knights was, as is known, the sword. In battle, a knight's life often depended on the strength and flexibility of the sword. At the same time, the length of the blade or the mass of the sword were not the main characteristics determining the force of the blow. The main parameter is the location of the center of gravity and balancing.
The average length of the blade was about a meter, and a wide groove ran along almost the entire length, disappearing about 2.5 cm from the rather sharp tip of the blade. Many blades bear large iron capital letters, often of a religious nature; for example, HOMO DIE, or NOMINE DOMINI, or distorted versions of these words.
Around the year 1000, a new type of sword appeared - long, thinner, with a narrow and shallow groove that disappeared about 20 cm from the tip of the blade. The average length of such swords is approximately 13 cm longer than swords of the previous type.
The sword was placed on the altar during the vigil before knighting, the blade was placed on the knight's shoulder during the knighting ceremony, and the sword hung from the tomb when the knight died. In The Song of Roland, the dying hero desperately tries to break Durendal's blade on a stone to prevent anyone unworthy from using the sword after its owner's death. If any knight cast a shadow on the order of chivalry, his sword was broken in front of him by a servant.

Photo: Global Look Press

BATTLE AX

It was always difficult to hit a warrior protected by armor with a sword, so for close combat the knight used a Norman battle ax and a war hammer, which could pierce armor and knock the weapon out of the enemy’s hands. In addition, with a powerful blow of a battle ax it was possible to literally cut the enemy in half, right up to the saddle.
After the First Crusade, the knightly militias acquired battle axes, which differed in blade configuration from the Norman ones. It is assumed that new form the blade was borrowed from the eastern peoples.

WAR HAMMER

Crusaders often used hammers as weapons various shapes. Having turned into foot soldiers, knights armed themselves with hammers instead of spears. The length of the hammer's handle was approximately 90 cm. The hammer, like an ax, could pierce the enemy's armor.

The bow is the most ancient weapon designed for distance combat. Immediately after the Tatar-Mongol invasion, detachments of archers armed with bows began to be created in Europe. In drawings in ancient books you can see knights with short bows. To successfully resist the Muslims in the Crusades, the knights had to build a line of archer warriors in front of their vanguard.

Photo: swordmaster. org

CROSSBOW

The mechanical principle of throwing weapons was known in the ancient world and was used by the Romans in special throwing machines used in the siege of fortresses. In the 11th century, hand-held throwing devices - crossbows - appeared, and in 1139 these weapons in the Christian army were banned by the Pope for use in Europe. Crossbows could only be used in battles with Muslims.
Although the use of crossbows was anathematized by Pope Innocent II at the Second Lateran Council in 1139, and by many later decrees, these easel bows became one of the most important weapons of the Middle Ages, especially in the hands of well-trained mercenaries.
The English king Richard I created entire units of foot and horse crossbowmen who successfully fought in the ranks of the crusaders. It is widely believed that Richard I received the retribution of fate, dying from a wound inflicted by an arrow from a crossbow, since Richard himself actively used this weapon in his troops.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

SPEAR

The main weapon of mounted warriors remained the spear. In the 11th century it was usually held at arm's length and quite often raised above the shoulder, as can be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry. When there was great need for this, the spear could be thrown, as at Hastings, when it was necessary to make gaps in the wall from the Anglo-Saxon shields so that the cavalry could burst into these gaps. Gradually became popular new method– hold the spear under the arm, that is, pressed to the right side with a grip right hand just in front of the shoulder. This gave the grip much greater rigidity; now it was not the force of the right hand that was put into the blow of the spear, but the inertia of movement of the rider and horse. From poetic descriptions it is clear that before battle the spear was held more or less vertically, with the back of the spear resting on the front of the saddle. The spear was taken at the ready only immediately before the strike. In order to make it easier to maintain balance when holding a spear, and also, perhaps, to direct the shield towards the enemy, the opponents, where possible, approached each other with their left side; while the spear passed over the horse's neck. The cavalry spear now invariably had a simple and very sharp leaf-shaped tip. The old spear, with wings, was now used only by infantry and hunters.

Horse warriors in the background Photo: Wikimedia Commons

POLEX

The Polex was one of the most popular weapons for foot combat. From period illustrations, written descriptions and the small number of surviving examples, we can see that the polax appears in different forms: sometimes with heavy halberd-like ax blades, and sometimes with hammer-like heads, often with a curved spike behind.
All poleaxes appear to have been equipped with a spike at the top of the weapon, and many also had a spike at the lower end of the shaft. In addition, the shaft was often equipped with metal strips called splints, which ran from the head of the weapon down the sides of the shaft and were designed to protect it from being cut. Some samples also had rondels to protect the hands. A significant difference was that the “heads” of the poleaxes were assembled on pins or bolts, while the halberds were solidly forged.

Gottfried of Bouillon with a poleax Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A. Marey

This work briefly highlights the main points of the development of the army in the Middle Ages in Western Europe: changes in the principles of its recruitment, organizational structure, basic principles of tactics and strategy, and social status.

1. Dark Ages (V-IX centuries)

The collapse of the army of the Western Roman Empire is traditionally associated with two battles: the Battle of Adrianople in 378, and the Battle of Frigidus in 394. Of course, it cannot be said that after these two defeats the Roman army ceased to exist, but it should be recognized that in the 5th century the process of barbarization of the Roman army acquired unprecedented proportions. The fading Roman Empire endured one more, last battle for itself, in which, however, the ranks of the Roman army were already dominated by detachments of barbarians. We are talking about the battle on the Catalaunian fields, in which the united army of Romans and barbarians under the command of the “last Roman” Aetius stopped the advance of the Huns led by their previously invincible leader, Attila.

A detailed description of this battle has come to us in the account of Jordan. Of greatest interest to us is Jordanes’ description of the battle formations of the Roman army: Aetius’s army had a center and two wings, and Aetius placed the most experienced and proven troops on the flanks, leaving the weakest allies in the center. Jordanes motivates this decision of Aetius with the concern that these allies would not abandon him during the battle.

Soon after this battle, the Western Roman Empire, unable to withstand military, social and economic cataclysms, collapsed. From this moment, the period of the history of barbarian kingdoms begins in Western Europe, and in the East the history of the Eastern Roman Empire continues, which received the name Byzantium from modern historians.

Western Europe: From the Barbarian Kingdoms to the Carolingian Empire.

In the V-VI centuries. on the territory Western Europe A number of barbarian kingdoms are emerging: in Italy - the kingdom of the Ostrogoths, ruled by Theodoric, on the Iberian Peninsula - the kingdom of the Visigoths, and in the territory of Roman Gaul - the kingdom of the Franks.

In the military sphere at this time, complete chaos reigned, since three forces were simultaneously present in the same space: on the one hand, the forces of the barbarian kings, which were still poorly organized armed formations, consisting of almost all free men tribe; on the other hand, the remnants of Roman legions led by Roman provincial governors (a classic example of this kind is the Roman contingent in Northern Gaul, led by the governor of this province Syagrius and defeated in 487 by the Franks under the leadership of Clovis); finally, on the third side, there were private detachments of secular and church magnates, consisting of armed slaves (antrustions), or warriors who received land and gold from the magnate for their service (buccellarii).

Under these conditions, armies of a new type began to form, which included the three components mentioned above. A classic example of the European army of the 6th-7th centuries. can be considered the army of the Franks. Initially, the army was composed of all free men of the tribe capable of handling weapons. For their service, they received land allotments from the newly conquered lands from the king. Every year in the spring, the army gathered in the capital of the kingdom for a general military review - “March fields”. At this meeting, the leader, and then the king, announced new decrees, announced campaigns and their dates, and checked the quality of the weapons of his warriors. The Franks fought on foot, using horses only to get to the battlefield. The battle formations of the Frankish infantry “... copied the shape of the ancient phalanx, gradually increasing the depth of its formation...”. Their armament consisted of short spears, battle axes (Francis), long double-edged swords (Spata) and skramasaks (short sword with a long handle and a single-edged leaf-shaped blade 6.5 cm wide and 45-80 cm long). Weapons (especially swords) were usually richly decorated, and appearance weapons often testified to the nobility of its owner.

However, in the 8th century. Significant changes were taking place in the structure of the Frankish army, which entailed changes in other armies of Europe. In 718, the Arabs, who had previously captured the Iberian Peninsula and conquered the kingdom of the Visigoths, crossed the Pyrenees and invaded Gaul. The actual ruler of the Frankish kingdom at that time, Majordomo Charles Martell, was forced to find ways to stop them. He was faced with two problems at once: firstly, the land reserves of the royal fiscal were depleted, and there was nowhere else to get land from to reward soldiers, and secondly, as several battles showed, the Frankish infantry was unable to effectively resist the Arab cavalry. To solve them, he carried out the secularization of church lands, thus receiving a sufficient land fund to reward his soldiers, and announced that from now on, not the militia of all free Franks was going to war, but only people who were able to purchase a full set of cavalry weapons: a war horse , spear, shield, sword and armor, which included leggings, armor and a helmet. Such a set, according to Ripuarskaya Pravda, was very, very expensive: its total cost was equal to the cost of 45 cows. Very, very few could afford to spend such a sum on weapons, and people who could not afford such expenses were obliged to equip one warrior from five households. In addition, poor people armed with bows, axes and spears were called up for service. Charles Martell distributed plots to horsemen for their service, but not as full ownership, as was the case before, but only for the duration of their service, which created an incentive for the nobility to continue to serve. This reform of Charles Martell was called beneficial(benefits - i.e. good deed - this was the name of a piece of land given for service). At the Battle of Poitiers (October 25, 732), a new army of Franks under the leadership of Charles Martel stopped the Arabs.

Many historians consider this battle turning point in the military history of the Middle Ages, arguing that from that moment the infantry lost its decisive importance, transferring it to the heavy cavalry. However, this is not entirely true, both militarily and socially. Although it was from this moment that the formation of a layer of horsemen began not only as an elite combat unit, but also as a social elite - the future of medieval knighthood - it is still necessary to take into account that this was a long process, and for quite a long time the cavalry performed only a supporting role with the infantry taking the main blow of the enemy and wearing him down. The change in the situation in favor of cavalry, both in Western Europe and in Byzantium, was facilitated by the fact that in the 7th century. Europeans borrowed a previously unknown stirrup from the nomadic Avars, which the Avars, in turn, brought from China.

The Carolingian army took its complete form under Charlemagne. The army was still convened for the spring review, although it was postponed from March to May, when there was a lot of grass that served as food for the horses. The entire size of the army, according to historians, did not exceed ten thousand soldiers, and more than 5-6 thousand soldiers never went on campaigns, since such an army “...stretched along with the convoy over a day’s march of 3 miles.” In the border strip and in major cities Scars were stationed - permanent detachments created from professional warriors; similar scars accompanied the emperor and counts. The grandson of Charlemagne, Emperor Charles the Bald, issued an edict in 847 obliging every free person to choose a lord and not change him. This consolidated the already established vassal-seigneurial system of relations in society, and in the sphere of recruiting and managing the army, it led to the fact that now each lord brought his own detachment to the battlefield, recruited from his vassals, trained and equipped by him. The combined army was formally commanded by the king, but in fact, each lord himself could give orders to his people, which often led to complete confusion on the battlefield. This system reached its apogee later, in the era of developed feudalism.

2. Armies of the High Middle Ages (X-XIII centuries)

A) Western Europe in the X-XI centuries.

After the section Frankish Empire under the terms of the Treaty of Verdun in 843, signed between the grandchildren of Charlemagne, the political development of French lands was determined by two main factors: the constantly growing external threat from Norman pirates and the decline in the importance of royal power, unable to organize the defense of the country, which directly entailed an increase in the influence of local authorities - counts and dukes and their separation from the central government. The transformation of counts and dukes into sovereign hereditary rulers resulted in the progressive feudal fragmentation of French lands, an increase in the number of granted land holdings, proportional to the decrease in the area of each specific allotment, and the transformation of benefices granted for service into hereditary land ownership. In conditions of extreme weakening of royal power, the old custom of electing the king at the council of the nobility is being resurrected. The counts from the Robertin family of Paris, famous for their fight against the Normans, become kings.

These political changes are closely related to changes in military affairs of that era. The decrease in the importance of the common people's infantry and the emergence of heavily armed knightly cavalry to the fore led to a sharp social stratification Frankish society; It was during this period that the idea of dividing society into three classes was finally formed and gained particular popularity: “praying” (oratores), “warring” (bellatores) and “working” (laboratores). In turn, progressive feudal fragmentation could not but affect the reduction in the size of the army, which now rarely exceeded two thousand people. A detachment of one and a half thousand people was already considered a large army: “Thus, there were nine hundred knights. And [Sid] recruited five hundred foot squires of the hidalgo, not counting the other pupils of his house.<…>The Cid ordered to leave his tents and went to settle in San Servan and around it in the hills; and every person who saw the camp that Sid set up said later that it was a large army...”

Battle tactics also changed. Now the battle began with a coordinated strike from the spears of the heavy cavalry, splitting the enemy's formation. After this first attack, the battle broke down into single combats between knight and knight. In addition to the spear, a long weapon becomes a mandatory weapon for every knight. double-edged sword. The defensive equipment of the Frankish knight consisted of a long shield, heavy armor and a helmet worn over the neck cover. The infantry, which played a supporting role in battle, was usually armed with clubs, axes, and short spears. Archers in the West Frankish lands were mostly their own, while in the East Frankish lands they were hired. In Spain, instead of a shell, they often used chain mail borrowed from the Moors with long sleeves and a chain mail hood, over which a helmet was worn: “...Diego Ordonez also, when he felt that he was seriously wounded, stood up against Rodrigo Arias and hit him in the crown with a sword, so that he cut a helmet and a chainmail hood, and half a skull...”

Distinctive feature The weaponry of Italian chivalry was its lightness - short piercing swords, light flexible spears with narrow tips equipped with additional hooks, and daggers were used here. For defensive weapons in Italy, light, usually scaly armor, small round shields and helmets that fit the head were used. These features of the weapons also determined the differences in the tactics of the Italian knights from their French and German colleagues: the Italians traditionally acted in close contact with infantry and archers, often performing not only the attacking function traditional for knights, but also the function of supporting the infantry.

It is impossible not to say about the main opponents of the Western Franks in the period under review - the Normans (Vikings, Varangians). It was the Normans who were one of the most courageous and knowledgeable sailors of medieval Europe. Unlike most continental countries, they used the fleet not only for transporting goods and people, but also for military operations on the water. The main type of Norman ship was the drakkar (several such ships were found, the first of them in Oseberg in 1904, and exhibited in the museum in Oslo) - a sailing-rowing ship 20-23 m long, 4-5 m wide in the middle part. It is very stable due to its highly developed keel, thanks to shallow draft can approach the shore in shallow waters and penetrate rivers; due to the elasticity of the structure, it is resistant to ocean waves.

The pirate raids of the Normans instilled such horror in the hearts of Europeans that at the end of the 10th century, the church prayer for deliverance from disasters included a request to God for deliverance “from the rage of the Normans” (“De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine”). In the Norman land army, the main role was played by “mounted infantry,” i.e. infantry who made the transition on horseback, which gave them a significant gain in mobility. Distinctive feature The Normans' weapons were a pointed-up helmet with a nosepiece, a tight-fitting shell and a long shield extended downward. The heavy infantry of the Normans was armed with heavy long spears, axes and the same long shields. The Normans preferred the sling as a throwing weapon.

If mainly squads of the Scandinavian nobility (the so-called “sea kings”) went on campaigns in Western Europe, then at home the distinctive feature of the Scandinavian social structure and military affairs was the preservation of the free peasantry (bonds) and the significant role of the peasant militia (especially in Norway ). The Norwegian king Hakon the Good (d. c. 960), as the saga reports, streamlined the collection of naval militia: the country was divided into ship districts as far from the sea “as the salmon rises” and it was established how many ships each district should field in the event of an invasion to the country. For warning, a system of signal lights was created, which made it possible to transmit a message across the whole of Norway within a week.

Another distinctive feature of military affairs of the 10th-11th centuries is the flourishing of castle fortification. In the French lands, the construction initiative belonged to local lords who sought to strengthen their power in their possessions; in the German regions, where royal power was still strong, the king was actively engaged in the construction of fortifications during the period under review (for example, under Henry I the Birdcatcher (919-936) along the borders a whole series of fortified towns - burgs - was built in the German lands). However, it cannot be said that during this period there was a flourishing and rise in the siege skills of Western European armies - siege weapons increase quantitatively, but practically do not change qualitatively. Cities were taken either by starvation or by digging under the walls. Frontal assaults were rare, as they involved heavy losses for the attackers and were successful only in a small number of cases.

Summing up the development of the army and military affairs in the countries of Western Europe during this period, we can note one more important feature of this process: at the time under review, active borrowing into Western military art of tactical and strategic techniques, details of armor or weapons from the military art of other peoples, most often the peoples of the East, begins. This process will acquire a much greater scope in the next period of European history - the period of the Crusades.

B) Western Europe in the XII-XIII centuries: The Crusades.

End of the 11th century in Western Europe was marked by the beginning of the Crusades, i.e. campaigns for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It is generally accepted that the Crusades began in 1096, when the first campaign of Christian knights began in Palestine, leading to the conquest of Jerusalem, and ended in 1291 with the loss of the city of Acre, the last crusader fortress in Palestine. The Crusades had a huge impact on the entire history of Christian medieval Europe, and their influence was especially noticeable in the military sphere.

Firstly, in the East, Christian knights faced an enemy previously unknown to them: the lightly armed Turkish cavalry calmly avoided the blow of an armored knightly armada and from a safe distance showered the Europeans with arrows from bows, and the Turkish infantry, which used crossbows in battle still unknown to Europeans, the cannonballs of which were pierced knight's armor, caused significant damage in the ranks of the Christian cavalry. Moreover, the Turks, who were inferior to the knights in one-on-one combat, outnumbered the Christians and attacked all at once, rather than one by one. Much more mobile, since their movements were not hampered by armor, they revolved around the knights, striking from different sides, and quite often achieved success. It was obvious that it was necessary to somehow adapt to new methods of combat. The evolution of the Christian army in the East, its structure, weapons, and, therefore, battle tactics followed two main paths.

On the one hand, the role of infantry and archers in military operations is increasing (the bow, undoubtedly, was known in Europe long before the Crusades, but Europeans first encountered such a massive use of this weapon in Palestine), and the crossbow is being adopted. The massive use of archers and infantry by the Turks makes such an impression that the English king Henry II even carried out military reform, replacing the military service of many feudal lords with a tax levy (the so-called “shield money”) and creating a military militia of all free people who were obliged to join the army at the first call of the king. Many knights, trying to equal the Turks in mobility, borrow light weapons from them: chain mail, a light helmet, a round cavalry shield, a light spear and a curved sword. Naturally, knights armed in this way were no longer self-sufficient, and were forced to act in active cooperation with infantry and rifle units.

On the other hand, the weapons of the overwhelming majority of knights are evolving in the direction of weighting: the size and thickness of the spear increases so that it becomes impossible to control it with a free hand - now, in order to strike, it had to be rested against the notch of the shoulder pad, the weight of the sword increases. A helmet-pot appears in the armor, covering the entire head and leaving only a narrow slit for the eyes, the shell becomes noticeably heavier, and even more restricts the knight’s movements than before. It was with great difficulty that a horse could carry such a rider, which led to the fact that, on the one hand, the Turk with his light weapons could not cause any harm to the knight clad in iron, and on the other hand, the knight, loaded with armor, could not catch up with the Turk. With this type of weaponry, the famous knightly spear strike was impossible - each individual knight, firstly, took up too much space, and secondly, was too clumsy - and thus the battle was immediately divided into many fights in which each the knight chose his opponent and tried to fight him. This direction in the development of weapons became the main one for European military affairs throughout the 13th century.

Secondly, the Crusades greatly influenced the increase in group solidarity of European chivalry, which suddenly realized itself as a single army of Christ. This awareness manifested itself in several main forms, among which are the formation and widespread expansion of military monastic orders and the emergence of tournaments.

Military monastic orders were monastic-type organizations that had their own charter and residence. The orders were headed by grand masters. Members of the orders took monastic vows, but at the same time lived in peace and, moreover, fought. The Order of the Knights Templar was the first to emerge in 1118, at about the same time the Order of St. John the Knights or Hospitallers appeared, in Spain in 1158 the Order of Calatrava appeared, and in 1170 the Order of Santiago de Compostela, and in 1199 the Teutonic Order of the Swordsmen was founded. The main tasks of the orders in the Holy Land were the protection of pilgrims, the protection of most Christian fortresses, and the war with Muslims. In fact, the orders became the first regular professional armies of Christian Europe.

So, summing up the development of military affairs in Europe in the 12th-13th centuries, we can note several main trends: an increase in the role of infantry and rifle formations and the confinement of the knightly class that occurred at the same time, which was expressed, on the one hand, in the further weighting armor, which turned a single knight into a battle fortress, both in terms of menacingness and mobility, and on the other hand, in the self-organization of knighthood into military monastic orders, in the emergence of a developed system of coats of arms, the meaning of which was clear only to initiates, etc. This growing contradiction ultimately led to several major defeats inflicted on the knights by commoners (for example, at Courtrai in 1302, at Morgarten in 1315) and to a further decline in the military role of knighthood.

3. Europe in the XIV-XV centuries: autumn of the Middle Ages.

Significance of the XIV-XV centuries. for European military history it is comparable, perhaps, only with the 8th-10th centuries. Then we saw the birth of chivalry, now we see its decline. This was due to several factors, the most significant of which are the following: firstly, during this period, in most European states, single centralized monarchies emerged, replacing feudal fragmentation, which, in turn, entailed a gradual but inexorable transformation vassals as subjects, secondly, simple, ignorant people returning from the Crusades understood that chivalry was not as invincible as it seemed, they understood that a lot could be achieved through coordinated actions of the infantry, and, finally, thirdly, it was during this The period included the widespread use of firearms and, above all, artillery, from which even the best knightly armor could no longer save.

All these and some other factors were fully manifested during the longest military conflict in the history of Europe, which took place between England and France. We are talking about the Hundred Years' War of 1337-1453. The war began over the claims of the English king Edward III to the French throne.

Literally in the very first years of the war, France suffered a number of serious defeats: in the naval battle of Sluys (1346), the entire French fleet was killed, and already on land, in the Battle of Crecy (1346), the French knighthood, faced with English archers, suffered a terrible defeat. In fact, in this battle the French were shattered by their own belief in the invincibility of knightly cavalry and the inability of infantry to effectively resist it. When the battlefield was chosen, the English commander stationed his archers and dismounted knights on the hill. The dismounted knights could not move, but they stood, covering their archers with a steel wall. The French, on the contrary, threw their knights into an attack on the hill straight from the march, without allowing them to rest or line up. This led to very sad consequences for them - the arrows of the English archers could not penetrate knight's armor, but they found a path in the horse armor, or in the visor of the helmet. As a result, only about a third of the French knights, wounded and exhausted, reached the top of the hill. There they were met by rested English knights with swords and battle axes. The defeat was complete.

Ten years later, at the Battle of Poitiers (1356), the French suffered another defeat. This time the victory of the British was amazing in its results - the King of France John II the Good himself was captured by them. In the midst of the battle, the vassals of the French king, seeing that their military luck had changed, chose to withdraw their troops from the battlefield, leaving the king to fight almost completely alone - only his son remained with him. This is a defeat in once again showed that the feudal army had outlived its usefulness and could no longer adequately resist the recruited militia from ordinary people.

The situation worsened with the beginning of the active use of firearms, first as siege weapons and then as field artillery. The critical situation that had developed in France both in politics and in the field of military affairs at the beginning of the 15th century forced King Charles VII to carry out a military reform that radically changed the appearance of the French and then the European army. According to the royal ordinance issued in 1445, a regular military contingent was created in France. It was recruited from nobles and consisted of heavily armed cavalry. This cavalry was divided into detachments or companies, which consisted of “spears”. The “spear” usually included 6 people: one cavalryman armed with a spear and five auxiliary mounted warriors. In addition to this cavalry, which was called “ban” (i.e. “banner”) and was recruited from the king’s direct vassals, the contingent also included artillery units, archer units and infantry. In case of emergency, the king could convene an Aryerban, i.e. a militia from the vassals of their vassals.

According to the changes in the structure of the army, the algorithm of combat operations also changed: now, when two warring troops met, the first thing to begin was shelling, accompanied by the digging of fortifications for their guns and shelters from enemy cannonballs: “The Count of Charolais set up a camp along the river, surrounding it with carts and artillery..."; “The king’s men began to dig a trench and build a rampart out of earth and wood. Behind her they placed powerful artillery<…>Many of our people dug trenches near their houses...” Patrols were sent in all directions from the camp, sometimes reaching fifty spears, that is, three hundred people in number. In battle, the warring parties sought to reach each other's artillery positions in order to capture guns. In general, we can note that the classical war of the New Age began, a review of which is beyond the scope of this work.

Annotated bibliography

I. Publications of sources (in Russian).

Just like for the previous article in this publication, the selection of sources for this work was complicated by several circumstances. Firstly, it is extremely difficult to find at least one source on the history of the Middle Ages that does not touch on the topic of war; secondly, unlike antiquity, in the Middle Ages there were practically no works devoted specifically to military affairs or the history of any specific war (the exception is the Byzantine tradition, within the framework of which the “Wars” of Procopius of Caesarea were created, as well as works on tactics and strategy of pseudo-Mauritius, Kekavmen and others); finally, thirdly, the situation with sources on the history of the Middle Ages translated into Russian leaves much to be desired. All this together determines the fact that below is only a small selection of sources that we can recommend for reading on the topic of the article. Characteristics of the sources are given only from the point of view of military history. For more details see: Lyublinskaya A.D. Source study of the history of the Middle Ages. – L., 1955; Bibikov M.V. Historical literature of Byzantium. – St. Petersburg, 1998. - (Byzantine library).

1. Agathius of Mirinea. About the reign of Justinian / Trans. M.V. Levchenko. – M., 1996. The work of the successor of Procopius of Caesarea is devoted to a description of the wars of the commander Narses against the Goths, Vandals, Franks and Persians and contains rich information about the Byzantine military art of the second half of the 6th century. However, Agathius was not a military man and his presentation of military events sometimes suffers from inaccuracy.

2. Anna Komnena. Alexiad / Trans. from Greek Ya.N. Lyubarsky. - St. Petersburg, 1996. - (Byzantine library). Despite the rhetorical style and the author’s lack of any experience in military affairs, this work remains important source on the military history of Byzantium in the era of the Komnenos.

3. Vidukind of Corvey. Deeds of the Saxons. – M., 1975. The source was created in the 10th century by a monk of the Novokorveysky monastery. Information is given primarily of a political nature, wars are described briefly (in the style Veni,vidi,vici), however, there are descriptions of the weapons and military clothing of the Saxons, there is information about the principle of recruiting the Saxon army, about the presence of a navy, cavalry and siege weapons among the Saxons.

4. Villehardouin, Geoffroy de. Conquest of Constantinople / Trans., art., commentary. M.A. Zaborov. – M., 1993. – (Monuments of historical thought). Memoirs of one of the leaders of the IV Crusade. Contains data on the organization, numbers and weapons of the crusader army.

5. Greek polyorcetics. Flavius Vegetius Renatus / Preface. A.V. Mishulina; comment A.A. Novikova. – St. Petersburg, 1996. – (Antique Library). For a detailed commentary on this source, see above in the bibliography for the article on the ancient army. We can only add that the work of Vegetius was the most authoritative treatise on the structure of the army for medieval thinkers - in the ideal legion of Vegetius they saw an ideal model for building a medieval knightly army.

6. Digests of Justinian. Book XLIX. Tit.XVI. About military affairs / Transl. I.I. Yakovkina // Monuments of Roman law: Laws of the XII tables. Guy's Institutions. Justinian's Digests. – M., 1997. – P.591-598. For a commentary on this source, see the bibliography for the article on the ancient army. It can be added that the military law “Digest” not only retained its relevance by the time of Justinian, but was also adopted and used later by many European legislators of the Middle Ages (for example, the king of Castile and Leon Alfonso X the Wise) when drawing up their laws.

7. Jordan. About the origin and deeds of the Getae. “Getica” / Transl., intro. Art., comment. E.Ch. Skrzhinskaya. – St. Petersburg, 1997. – (Byzantine library). – pp. 98-102. From this work, we can only recommend Jordan’s description of the famous battle on the Catalaunian fields, which became a role model for many medieval chroniclers when describing battles.

8. Clary, Robert de. Conquest of Constantinople / Trans., art., commentary. M.A. Zaborov. – M., 1986. – (Monuments of historical thought). The author is one of the simple knights who served in the army of the crusaders who stormed Constantinople in 1204, which explains some of the incompleteness and subjectivity of the source’s information. However, the text of the chronicle contains information about the number of knightly detachments, the cost of hiring ships to transport troops, and the structure of the knightly army.

9. Commines, Philippe de. Memoirs / Transl., art., note. Yu.P. Malinina. – M., 1986. – (Monuments of historical thought). The author is a professional military man and diplomat, first served under the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, then went over to the side of King Louis XI and became his adviser on the war with Burgundy. His work contains a lot of information necessary for the study of the French army. – 2nd floor XV century, its structure, weapons, tactics and strategy.

10.Konstantin Porphyrogenitus. About managing an empire / Transl. G.G. Litavrina. – M., 1991. – (Ancient sources on the history of Eastern Europe). The work of the Byzantine emperor in 913-959. Contains numerous information on Byzantine diplomacy, military organization, relations with neighboring peoples, as well as military technology (description of Greek fire).

11.Kulakovsky Yu.A. Byzantine camp at the end of the 10th century. // Byzantine civilization in the light of Russian scientists, 1894-1927. – M., 1999. – P.189-216. Annotated publication of a very carefully written small Byzantine treatise from the 10th century. “De castrametatione” (“On setting up camp”). Equipped with diagrams of the Byzantine camp. First published: Byzantine temporary book. – T.10. – M., 1903. – P.63-90.

12.Mauritius. Tactics and strategy: Primary source op. about military art of imp. Leo the Philosopher and N. Machiavelli / Trans. from lat. Tsybysheva; preface N.A. Geisman. – St. Petersburg, 1903. The fundamental Byzantine work on strategy at the turn of the V-VI centuries. Its attribution to Emperor Mauritius (582-602) is disputed by modern scholars. Of particular interest are the first mention of stirrups in European military literature, as well as information on the military affairs of the ancient Slavs. There is a more accessible abridged edition: Pseudo-Mauritius. Stategikon / Transl. Tsybyshev, ed. R.V. Svetlova // The Art of War: An Anthology of Military Thought. – St. Petersburg, 2000. – T.1. – P.285-378.

13.Peter from Doesburg. Chronicle of the Prussian Land / Ed. prepared V.I. Matuzova. – M., 1997. An essay telling about the wars of the Teutonic Order in Prussia from the point of view of the crusaders. An extremely valuable source on spiritual knightly orders, superbly translated and annotated.

14. Song of the Nibelungs: epic / Trans. Yu. Korneeva; entry Art., comment. A.Ya. Gurevich. – St. Petersburg, 2000. The famous Old Germanic epic. From here you can glean both information regarding weapons and the strategy of the medieval army (in particular, regarding the use of reconnaissance).

15. The Song of Roland: based on the Oxford text / Trans. B.I. Yarho. – M. – L.: “Academia”, 1934. From this text you can take information about the weapons of the knights, about battle tactics (arranging ambushes, etc.), as well as about the structure of the army. There is no need to pay attention to the number of troops indicated in the “Song...”.

16. Song of Sid: Old Spanish heroic epic / Trans. B.I. Yarkho, Yu.B. Korneeva; ed. prepared A.A. Smirnov. – M.-L., 1959. – (Lit. monuments). The text of the source dates back to the mid-12th century and contains valuable information about the military art of the 11th-12th centuries, about the methods of waging a siege, about the number of troops (unlike the “Song of Roland”, this monument provides reliable information on this subject, confirmed by data from other sources), about the weapons and equipment of knights.

17.Procopius of Caesarea. War with the Goths: 2 vols. / Trans. S.P. Kondratieva. – M., 1996. – T.1-2.

18.Procopius of Caesarea. War with the Persians. War against vandals. Secret history / Transl., art., commentary. A.A. Chekalova. – St. Petersburg, 1998. – (Byzantine library). Procopius of Caesarea is a professional historian of the time of Emperor Justinian, who created the cycle of historical works “History of Wars”, dedicated to the wars of the Byzantine Empire under this emperor. This cycle included the above-mentioned works “War with the Goths”, “War with the Persians” and “War with the Vandals”. A characteristic feature of these works is Procopius’ deep knowledge of the subject described - he for many years was personal secretary the largest commander of Justinian, Belisarius, and accompanied him on campaigns, and therefore had a direct opportunity to observe the progress of military operations. Procopius' descriptions of sieges of cities are especially successful (both from the point of view of the besieger and from the point of view of the besieged). The author’s information about the size and structure of the Byzantine army is confirmed by other sources, and therefore can be considered reliable.

19.Procopius of Caesarea. About buildings / Transl. S.P. Kondratieva // Same. War with the Goths: In 2 volumes. – M., 1996. – Vol.2. – P.138-288. This work by Procopius contains rich information about the construction policy of Emperor Justinian, in particular about the military construction of that era. The principles of Byzantine fortification are covered in detail, and almost all the fortresses built under Justinian are named.

20.Richer of Reims. History / Transl., commentary, art. A.V. Tarasova. – M., 1997. From this work you can glean information about the armament of troops and combat techniques in the 10th-11th centuries, and about the use of reconnaissance in military operations. In turn, Richer’s information about the structure of the Frankish army cannot be called trustworthy - Richer clearly borrowed the division of the army into legions and cohorts from Roman authors, and more specifically, from his beloved Sallust.

21. Saga of Sverrir / Ed. prepared M.I. Steblin-Kamensky and others - M., 1988. - (Lit. monuments). History of internecine wars in Norway in the XII-XIII centuries. Continues “The Circle of the Earth” by Snorri Sturluson (see below), contains detailed information on military affairs, which, even after the end of the Viking Age, continued to differ greatly in Norway from the rest of Western Europe.

22. Saxon mirror / Rep. ed. V.M. Koretsky. – M., 1985.

23. Salic Truth / Trans. N.P. Gratsiansky. – M., 1950. These two monuments of the written customary law of the German peoples are included in the list of sources as typical representatives of the “barbarian Truths”. From them, as a rule, it is impossible to glean real information about military affairs, but they contain information about the cost of armor and weapons, which creates an idea of the social status of a warrior in German barbarian society.

24.Snorri Sturluson. Circle of the Earth / Ed. prepared A.Ya. Gurevich and others - M., 1980. - (Lit. monuments). A classic collection of sagas about “rulers who were in the Nordic Countries and spoke Danish,” created in Iceland in the 1st half. XIII century The presentation is updated from ancient times to 1177. In relation to military history, it contains information about the military affairs of the Vikings, their campaigns of conquest, military tricks and weapons, and the mechanism for recruiting the Norman army.

25.Kekavmen's advice and stories. The work of a Byzantine commander of the 11th century. / Prepare text, introduction, translation, comment. G.G. Litavrina. – M., 1972. – (Monuments of the medieval history of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe). The source was written in the 1070s. Contains advice on leading an army (about a quarter of the volume), as well as everyday instructions that give an idea of the Byzantine military aristocracy and, moreover, is often illustrated with examples from the field of military affairs. One of the main sources on Byzantine military history. The only manuscript is kept in the Manuscript Department of the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

II. Literature.

Below is literature on the history of the medieval army, recommended for reading. We have selected only general work, which is explained by two main factors: the extraordinary abundance of works devoted to particular issues of the military art of medieval Europe published in the West, on the one hand, and the low availability for domestic readers of works on the national military histories of Western European countries, on the other. Almost all the works presented below have a good bibliography, allowing the reader to easily carry out further search literature.

26.Winkler P. von. Weapons: A Guide to the History, Description and Picture of Hand Weapons from Ancient Times to the Early 19th Century. – M., 1992. A good reference book on medieval weapons, a well-chosen illustrative series, accompanied by professional commentary.

27.Gurevich A.Ya. Viking campaigns. – M., 1966. – (Popular science series of the USSR Academy of Sciences). Although this book was not written by a military historian, it contains numerous information on Viking warfare and military organization, as well as photographs of ships and weapons. The author is one of the largest domestic Scandinavists.

28.Delbrück G. History of military art within political history: In 4 volumes - St. Petersburg, 1994-1996. – T.2-3. Regarding this publication, see the annotation to it given in the previous article.

29.Dupuis R.E., Dupuis T.N. World history Wars: Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. – St. Petersburg; M., 1997. – Book 1-2. This publication can be used only to obtain initial minimum information on the subject of interest. The information collected here concerns, first of all, issues of tactics of medieval armies using the example of famous battles. The publication contains battle diagrams and other illustrative material.

30. History of the Crusades / Ed. D. Riley-Smith. – M., 1998. The publication is a translation into Russian of one of the best works on the history of the Crusades, prepared at Oxford University. Separately, it is necessary to note the chapters devoted to military monastic orders, in which not only the military art of the orders, but also their internal organization, place in society and politics. It must also be said that the book separately touches on the issues of supply and transportation of armies during the Crusades, which have previously been studied quite little. A distinctive feature of the book is its rich illustrative material.

31.Cardini F. Origins of medieval knighthood. – Sretensk, 2000. In this work, it seems possible to recommend for reading the second and third parts, devoted to the formation of the ideology of medieval Christian chivalry and the military art of Europeans (mainly the Franks, Byzantines and their allies) of the period VI-IX centuries, because The author's point of view on the prehistory of chivalry and, in particular, its military art, set out in the first part of the book, is very controversial and ambiguous. Unfortunately, it is also necessary to note that in the Russian translation of this book all historiographical material, scientific polemics and footnotes to sources have been removed, which, of course, deprives many of the author’s statements of a fair amount of evidence.

32.Litavrin G.G. Byzantine society and state in the X-XI centuries. – M., 1977. – P.236-259.

33.It's him. How the Byzantines lived. – St. Petersburg, 1997. – (Byzantine library). - P.120-143. Essays on military affairs in Byzantium in the central period of its history (IX-XII centuries), written by one of the largest domestic Byzantinists (the second of these two books is popular science).

34.Melville M. History of the Templar Order / Trans. from fr. G.F. Tsybulko. – St. Petersburg, 1999. – (Clio). A good study of the history of one of the most famous spiritual knightly orders.

35.Razin E.A. History of military art. – St. Petersburg, 1999. – T.2. – (Military history library). The work was done quite thoroughly, and if you do not pay attention to the numerous Soviet cliches, you can call it one of the most complete works on the military history of the Middle Ages in Russian. The book provides rich illustrative material, of which the most interesting are diagrams of the main battles of the Middle Ages.

36.Flory J. Ideology of the sword: The background of chivalry. – St. Petersburg, 1999. – (Clio). As the title suggests, this work is devoted to the formation of the ideology of Christian chivalry and the formation of its social structure. One of the best works devoted to the ideology of chivalry, accompanied, moreover, by a fairly complete bibliography on the military history of the Middle Ages.

37.Yakovlev V.V. History of fortresses: The evolution of long-term fortification. – St. Petersburg, 1995. – Ch. IV-XII. It is better to handle this publication with caution - a professional study of fortifications of the 9th-17th centuries. accompanied by more than dubious historical comments.

38.Beeler J. Warfare in the feudal Europe: 730 – 1200. – Ithaca (N.Y.), 1971. The work of the famous English researcher examines the military affairs of the countries of Western Europe from the Carolingian era to the heyday of military feudalism. Separate chapters are devoted to the development and characteristic features of military art in Norman Italy, southern France and Christian Spain. A distinctive feature of the work is the accessibility of the presentation of the material, which, however, does not affect its completeness.

39.Contamine Ph. La guerre au Moyen Age. – P., 1980; 1999. – (Nouvelle Clio: L’histoire et ses problémes). For many years now, this work has rightfully been considered a classic in the field of studying the military history of the Middle Ages. The book covers the development of the army and military art in the countries of Western Europe and in the states of the Latin East in the period V - to the XV centuries. Special attention is paid to the evolution of weapons, the emergence and development of artillery, as well as the connection between war and various aspects of the life of medieval society. An excellent scientific reference apparatus, the most important place in which is occupied by a list of sources and literature totaling more than one hundred pages, gives reason to recommend this work to everyone who wants to get acquainted with the history of military affairs of the Middle Ages.

40.Lot F L'art militaire et les armées au Moyen Age en Europe et dans le Proche Orient: 2 vols. – P., 1946. A classic work on the history of military art, which has already gone through several editions and has not yet lost its relevance. A special place The book focuses on comparing the military art of Christian armies and Muslims during the Crusades.

41.Medieval warfare: A history/Ed. by Maurice Keen. – Oxford, 1999. The book is divided into two main parts, the first of which contains chronological order the history of the military affairs of Europe and the Latin East is examined, starting from the Carolingians and ending with the Hundred Years' War, and the second contains several chapters devoted to the consideration of individual issues: the art of siege in the Middle Ages, the armament of medieval armies, mercenaries, the navy in the Middle Ages and the emergence of gunpowder artillery and regular armies. The book is richly illustrated, equipped with chronological tables and an excellent bibliographic index.

42.Menendez Pidal R. La España del Cid: 2 vols. – Madrid, 1929. An excellent work by a Spanish philologist dedicated to Spain from the 11th to the 13th centuries. The army is considered as an integral part of Spanish medieval society, its structure, the foundations of its military art, and its weapons are shown. Contrary to the title, the work is based not only on the material from “Song of Sid”, but also on other sources.

43.Nicole D. Medieval warfare: Sourcebook: In 2 vols. – L., 1995-1996. – Vol.1-2. A generalizing summary work devoted to the military affairs of Medieval Europe, starting from the era of the Great Migration of Peoples to the beginning of the Great geographical discoveries. The first volume describes military affairs within Europe, the second deals with the military activities of Europeans in other countries. The characteristic features of the work are, firstly, its clear structure, and secondly, the rich illustrative material (each volume contains 200 illustrations for 320 pages of text), making the book almost indispensable for studying the military history of the Middle Ages.

44.Oman C.W.C. The art of war in the Middle Ages: A.D. 378 – 1515 / Rev. ed. by J.H. Beeler. – Ithaca (N.Y.), 1963. The fifth edition of one of the most popular books on military history in Europe. Created at the end of the 19th century, it still attracts readers with its accessibility and, in the good sense of the word, popularity of its presentation. The book pays attention to the military side of the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Great Migration, separate chapters are devoted to the military development of Byzantium in the VI-XI centuries, Switzerland in 1315-1515 and England in the XIII-XV centuries. In conclusion, the author writes about the military affairs of states Eastern Europe XV century, including the Ottoman Porte. The book is supplied with chronological tables.

45.Prestwich M. Armies and warfare in the Middle Ages: The English experience. – New Haven; L., 1996. The book is interesting because the author specifically focuses on the role of infantry in the Middle Ages, examines in detail the problem of military communications, problems of strategy (in particular, the use of reconnaissance in the Middle Ages). One of the author’s main conclusions is also interesting - he doubts the reality of the so-called “medieval military revolution”, which led to an increase in the role of cavalry in battle, and believes that the role of infantry in the medieval army was greatly underestimated by previous historians. The book is richly illustrated.

Jordan. About the origin and deeds of the Getae. "Getica". – St. Petersburg, 1997. – P. 98-102.

Razin E.A. History of military art. – St. Petersburg, 1999. – T.2. – (Military history library). – P.137.

Winkler P. von. Weapons: a guide to the history, description and depiction of hand weapons from ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century. – M., 1992. – P. 73-74.

For more information on Martel's reform, see the chapter on the strength and weakness of the Carolingian armies in: ContaminePh. La guerre au Moyen Age. – P., 1999.

Lex Ripuaria, XXXVI, 11 // MGH LL. – T.V. – P.231. Quote By: Delbrück G. History of military art within the framework of political history. – St. Petersburg, 1994. – T.2. – P.7.

On the question of the size of the Carolingian armies, see the relevant chapters in: Delbrück G. History of military art... - Vol.2. – St. Petersburg, 1994; ContaminePh. La guerre au Moyen Age. – P., 1999; Oman C.W.C. The art of war in the Middle Ages: A.D. 378 – 1515 / Rev. ed. by J.H. Beeler. – Ithaca (N.Y.), 1963.

For more information on the development of artillery, see the relevant chapters in: ContaminePh. La guerre au Moyen Age. – P., 1999; Medieval warfare: A history / Ed. by Maurice Keen. – Oxford, 1999.