The warhorse and military service under Edward III
[From the introduction]: There are few aspects of medieval English history as important, yet as neglected, as military service. This is not to suggest that the study of war has been eschewed by scholars of the Middle Ages, for this is very far from being the case. A great deal of attention has been devoted to the vexed questions of military obligation and the mentalite of the chivalric class; to the size, structure and financing of armies and the mechanisms of their recruitment; and to the martial aspects of knightly culture, such as the tournament and crusading. On a more general level, there has been much discussion of the impact of war on society and the economy, and on the influence of wartime conditions on the development of parliament. It is not so much war that has been neglected, as the 'military community': the many thousands of men who served in English royal armies and garrisons during the Middle Ages. These men - their careers in arms, their backgrounds, their peacetime lives - remain, if not wholly in shadow, then very much in the penumbra of history. So far, indeed, are we from a comprehensive study of those who engaged in military activity in later medieval England that we lack a full prosopographical
Ayton, Andrew
ry
The warhorse and military service under Edward III. [From the introduction]: There are few aspects of medieval English history as important, yet as neglected, as military service. This is not to suggest that the study of war has been eschewed by scholars of the Middle Ages, for this is very far from being the case. A great deal of attention has been devoted to the vexed questions of military obligation and the mentalite of the chivalric class; to the size, structure and financing of armies and the mechanisms of their recruitment; and to the martial aspects of knightly culture, such as the tournament and crusading. On a more general level, there has been much discussion of the impact of war on society and the economy, and on the influence of wartime conditions on the development of parliament. It is not so much war that has been neglected, as the 'military community': the many thousands of men who served in English royal armies and garrisons during the Middle Ages. These men - their careers in arms, their backgrounds, their peacetime lives - remain, if not wholly in shadow, then very much in the penumbra of history. So far, indeed, are we from a comprehensive study of those who engaged in military activity in later medieval England that we lack a full prosopographical
military_service edward iii introduction aspect medieval english history important yet neglect military_service suggest study war eschew scholar middle_ages far case great_deal attention_devote vexed question military obligation chivalric class size structure financing army mechanisms recruitment martial aspect culture crusading general level much_discussion impact_war society_economy influence wartime condition development parliament much war neglect military community men serve english royal army garrison middle_ages men career arm background peacetime live remain wholly shadow much history far indeed comprehensive_study engage military_activity later_medieval england lack full prosopographical