It is easy to see medieval warfare as long on activity, but short on reflection. To misquote the 1970s feminist rallying cry, it seems pretty obvious that hairy, unwashed medieval warriors needed strategy like fish need bicycles.
We often assume that the past – and notably the medieval past – was populated by people who, because they did not have the resources we take for granted, were somehow less intelligent than us. The image of medieval societies in general, and perhaps the Crusaders in particular, remains resolutely unreconstructed.
The contemporary chronicles do not help – they usually read more like soap opera than a strategic planning document. Kings are crowned and die. Armies invade and fight. The warrior elite have their moments of glory or disappointment, a stream of celebrities wandering across the stage of history, with chroniclers as their paparazzi.
