medieval warfare

The Past

Medieval horses no larger than modern-day ponies, study says

The researchers examined English horse remains dating to between AD 300 and 1650, from 171 archaeological sites

640px King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt

The Past

Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Years' War began in 1337. For how long did it actually continue?

The Past

Throughout history, military commanders have employed new tactics and groundbreaking technologies to gain an edge over their opponents. This week on The Past, we learn about the game-changing impact of the English longbow, as used to devastating effect against the French in the early part of the Hundred Years' War.

OPPOSITE King Edward III (r. 1327 1377). His 50 year reign saw England transformed into a major European military power.

Edward III, the Black Prince, and the Battle of Crécy

Graham Goodlad analyses the joint careers of the father and son who led England’s armies in the early campaigns of the Hundred Years War.

The Battle of Crécy, 26 August 1346

Neil Faulkner analyses the first great victory of Edward III’s new tactical system in the Hundred Years War.

LEFT Excavations at Sidon Castle, Lebanon revealed two mass grave deposits containing partially articulated and disarticulated human skeletal remains.

Mass graves of Crusader soldiers identified in Lebanon

Each of the bodies showed signs of serious injury and were buried with swords, maces, and arrows.

The Past

Mass graves of Crusader soldiers identified in Lebanon

Each of the bodies showed signs of serious injury and were buried with swords, maces, and arrows.

The Battle of Cerami and the Norman Conquest of Sicily

Robert C L Holmes analyses a decisive collision between two very different ways of war in the early medieval period.

Museum – 1066 Battle of Hastings Abbey and Battlefield

Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Calum Henderson.

OPPOSITE Knights Templar in the Holy Land. Feudal blunderers or calculating strategists?

Crusader strategy: a contradiction in terms?

Medieval warfare was not just a matter of crude feudal violence, argues Steve Tibble.

A story of two castles: tracing the origins of two fortifications in the March of Ewyas

Straddling the border between Herefordshire and Monmouthshire in the lee of the Black Mountains, the parish of Longtown has the remains of two castles. One is a popular visitor attraction in the care of English Heritage, with a stout-walled round keep. Half a mile away is another, in the form of a large earthen mound. When the members of the Longtown & District Historical Society decided to investigate, they realised that little was known about either castle, so they set out to find out when they were built, by whom, and why there were two in such close proximity. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.

This contemporary woodcut shows a clash of pikes in the foreground and of heavy horse in the background, but note the artillery. The advent of gunpowder weapons made combined arms operations cavalry, pikemen, musketeers, and cannon working in harness essential to battlefield success. The Swiss heavily reliant on peasant pikemen retreated into their mountains and maintained a policy of neutrality; though they continued to hire out their services to Renaissance princes as mercenaries.

A late medieval military elite

The Swiss army of the late Middle Ages ruthlessly used terrain to its advantage and had a genius for knowing which battles not to fight.

Rare medieval equestrian armour goes on display for first time in a century

It is one of only three complete medieval equestrian armour displays in the world. Now, the 15th-century masterpiece can be viewed by the public for the first time in over 100 years.

The myth of chivalry

Neil Faulkner argues that the supposed ‘supremacy’ of heavy horse on European battlefields in the Middle Ages is a romantic fantasy.

‘Vile guns’: how artillery ended the Hundred Years’ War

Fred Chiaventone analyses the role of artillery at the Battles of Formigny and Castillon – battles that turned the tables on the victors of Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt.

War Reporters: Jean Froissart

Froissant claimed to have born witness, during his travels, to many of the battles that took place during the Hundred Years War, committing all he had seen and heard to writing in the form of elaborate illustrated manuscripts. Seema Syeda examines battlefield scoops through the ages.

LEFT English archers confront a charge of mounted French chivalry at the opening of the Battle of Poitiers.

‘Banners, advance!’ The Battle of Poitiers, 1356

Marilyn Livingstone and Morgen Witzel reassess the famous victory of the Prince of Wales over the French during the Hundred Years War.

The Battle for Hastings: searching for the truth about 1066

Controversy has recently flared over the location of the Battle of Hastings. In an exclusive Channel 4 special, Time Team investigates, undertaking the first ever dig on the traditional site and assessing the rival claimants, as Assistant Producer Alex Rowson reports.

LEFT The human remains discovered in trench 1 of the Grey Friars dig laid out for study in the lab. The skeleton’s feet were destroyed during an earlier disturbance of the grave, while the severe sideways curvature or scoliosis of the spine is clearly apparent. Following detailed analysis, the team concluded that these are the remains of Richard III, the last Medieval king of England.

Reconstructing Richard III: discovering the man behind the myth

On Monday 4 February the results of tests on a skeleton found beneath a Leicester carpark were announced to a global media audience. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley stated ‘our academic conclusion, beyond reasonable doubt, is that the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in September 2012 is indeed Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England.’ Matthew Symonds and Carly Hilts look at what this momentous announcement tells us about Richard, and why the Leicester team are so confident they have got their man.