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Assembles evidence from Frankish, Moravian, and Byzantine documents; from archaeological finds; and details of the terrain to buttress the view that the center of the Slavic Moravian empire was in what is now Serbia, much farther southeast than is usually thought. This interpretation explains how the Franks managed otherwise inexplicable military successes against the Moravians.
This new annual journal will publish top quality scholarly articles on topics across the full thematic and chronological ranges of the study of war in the middle ages.
First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Why were mercenaries such a commonplace of war in the medieval and early modern periods and why have they traditionally been so poorly regarded? Who were mercenaries, and how were they distinguished from other soldiers? The contributors to this volume attempt to cast light on these questions.
Based on the bestselling book, Rivers of North America, this new guide stands as the only primary source of complete and comparative baseline data on the biological and hydrological characteristics of more than 180 of the highest profile rivers in Europe. With numerous full-color photographs and maps, Rivers of Europe includes conservation information on current patterns of river use and the extent to which human society has exploited and impacted them. Rivers of Europe provides the information ecologists and conservation managers need to better assess their management and meet the EU legislative good governance targets. - Coverage on more than 180 European rivers - Summarizes biological, ecological and biodiversity characteristics - Provides conservation managers with information to resolve conflicts between recreational use of rivers, their use as a water supply, and the need to conserve natural habitats - Data on river hydrology (maximum , minimum and average flow rates), seasonal variation in water flow - Numerous full-color photographs - Information on the underlying geology and its affect on river behaviour
The medieval mounted knight was a fearsome weapon of war, captivating and horrifying in equal measure, they are a continuing source of fascination. They have been both held up as a paragon of chivalry, whilst often being condemned as oppressive and violent. Occupying a unique place in history, knights on their warhorses are an enigma hidden behind their metal armor, and seemingly unreachable on their steeds. This book seeks to understand the world of the medieval knight by studying their origins, their accomplishments and their eventual decline. Forged in the death throes of the Roman Empire, the mounted knight found a place in a harsh and dangerous world where their skills and mentality car...
This is a new account of the most important period in the history of Europe between the end of the Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance. The reign of Charlemagne (768-814) saw the unification of many areas of France, Italy and Germany, Spain and central Europe, as well as the revival of the title 'Emperor in the West.' At the same time, the cultural and artistic revival that took place in western Europe under Charlemagne's rule both led to the preservation of much of the intellectual heritage of Antiquity and inspired succeeding generations of scholars and artists up to the time of the Renaissance. While the empire that Charlemagne created proved short-lived, the title 'Holy Roman Emperor' remained in continuous use until 1806, and his achievements have inspired a succession of both military conquerors and would-be unifiers of Europe up to the present day. Numerous ideas and institutions were revived or created in this period which would serve to shape the future development of western Europe throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.
For four centuries, the Polish–Lithuanian state encompassed a major geographic region comparable to present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania. Governed by a constitutional monarchy that offered the numerous nobility extensive civil and political rights, it enjoyed unusual domestic tranquility, for its military strength kept most enemies at bay until the mid-seventeenth century and the country generally avoided civil wars. Selling grain and timber to western Europe helped make it exceptionally wealthy for much of the period. The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795 is the first account in English devoted specifically to this important era. It ta...
Provocative interrogation of how the Ottonian kingdom grew and flourished, focussing on the resources required. The Ottonians were the most powerful monarchs in Europe during the tenth and early eleventh century, exercising hegemony in West Francia, Burgundy, and much of Italy in addition to ruling the German realm. Despite their enormous political and military success, however, the foundations of Ottonian royal power remain highly contested and largely misunderstood, with previous scholarship tending to have considered it as depending upon the ability of the king to shape and harness the power of the nobles. This study challenges the dominant historiographical paradigm, rebutting the notion...
In this book, the distinguished writer Edward N. Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the more remarkable because the Byzantine empire was favored neither by geography nor by military preponderance. Yet it was the western empire that dissolved during the fifth century. The Byzantine empire so greatly outlasted its western counterpart because its rulers were able to adapt strategically to diminished circumstances, by devising new ways of coping with successive enemies. It relied less...