Battles have long featured prominently in historical consciousness, as moments when the balance of power was seen to have tipped, or when aspects of collective identity were shaped. But how have perspectives on warfare changed? How similar are present day ideologies of warfare to those of the medieval period? Looking back over a thousand years of British, Irish and Scandinavian battles, this significant collection of essays examines how different times and cultures have reacted to war, considering the changing roles of religion and technology in the experience and memorialisation of conflict. While fighting and killing have been deplored, glorified and everything in between across the ages, Writing Battles reminds us of the visceral impact left on those who come after.
Battles have long featured prominently in historical consciousness, as moments when the balance of power was seen to have tipped, or when aspects of collective identity were shaped. But how have perspectives on warfare changed? How similar are present day ideologies of warfare to those of the medieval period? Looking back over a thousand years of British, Irish and Scandinavian battles, this significant collection of essays examines how different times and cultures have reacted to war, considering the changing roles of religion and technology in the experience and memorialisation of conflict. While fighting and killing have been deplored, glorified and everything in between across the ages, Writing Battles reminds us of the visceral impact left on those who come after.
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Prologue, Brendan Simms (University of Cambridge, UK)
1. Introduction, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh (University of Cambridge, UK),
Rory Naismith (King's College London, UK) and Elizabeth Ashman Rowe
(University of Cambridge, UK)
2. Battle Names in the Middle Ages, Robert Bartlett (University of
St Andrews, UK)
3. Battle-writing and Commemoration: the Transition from Violence
to Peace, Jenny Benham (Cardiff University, UK)
4. 'Undying Glory by the Sword's Edge': Writing and Remembering
Battle in Anglo-Saxon England, Matthew Strickland (University of
Glasgow, UK)
5. Fortress London: War and Peace in an Anglo-Saxon City, Rory
Naismith (King's College London, UK)
6. 'Trembling Sods'?: Rhetoric and Reality in Battle-Narratives
from Medieval Ireland and Britain, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh (University
of Cambridge, UK)
7. 'Sword-Age, Axe-Age': Writing Battles in Viking Age and Medieval
Scandinavia, Elizabeth Ashman Rowe (University of Cambridge,
UK)
8. Which 'Pagans'? The Influence of the Crusades on
battle-Narratives in Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia, Natalia
Petrovskaia (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
9. The Battle of Bannockburn 1314, Tony Pollard (University of
Glasgow, UK)
10. A Troubled Memory: Battles of the First World War, Robert Tombs
(University of Cambridge, UK)
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
An analysis of warfare, society, and memory culture in the medieval period.
Rory Naismith is Lecturer in Medieval British History at
King's College London, UK. He is the author of Citadel of the
Saxons (I.B. Tauris, 2018).
Máire Ní Mhaonaigh is Professor in Celtic and Medieval Studies
at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Elizabeth Ashman Rowe is Reader in Scandinavian History at
the University of Cambridge, UK.
This imaginative collection of essays reappraises the place of
medieval battles in British, Irish and Scandinavian historical and
literary traditions. It will be sure to find a place on the reading
lists of students and scholars in Medieval Studies and War Studies
alike.
*Julia Smith, Chichele Professor of Medieval History, University of
Oxford, UK*
This wide-ranging volume of essays is an outstanding contribution
to the cultural, political, and social military history of the
Middle Ages. Although the focus is on how medieval battles were
understood and commemorated as key cultural and political markers
in the British Isles and Scandinavia, the essays range much
further, demonstrating how warfare was critical in the making of
London, the complex relationship between war and peace, and the
continuities and discontinuities between medieval and modern
understanding of the meaning of battle. Those who dismiss military
history as mere battlefield narratives will find this volume a
revelation.
*Richard Abels, Professor Emeritus of History, United States Naval
Academy, USA*
The volume's concentration on the memory of medieval warfare in
Northern Europe makes it essential reading for all scholars of
European conflict in time and place. It also poses wider questions
about the relations of past and present that will interest all
students of conflict commemoration and memory.
*Michigan War Studies Review*
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