Clauss, Martin: Militärgeschichte des Mittelalters, München 2020.

Martin Clauss is a professor of Medieval History at the University of Chemnitz. His expertise in medieval warfare is attested by various books, “Militärgeschichte des Mittelalters” being one of his latest (2020), published as part of the C.H.Beck Wissen series.

His book examines in chronological order the development of the bellatores from 500 to 1500 and the resulting influence on the social structure of the Middle Ages. In the respective chapters, changes and innovations in battle and military leadership of their respective times are presented, partly on the basis of individual examples, partly in a wider Latin European context. In doing so, he does not attempt to reinvent the wheel, but sticks to well-researched battles and war epochs such as Bouvine and the Battle of the Marchfeld in the 13th century or the Hundred Years’ War in the 14th-15th centuries.
With the classic model of Adalbero of Laon, according to which society is divided into oratores, bellatores and laboratores, the focus is naturally on the war leaders, but the consequences for the rest of the population are also mentioned, such as the violence against women (p. 63), the development of the agrari milites (p. 36) and the relevance of plunder and devastation (p. 20).
However, the common thread and the concise presentation of the respective particularities are to be emphasized as particularly positive. For the 14th and 15th centuries, there is a surplus of five out of eleven chapters, which is due to the source situation.
These sources are meaningfully placed in the context of the history of their creation, as Clauss regularly refers to the contemporary narrative strategies of heroization and martial ideals (p. 8). However, by using an anecdotal example from Carolingian sources in the last chapter, where horse dung floating in the river thwarts a “secret commando operation by night” (p. 126), he brings the sources and contemporary events into tangible proximity.
In the first chapters, Clauss shows the development of battle tactics from combatants on foot
– which were always part of any medieval warship – towards mounted, heavily armored and not least expensive fighters, who functioned both as fighting and later as social elites. With the long-term expansion of armies, these elite fighters were forced to form formations from the 10th centuries onward, although differentiated by origin and not by the type of weapon. Ultimately these fighters became increasingly obsolete in the late Middle Ages due to the growing killing zone (p. 123). This describes the slowly increasing effectiveness of ranged weapons, but also the emergence of more effective polearms (p. 74) and disciplined, formed “Gevierthaufen” (p. 80) or “Gewalthaufen”, which finally put an end to the necessity and effectiveness of the heavily armored lone fighter. From there on, the combined arms of foot soldiers, artillery and cavalry each had their own tasks, which were decisive for the success of a battle (p. 119).

Although Clauss is primarily concerned with a chronological account of warfare in the Middle Ages, he repeatedly takes up current research discussions. For example, the contrast between field battles, which are often described but actually rarely took place, and the less described plundering and sieges, which, however, must have made up the majority of warfare in practice. The discussion of “battle seeking” and “battle avoiding” strategies is taken up here (p. 84). Likewise, the great importance of horses in the early and high Middle Ages.

There are only a few subtleties to criticize in the book. For example, Widukind von Corvey did not die after 793, but after 973 (p. 35). In other places, the development stages of the equipment of soldiers are only dealt with superficially (p. 43/51). Researchers who want to study the equipment of soldiers should refer to additional literature for a more detailed insight.

As is usual for the series, the book can be recommended as introductory reading for those interested in history and historians. A comprehensive bibliography on the topics is provided for the briefly touched upon source questions.