Early Medieval Militarisation

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This volume is the first to study the phenomenon of early medieval militarisation from a wide geographic and disciplinary perspective. It explores the impact of an enhanced role attributed to warfare and the military as characteristic features of a European world in the process of becoming medieval.

The societies of ancient Europe underwent a continual process of militarisation, and this would come to be a defining characteristic of the early Middle Ages. The process was neither linear nor mono-causal, but it affected society as a whole, encompassing features like the lack of demarcation between the military and civil spheres of the population, the significance attributed to weapons beyond their military function and the wide recognition of martial values. Early medieval militarisation assembles twenty studies that use both written and archaeological evidence to explore the phenomenon of militarisation and its impact on the development of the societies of early medieval Europe. The interdisciplinary investigations break new ground and will be essential reading for scholars and students of related fields, as well as non-specialists with an interest in early medieval history.

Reviews

'The authors in this volume are seeking to understand a world remote from our own
through the lens of militarization, but in a way which always illuminates the broader aspects
of that society, and they have done this very creditably.'
Speculum

Author Bio

Ellora Bennett is an independent scholar
Guido M. Berndt is an independent scholar
Stefan Esders is Professor of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages at the Freie Universitt Berlin
Laury Sarti is Lecturer at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitt Freiburg