Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The roots of victory
- 2 War in the West
- 3 Campaigns, generals and leadership
- 4 Preparations and prelude
- 5 The size of the crusader army
- 6 The first enemy: the Turks of Asia Minor
- 7 The second enemy: the siege of Antioch
- 8 The siege of Antioch: crisis and delivery
- 9 The siege of Antioch: victory
- 10 Divisions
- 11 Jerusalem: triumphant ending
- 12 Perspectives
- Appendix: A note on the sources
- Select bibliography
- Index
3 - Campaigns, generals and leadership
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The roots of victory
- 2 War in the West
- 3 Campaigns, generals and leadership
- 4 Preparations and prelude
- 5 The size of the crusader army
- 6 The first enemy: the Turks of Asia Minor
- 7 The second enemy: the siege of Antioch
- 8 The siege of Antioch: crisis and delivery
- 9 The siege of Antioch: victory
- 10 Divisions
- 11 Jerusalem: triumphant ending
- 12 Perspectives
- Appendix: A note on the sources
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
William the Conqueror is probably the best known soldier and general of the eleventh century. The conquest of England in 1066 was not only a major historical event, it was also one which has stuck in the minds of at least the English-speaking world. William was a minor when his father died in 1035, and the struggle to impose himself upon Normandy was long and bitter. It was only with the help of his overlord, Henry I of France (1031–60) that the greatest rebellion against him was defeated at the battle of Val-ès-Dunes in 1047 of which we know almost nothing. However, the rebel leader, Guy of Burgundy, took refuge in the castle of Brionne where he held out for three years. Thereafter, although William's position improved, the propensity for rebellion remained. In the wake of his capture of Tours in 1044 Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou (1040–60), turned his attention to Maine, where the major city of Le Mans was captured in 1051. After the count of Maine's widow, her son Herbert and daughter Margaret had fled to the Norman court, Geoffrey seized both Domfront, a fief held of the count of Maine by the Bellême family, and the Norman town of Alençon, offering as an inducement to their soldiers a licence to ravage in the Norman lands.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Victory in the EastA Military History of the First Crusade, pp. 52 - 79Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994