Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Note on the text
- List of abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 ‘Then was then and now is now’: an overview of change and continuity in late-medieval and early-modern warfare
- 2 Warfare and the international state system
- 3 War and the emergence of the state: western Europe, 1350–1600
- 4 From military enterprise to standing armies: war, state, and society in western Europe, 1600–1700
- 5 The state and military affairs in east-central Europe, 1380–c. 1520s
- 6 Empires and warfare in east-central Europe, 1550–1750: the Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry and military transformation
- 7 Ottoman military organisation in south-eastern Europe, c. 1420–1720
- 8 The transformation of army organisation in early-modern western Europe, c. 1500–1789
- 9 Aspects of operational art: communications, cannon, and small war
- 10 Tactics and the face of battle
- 11 Naval warfare in Europe, c. 1330–c. 1680
- 12 Legality and legitimacy in war and its conduct, 1350–1650
- 13 Conflict, religion, and ideology
- 14 Warfare, entrepreneurship, and the fiscal-military state
- 15 War and state-building
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - Tactics and the face of battle
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Note on the text
- List of abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 ‘Then was then and now is now’: an overview of change and continuity in late-medieval and early-modern warfare
- 2 Warfare and the international state system
- 3 War and the emergence of the state: western Europe, 1350–1600
- 4 From military enterprise to standing armies: war, state, and society in western Europe, 1600–1700
- 5 The state and military affairs in east-central Europe, 1380–c. 1520s
- 6 Empires and warfare in east-central Europe, 1550–1750: the Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry and military transformation
- 7 Ottoman military organisation in south-eastern Europe, c. 1420–1720
- 8 The transformation of army organisation in early-modern western Europe, c. 1500–1789
- 9 Aspects of operational art: communications, cannon, and small war
- 10 Tactics and the face of battle
- 11 Naval warfare in Europe, c. 1330–c. 1680
- 12 Legality and legitimacy in war and its conduct, 1350–1650
- 13 Conflict, religion, and ideology
- 14 Warfare, entrepreneurship, and the fiscal-military state
- 15 War and state-building
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Prologue: high-medieval tactics
Although revisionist historians have lately argued otherwise, in the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300) cavalry was the dominant arm in battle. Infantry was valued, and was present at most battles, but its role was often almost purely defensive, and it usually takes offensive action to win a true victory. As Jim Bradbury observed in concluding his study of Anglo-Norman battles (in which dismounted knights played a substantial role), the biggest threat on the battlefield was a cavalry charge, but the strongest defence against a head-on mounted attack was a steady line of spear-armed footmen supported by archery. In other words, cavalry and footmen could work together like sword and shield. A swordsman surely values a sturdy shield, and even knows it can sometimes be used to strike important blows, but would sooner dispense with it than try fighting without his blade.
Battles in this period tended to follow one of a few basic patterns. Often the opposing armies would face off, infantry-line to infantry-line, each with its cavalry to the flanks or rear. Then the mounted forces would charge each other at a trot, while the footmen either held their ground or advanced to contact very slowly, so that they could keep their order. Since the former closed much more quickly, and since mounted combat was typically decided more rapidly than a contest between shield walls, the issue of the battle as a whole was likely to be determined by the cavalry fight.
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- European Warfare, 1350–1750 , pp. 203 - 235Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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