SOME QUESTIONS

MANY STUDIES HAVE ADDRESSED the social and economic developments of the Middle Ages that underpinned political, religious and cultural developments. We have surveyed the evolution of the single most important form of warfare throughout this epoch, the attack or defence of fortified places. Few indeed were battles in the open field throughout the whole period, and fewer still of those that did occur were “decisive” in the modern sense of the word. At the other end of the spectrum, innumerable examples of warfare in the form of raiding featured, with extremely unpleasant effects on the territories directly affected, but rarely with any larger-scale impact, although it often led to the creation of frontier fortresses for garrisons or refuges for local people, with other significant and unintended longer-term consequences. But conquest of provinces or the overthrow of rulers either depended on, or was confirmed by, the capture of the enemy's walled cities and fortresses. Every conquering nomadic force very quickly had to learn siege-warfare skills if it was to consolidate its domination of the open country. If the word “siege” itself, strictly defined, means attacking a place by “sitting” down around it, our study has adopted a looser definition to look at the whole range of ways in which such warfare was conducted. We have surveyed hundreds of such operations according to original sources (and where possible, reference to surveys or archaeological studies of the sites), to seek as accurately as possible what actually happened. Now it is time to look at some of the questions that run through the whole period.

What was the relationship, if any, between technological improvements, the techniques and practices used in the attack and defence of fortified places, and the outcomes of such struggles ? Modern historians and archaeologists have moved a long way from the simplistic explanations once offered, where changes in the design of fortifications were ascribed solely to the needs of defence as these changed to keep up with developing technology. For the builders of walled sites, demonstrating lordship and symbolising power, alongside the more practical purposes of serving as court, palace, prison, treasury, high class residence, monastery, garrison, arsenal or police station, signified much. Understanding the historical reality of medieval times has thereby improved greatly.