Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany PDF
Preview Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany
Warfare BACHRACH in Tenth-Century Germany David S. Bachrach Over the course of half a century, the first two kings of the Saxon dynasty, Henry I (919-936) and Otto I (936-973), waged war across the length and breadth of Europe. Ottonian armies campaigned from the banks of the Oder in the east to the Seine in the west, and from the shores of the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Adriatic and Mediterranean in the south. In the course of scores of military operations, accompanied by diligent diplomatic efforts, Henry and Otto recreated the empire of IW N Charlemagne, and established themselves as the hegemonic rulers in Western Europe. A This book shows how Henry I and Otto I achieved this remarkable feat, and T provides a comprehensive analysis of the organization, training, morale, tactics, and ER N strategy of Ottonian armies over a long half century. Drawing on a vast array of F sources, including exceptionally important information developed through T HA archaeological excavations, it demonstrates that the Ottonian kings commanded very large armies in military operations that focused primarily on the capture of -R C fortifications, including many fortress cities of Roman origin. This long-term military EE success shows that Henry I and Otto I, building upon the inheritance of their N Carolingian predecessors, and ultimately that of the late Roman empire, possessed T an extensive and well-organized administration, and indeed, bureaucracy, which U mobilized the resources that were necessary for the successful conduct of war. R Y David S. Bachrach is Associate Professor of History at the University of New G Hampshire. E R Cover: Image from a gospel book of Emperor Otto II (c. 1000) showing Christ weeping over M Jerusalem. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, Clm 4453, fol. 188v. A N Series: Warfare in History Y GENERAL EDITORS:Matthew Bennett, Anne Curry, Stephen Morillo an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and 668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY14620-2731 (US) www.boydellandbrewer.com warfare in history Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany warfare in history issn 1358-779X Series editors Matthew Bennett, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst Anne Curry, University of Southampton Stephen Morillo, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, USA This series aims to provide a wide-ranging and scholarly approach to military history, offering both individual studies of topics or wars, and volumes giving a selection of contemporary and later accounts of particular battles; its scope ranges from the early medieval to the early modern period. New proposals for the series are welcomed; they should be sent to the publisher at the address below. Boydell and Brewer Limited, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk, ip12 3df Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of this volume Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany David S. Bachrach THE BOYDELL PRESS © David S. Bachrach 2012 All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of David S. Bachrach to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 First published 2012 The Boydell Press, Woodbridge ISBN 978-1-84383-762-6 The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guar- antee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate Papers used by Boydell & Brewer Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests Typeset by The Word Service, Hungerford, Berkshire Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Contents List of Illustrations vi Acknowledgments vii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 1. Restoring Francia Orientalis: Henry I’s Long Term Strategy 14 2. Forging a New Empire 39 3. Military Organization 70 4. Military Education 102 5. Arms and Training 135 6. Morale 169 7. Tactics on the Battlefield 193 8. Campaign Strategy: The Civil War of 953–954 226 Conclusion 254 Appendix: Major Military Operations by Henry I, Otto I, and Their Commanders 257 Bibliography 262 Index 298 List of Illustrations Ottonian Genealogy x Carolingian Genealogy xi Map 1. The Ottonian World 919–973 xii Map 2. Defense in Depth along the Eastern Frontier 929–936 xiii Map 3. Henry I’s 929 Campaign xiv Acknowledgments A great many people have provided me with help in bringing this project to a conclusion. I would like to thank Charles Bowlus, Richard Abels, David Warner, Bernard Bachrach, Clifford Rogers, Kenneth Baldwin, Eric Goldberg, Thomas Noble, Jonathan Lyon, Patrick Geary, and the anonymous readers of several arti- cles that prepared the way for this book, for their valuable suggestions, observa- tions, and corrections, and for their generosity in reading portions or the entirety of this text in manuscript (in some cases several times). To the extent that this book helps to illuminate the history of the German kingdom in the tenth century, the community of scholars to which I have the privilege of belonging must take a great part of the credit. Naturally, the errors of commission and omission that remain in the text are mine alone. I also want to thank the library staff at the University of New Hampshire for obtaining the numerous scholarly works that I needed for my research, and the UNH Center for the Humanities whose generous support in providing a research leave made it possible to complete this text in a timely fashion. I owe a particular debt of thanks to my wife Elyse, and to my children Madeline, Rachel, and Henry who showed tremendous patience while daddy was locked away in his office. It is to them that I dedicate this book. To my children Madeline, Rachel, and Henry with all of my love.
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