Armies and Warfare in Carolingian East Francia and Ottonian Germany(Variorum Collected Studies)

This volume presents twelve studies, written between 2007 and 2023, which examine the conduct of war in Carolingian East Francia and Ottonian Germany from the mid-ninth to the early eleventh century. Grouped thematically rather than by date of publication, the chapters focus on military recruitment and administration, intelligence gathering, the military infrastructure of frontier fortifications, campaign strategy, and the religion of war. Cumulatively these essays represent an assessment that the long-term military success of the Carolingians and Ottonians was based on an equally successful development of institutions through which rulers mobilized men and resources to undertake a vast number of military operations that were focused largely on the capture and defense of fortifications. This volume will be of great value to scholars and advanced students interested in the military affairs of pre-modern Europe. In addition, the consistent focus on matters such as source criticism, and the methodological imperative to integrate a wide range of written as well as material sources of information when pursuing questions relating to military history, make these studies essential to those scholars and students intending to pursue questions on a very wide range of matters in periods for which traditional sources of information, such as historical narratives, survive in only limited numbers.