Medieval Military Combat

Battle Tactics and Fighting Techniques of the Wars of the Roses

by

Dr. Tom Lewis

 The War of The Roses, between the Lancaster and York factions, is a seminal point in English history. The Hundred Years War, fought between England and France, had given the various magnates and Lords of England an outlet for their rivalries and quest for more lands etc. The War of The Roses meant that England could no longer think of overseas expansion and had to deal with a war on their own island. This war saw the change from arrows to artillery and even handguns. Plate armor and the non-novelty of the longbowmen meant that these battle winners, according to most histories, in the Hundred Years War were just another force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. A longbowman was trained from childhood, through his whole life, to be effective on the field. The book informs us that that the archers' effectiveness in battle relied on many different things. 

 The author comes to a few conclusions in this work that will likely surprise people. His first one is, how long were the actual battles. Towton was supposed to have been a daylong affair. The book shows us that two lines of medieval soldiers hacking away at each other could only have gone on for a limited time. Soldiers on both sides had to break away from each other at least a few times. The weapons of the infantry, mostly poleaxes, and their armor would have made fighting for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time the most one could expect from a human. Dr. Lewis also makes an interesting point about the actual reported losses in these same battles. Using Towton again, 28,000 men were supposed to have been lost. The figures for other battles are not as large but do represent a great number of bodies. The problem is that there are very few, to no mass graves, that would accommodate such a slaughter. Certainly, the lords would have been normally found and brought back to the family for burial, but not the average soldiers. He also suggests that even during a rout an armed soldier was not the 'easy pickings' that are usually portrayed. The routing soldiers were not throwing away their costly arms and stripping their armor off to run away as fast as possible. Plus, how fast could infantry actually chase the routing soldiers. Certainly, cavalry would be able to run down some, but how much physical endurance could one expect from a normal horse with an armored knight on its back?

 This is an excellent book for the reader to learn about the actual fighting of a medieval battle compared to the Hollywood version we have stuck in our minds. It made me question my long-held beliefs that were instilled into me by earlier forays into books about the subject.

 

 Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for letting me review this book. This is another fine addition to their large library.

Robert

Book: Medieval Military Combat

Author: Dr. Tom Lewis

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth

by

Mike Ingram

 To start with, we must discuss the books title. It is so terribly named for a book with this much information. You would expect a book of about 100 pages just on the Battle of Bosworth. In actuality, the book is almost 300 pages long and is filled with the history of not only England during the entire War of the Roses (and after), but also France, Scotland, and Brittany. Not only that, the book also does a very good job of discussing the weapons and warfare of the period mentioned. The easiest way to show this is to give a list of the book's chapters. They are:

The War of the Roses

Weapons and Warfare in the Reign of Richard III

Richard: Duke of Gloucester

Henry Tudor

France, Brittany and Henry Tudor

Richard: The King

Rebellions

Preparations

Invasion

The Battle of Bosworth Field 22 August 1485

King Henry VII

Epilogue

Appendices

I finding the Battlefield

II Finding Richard

III Order of Battle

 We must now turn to some 'facts' and not some historical conjecture. First, Richard did not kill the 'Princes in the Tower'. There were more than a few writers at the time who detested Richard. None of these accuse Richard of the Princes' death. Second, Richard did not poison his wife Anne. This point is also brought home by the absence of accusations in the above authors. Most of the lurid stories come from after Henry Tudor is made king. Third, Richard was not 'crookbacked'. He certainly suffered from scoliosis, but no man with the body deformities he is claimed to have (again after Henry Tudor's crowning), could wield the weapons he is known to have used in various battles. I will add that the Princes did not escape the Tower, and were then raised by wolves or Irishmen (Which would be worse? This point is my own). All the other 'facts' are gone through in the book and discarded because of the light of history having been thrown on the subject.

 This book, having brought us the historical Richard, would be enough for the author to sit back and enjoy his laurels. However, he is not done by a country mile. His writing about the War of the Roses is good enough for a small book on its own. The added parts on the weapons and warfare of the age are equally excellent. 

 Now we come to the heart of the matter, the actual Battle of Bosworth. The author gives us almost an hour by hour account of the invasion of Henry Tudor, and all of the moves each side made before the battle. The strangest part of the book to someone who has read a good amount about the battle is the author's take on the Stanleys. In most every account, it is said that William and Thomas Stanley stayed aloof from Henry Tudor's forces, and that they only decided on treachery at the last act of the play. The writer shows us many accounts from the time that Richard's and Stanleys' men were already fighting each other even before the battle. This means that there was no way for Richard to be surprised at their attacking him and not Henry Tudor. This is one of many excellent historical detective points that the author makes in this work. The savage attack of Richard into the men around Henry is also shown the reader. So too, unfortunately, is the postmortem of Richard and the death of the last Plantagenet.

 The book itself is filled with illustrations from the time period and also now-a-days. From pictures of the various combatants to actual cannons used at the time, the book is rife with them. There are also several pages full of colored plates, and the actual pictures taken of Richard III's skeleton. The maps of the actual battle are also very well done. Thank you Helion & Company and Casemate Publishers for letting me review this excellent book. This book is a thorough history of the times before Richard's rule and slightly afterward.

Robert

Book: Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth

Author: Mike Ingram

Publisher: Helion & Company

Distributor: Casemate Publishers