Early Medieval Militarisation

This volume is the first to study the phenomenon of early medieval militarisation from a wide geographic and disciplinary perspective. It explores the impact of an enhanced role attributed to warfare and the military as characteristic features of a European world in the process of becoming medieval. The societies of ancient Europe underwent a continual process of militarisation, a process that intensified during the early Middle Ages and came to be a defining characteristic of the period. It encompassed features like the lack of demarcation between the military and civil spheres of the population, the significance attributed to weapons beyond their military function and the wide recognition of martial values.This book uses the term ‘militarisation’ to refer to a process that is neither linear nor mono-causal but impacts on a society as a whole. The underlying concept provides a means to study corresponding societal transformations in their full complexity by taking into account several factors of change at the same time. Assembling twenty-one studies by established and emerging scholars, the book makes original use of both written and archaeological evidence to explore the phenomenon of militarisation and its impact on developments in early medieval England, the Frankish world, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia and Byzantium.Early medieval militarisation applies modern approaches to structural history and the history of mentalities. It offers a wide-ranging alternative to conventional military histories and will be of interest to students and scholars of related fields. The societies of ancient Europe underwent a continual process of militarisation, and this would come to be a defining characteristic of the early Middle Ages. The process was neither linear nor mono-causal, but it affected society as a whole, encompassing features like the lack of demarcation between the military and civil spheres of the population, the significance attributed to weapons beyond their military function and the wide recognition of martial values. Early medieval militarisation assembles twenty studies that use both written and archaeological evidence to explore the phenomenon of militarisation and its impact on the development of the societies of early medieval Europe. The interdisciplinary investigations break new ground and will be essential reading for scholars and students of related fields, as well as non-specialists with an interest in early medieval history.