Medieval
Siege of Rochester Castle I
Rochester Castle On 11 October 1215, a crack troop of a hundred knights arrived at the gates of Rochester Castle and demanded to be admitted. The constable of the castle, Sir Reginald de Cornhill, did not hesitate, for he had been expecting them. The drawbridge was lowered, the doors swung open, and the horsemen swept inside. These men were rebels,…
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NAVAL WARFARE AFTER THE VIKING AGE C.1100–1500 Part I
Crusaders Embark 1450. (Photo by: Picturenow/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) The Problem in Context ‘One of the greatest victories ever in that part of the world,’ in the estimation of a sixteenth-century chronicler, was won off the Malabar coast on 18 March 1506. A Portuguese squadron of nine ships,…
NAVAL WARFARE AFTER THE VIKING AGE C.1100–1500 Part II
Crusaders embarking for the Holy Land, 15th century. Banners show the Papal arms, those of the Holy Roman Emperor and the kings of England, France and Sicily. From Statutes of Order of Saint Esprit. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images) The Conceptual Imperatives There is something Homeric about the…
Khmer History and Armies
In 1181, King Jayavarman VII launched a military campaign against the Chams, as vengeance for the Cham raids of Angkor in 1177, and to finally defeat one of their traditional enemies. Leading a powerful army, Jayavarman VII repelled the Chams from Angkor, and attacked Champa, further east, to finally defeat…
The Pirate War, 1402–1404 Part I
Piracy had been endemic in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay for centuries, but the Earl of Crawford’s destructive cruise of 1402 was different. It was more organised, larger in scale and plainly enjoyed the support of influential men in the French government if not of the King’s council…
The Pirate War, 1402–1404 Part II
Brittany was not an economic or maritime power on a level with Flanders, but shipowning was just as important to its people. Much of the population of the duchy was concentrated in the innumerable small harbours of its coastal fringe and drew their subsistence from the sea. Breton ships were…
The Pirate War, 1402–1404 Part III
The Percies’ resentment of the Nevilles’ growing status in the north was aggravated by their precarious financial position. They had personally borne much of the heavy burden of funding the defence of the Scottish and Welsh marches. Henry IV was tardy in repaying them, the result of his own acute…