Warfare, The Middle Ages

After the breakup of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, military organization fell into a decline.

Europe lay open to invasion—by Avars and Bulgars from the east, the Vikings from the north, and the Moors from the south. The Franks, a Germanic tribe that occupied present-day Germany and France, adopted a crude version of the Roman system and managed to halt the invading Moors at the Battle of Tours in 732, but their tactics were primitive when compared with those of the Greeks and Romans.

Western Europeans attempted to deal with the persistent raids of the Vikings by creating a feudal system in which the aristocracy performed mandatory military service in return for its privileges. The mounted knight, who owed allegiance to one noble rather than to a national state, dominated medieval warfare.

Fighting out of a spirit of adventure or for spoils, the Christian knight was in the forefront of the periodic Crusades mobilized to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim control. In the 14th and 15th centuries feudalism began to give way to nation-states, and kings began to form their own armies. The English longbow, the pike employed by massed infantry, and the introduction of gunpowder finally forced the armored knight from the field. Once again, armies became professional and military organization underwent a renaissance.

Middle Ages, The Breakup of the Carolingian Empire

After the death of Charlemagne's heir, Louis the Pious, his sons fought over the empire and divided it numerous times. With the Treaty of Verdun in 843, they split it in a way that roughly marked the later outlines of western Europe. Charles the Bald got the western third of the empire; Louis the German got the eastern third; and Lothair I got the middle third, stretching from the North Sea to Italy, and the imperial title. Charles's kingdom eventually became France, Louis's became Germany, and Lothair's, which was fought over and divided, became The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Italy.

1. Invasion

These states were far in the future, however. In the 9th century, the empire was fragmenting politically and was also facing invasions from three sides. From the south came a new wave of Muslims. From the east appeared the Magyars. From the north came the Vikings, daring sailors from Scandinavia. The Carolingians had great difficulties in meeting these new challenges.

Muslim bands settled in southern France and took over Sicily and southern Italy. Magyar horsemen raided all the way to the Rhine River and repeatedly attacked northern Italy and Germany. Bands of Vikings attacked Ireland and England and sailed up the rivers of France. They also made their way to Iceland and even landed on the coast of North America.

The Muslims were eventually thrown out of their strongholds in France and southern Italy. The Magyars were defeated by German king and later emperor Otto I in 955 and settled down in what is today Hungary. The Vikings, like the Magyars, eventually established permanent homes in Europe. Viking invaders created and settled Normandy, today a region of France. Scandinavia itself was drawn into Europe as its people mingled with Europeans and converted to Christianity.

2. Consequences of Invasion

England

The Vikings first attacked, then conquered and settled, the eastern half of England. By the end of the 9th century, it looked as if the rest of the country, which was divided into small kingdoms, would soon be overtaken. In Wessex, the southernmost kingdom, King Alfred the Great was determined to oppose the threat. He reorganized his army, built ships, and set up a system of fortifications. His victories over the Vikings gave him such prestige that he was recognized as king of all England not under Viking rule. Alfred's successors pushed out most of the Vikings and absorbed the rest of England into one kingdom.

France

France had a very different experience. The king was unable to mobilize his forces quickly enough to fight the Viking raids. Powerful local men—often dukes or counts—organized their own regional defenses. Carolingian prestige suffered, and by the end of the 10th century a new dynasty, the Capetian, came to the throne. Although the Capetians were successful in the long run, at this point they ruled only the region right around Paris. The rest of France was ruled by local men.

see also 'Raids' & Viking Invasions & Explorers & Exploration

" Warfare," - "Middle Ages," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.