| Program Detail |
: This course is a comprehensive survey of European post-classical warfare (c. 450 to c.1500 AD), and the social, political, economic, religious and technological forces that have shaped its evolution from the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century to the integration of reliable gunpowder technologies in western warfare in the sixteenth century. Students will read and analyze a wide variety of sources on medieval warfare in order to develop an appreciation of the important contributions of the European Middle Ages to the continuity of warfighting in Western Civilization. The millennium under study in this course was a dynamic period in warfare, full of important rediscoveries and innovations in fortification, siegecraft and combined-arms technology, organization and tactics, all of which factored into Europe becoming the preeminent military power in the world in the period after 1500 AD. |
