Técnicas Bélicas del Mundo Medieval 500 a.c.-1500 d.c.: Equipamiento, Técnicas y Tácticas de Combate

by Matthew Bennett, Jim Bradbury, Kelly DeVries

Las guerras sucedidas en el periodo medieval (500 a. C. - 1500 d. C.) en Europa y Oriente Próximo se libraron con tácticas de combate, equipamientos y estrategias militares muy diferentes al arte de la guerra actual. Tanto la infantería, como la caballería, la técnica de asedio o el combate naval están reflejados en este libro que los estudia en su contexto, inscritos en las batallas históricas más importantes con las máquinas que se usaron entonces.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Military History, Military Fiction, Reference, War

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2005

About the author

Matthew Bennett (b. 1954) is a historian specialising in Medieval warfare.

Reviews

[Петър Стойков · Rating 3 out of 5]

Когато човек гледа филм на средновековна или антична тематика, със сражения и битки, там, разбира се, всичко е като на кино – двете армии, въоръжени с мечове, брони и други средства за човекоубийство се засилват една срещу друга, врязват се в грандиозно меле и се секат и мушкат докато едните не избият другите. Евентуално, кавалерията пристига в решителния момент, за да помогне…

Надявам се обаче, няма смисъл да обяснявам нашироко, че „като на кино“ не е като наистина и Бойни техники на средните векове 500 – 1500 г. ясно обяснява това. Битките преди изобретяването на огнестрелното оръжие рядко са се отличавали с особена скорост, свирепост и героизъм – да се затичаш към голяма група строени нагъсто мъжаги, насочили копия към тебе, които очевидно искат да резнат части от тялото ти, ако ги приближиш, не е особено лесно, а именно в такова положение изпада всеки войник.

Поради това сблъсъците на армии, въоръжени с хладни оръжия са по-скоро предпазливи – първо се замерват със стрели, после или кавалерията насочва копия и се опитва да разбие строя на противника, или основните сили (пехотинците) на двете страни се приближават предпазливо като всеки гледа да не се дели от редиците на своите, и криейки се зад щитовете, ръгат противника с каквото оръжие имат.

Прилагат се и най-различни други тактики – флангови атаки, лъжливи атаки, кавалерията обикаля и всява смут, но целта е една – да се накара противника да се уплаши и част от хората му да тръгнат да бягат. Раняването или оттеглянето от бойното поле на генерала (краля) особено е било способно да обърне буквално цялата армия в бягство. Бягството дори на малка група се разпространява като пожар, за минути хората напускат строя и бягат, след което е лесно да бъдат пометени и избити от конницата.

Общо взето, теренът, тактиката и най-вече моралът на войниците (колко са смели и уверени в командира и другарите си) имат най-голямо значение за победата, а не кой колко души ще заколи в боя – разветите знамена, барабаните и участието на благородниците в строя наравно с обикновените войници са били ключови методи за повишаване на морала. Особено след масовото навлизане на броните, жертвите по време на самата битка са изненадващо малко, а и войниците често са предпочитали да пленяват, а не да убиват – заради откупа. При едно от най-големи сражения на Стогодишната война в което участвали над 40 000 души в продължение на цял ден, убити били 20 рицари и 300 войници (общо). Самият факт, че войната се проточила цели 113 години показва, че и двете страни не са си давали много зор…

Всичко това е добре описано в Бойни техники на средните векове 500 – 1500 г. Книгата е луксозно издание, с красиви и точни рисунки, карти и възстановки на битки и като качество определено си заслужава цената от 36 лв. За съжаление авторите са наблегнали прекалено много на описание на историята, имена и битки, а са подценили описанието на въоръжението, бронята и техниките на бой (първата глава – пехота – е най-слаба в това отношение). Все пак, като цяло, е ценна книга която е добро попълнение за библиотеката на всеки, заинтересован от военното дело през периода.

[Dru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of information about battles and the styles of the men of the medieval times. Yet there wasn't as much as information as I hoped on the weapons. Yes, many were discussed, but when I looked for daggers, specifically the design and importance of having one, I couldn't find anything on it.

Just because the title says something, doesn't mean they offer the full breadth of this topic. Certainly something to keep in mind when one's researching. I'm sure we all realized this back in middle school or high school. Yet it's something that we're constantly reminded of as we continue learning.

[Sam Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine overview of how Medieval warfare worked, engaging on topics as diverse as shieldlines, the origins of the stirrup, dismounting knights, and naval combat. Though by no means an exhausting, in-depth, look at how all such things function, it should give the reader a fine review of how medieval combat actually worked, and just how battles hinged on small things.

The book has a very rapid pace, and subjects are rarely covered for more than a few pages. Every chapter has a handful of battles which illustrate a sub-theme. For instance, chapter two, Mounted Techniques, uses the Battle of Hastings to illustrate the cavalry charge, and just how it worked to deliver the crushing blow to the Saxon monarchy in England.

Ultimately, it provides a good review of how battles worked, but it's no treatise on warfare, or a hard-hitting work of scholarly revelations. It offers a good starting place to delve into this topic.

[Ryan Schaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book searching for works by military historian and professor Kelly DeVries. He is one of multiple writers of this. There has considerably more information, detail, scholarship and citations than you would find in the standard illustrated military history books that crowd the bargain shelves, but it is still a general overview.

The book is divided into Cavalry, Infantry, Command and Communication, Siege Warfare, and Naval Warfare. I would have preferred more detailed structure and contents within each of those larger sections. Within each section you move from topic to topic in a general chronological sense without much of a framework.

Still gets 4 stars for being a giant step above most of the more widely available general surveys of medieval war.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Based on the title I expected to mostly see pictures and diagrams of medieval weapons and battle tactics. There’s much of that but most of the book is long text on the history of various battles. Not complaining but the book wasn’t quite what I expected. 4/5

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book to think about the use of battlefield tactics and the relative merits of infantry versus cavalry, and the use of technologies from the stirrup to firearms.

The title might be a little misleading in that a reader might think this is more about individual level combat skills, tactics, and equipment. Instead, this looks at fighting forces.

I found the illustrations of the battles to be particularly helpful and it really enhanced my understanding of major medieval battles. The authors provide no social or economic context for the battles, nor even a complete look at non-combatants who were an important part of fighting forces or logistics. It is a very helpful introductions to major battles, tactics, and equipment.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is surprisingly easy and fun to read. It's not nearly as dry as many of the history books that I am used to. This book gives a general overview of fighting in the medieval period. It is an interesting read, but if you want something more specific I suggest that you avoid it. The equipment descriptions are brief, only having a few comparison charts for certain weapons. The tactics section is pretty weak as well, the book tells you more about the reason why they are fighting than why they choose to fight how they do. The book wasn't terribly useful for my purposes, though it certainly wasn't devoid of usefulness, but I did find it quite entertaining.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent non-fiction description of infantry, cavalry, leadership, and sea warfare during the middle ages. There are lots of neat sketches, paintings, and illustrations of weaponry and soldiers. Included are some really cool 2 page depictions/diagrams of several historic battles with a clear step-by-step narrative of how the victors were successful.

This book could have been rated much higher, but the content editing seems sub-par. As if several authors content was haphazardly cut & paste together. It was hard to read through several chapters... but the illustrations and battle depictions are worth it.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other titles in this series, this book is tremendous for its focus on unit type tactics and weaponry, and how those played out in historical battles. But also like the other titles in this series, the multiple authorship shows, and the book is disjointed in many places. It can be hard to follow the overall flow of a given chapter--instead, it reads more like an interesting string of disparate parts about a particular weapon, tactic, historical battle, personality, etc. The drawings and color illustrations of battles are nicely done, though the latter of course reduplicate the text.

[Sam Beaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid overview of warfare across a broad period of time. Beautiful book, but just an overview - more a jumping off point to deeper subjects than anything else. Personally I think it's status as an overview makes it more useful and valuable.

Occasionally the writing was a little terse, dropping into short sentences. Of about one clause. Which was a little annoying. A bit like this.

Still, strongly recommended.

[Kakanier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nettes Einfürungswerk. Stellt den Krieg unterteil in Infanterie/Kavallerie/Belagerung/Seekrieg für das ganze Mittelalter dar. Gute, sehr klare Schlachtenbeschreibungen und stilistisch liegt der Schwerpunkt eher auf Kontinualitäten und langsamer Entwicklung als auf militärischen Revolutionen.

[Onurcan Şar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haliyle Avrupa'nın Ortaçağ'ı merkezli olmasına rağmen Türklerin 1-2 savaşını da dahil etmesi ve tamamen olmasa da tarafsız davranması kitabı okunabilir kılıyor. Türkçeye çevrilen askeri tarih konulu eserler arasında üstlerde yer alır.

[Roger Burk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically a picture book. More text than the usual coffee-table book, and smaller size, but still mostly about the pictures. The text gives more information than is usual, but there is no overall coherence or direction to the narrative.

[Razmatus]

awesome read... even better than the encyclopedia by M.J.Dougherty, since this also had a chapter on the command structure and naval wars... definitely recommended for ppl like me who arent total experts but still want to learn more about past :)

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that contains a lot of information about medieval warfare. Not much about the weapons but that wasn't the focus of the book. Good choice of battles to illustrate the tactics, and a good bibliography for further reading.

[Ashley Williams wichtman · Rating 5 out of 5]

especially enjoyed the parts about the Normans.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kind of embarrassing to admit it, but I am still a sucker for this sort of thing. Show me weapons! Show me armour! Show me troop formations!

[Livia Blackburne]

Nice battle diagrams, good discussion of battlefield tactics.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a history reader or a warfare buff then this is an excellent book for you. If not then avoid it as it will bog you down and bore you. Very recommended

[Ľuboš Csonka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skvelá kniha. Presné popisy bitiek, citované historické pramene, popisy a nákresy jednotiek, mapy... Vynikajúce pre každého fanúšika vojenskej histórie.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because its arranged by types of fighting rather than chronologically or by reign, there is a LOT of jumping back and forth that makes it hard to follow.