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2 - Sieges and the Laws of War in Europe’s Long Eighteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

By
Gavin Daly
Edited by
Matt Killingsworth  and
Tim McCormack
Matt Killingsworth
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania
Tim McCormack
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania
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Summary

Sieges were central to the evolution of customary laws of war in early modern Europe and represented the most regularised form of warfare. They were also where civilians were most at risk of exposure to the violence of conventional war, including the phenomenon of sack. A besieging force that stormed a town had the right to put the garrison to the sword and to sack the town. Yet the long tradition of sack has been neglected by historians, only now emerging as a subject of study in its own right. This chapter explores the history of sieges, sack, and the laws of war in Western Europe over the course of the long eighteenth century (1660–1815). It highlights sieges as an important but relatively neglected place for examining changes and continuities in customary laws of war, ideals of barbarity and civility, and moral sentiment over the long eighteenth century.

Keywords

siegeslaws of warsackNapoleonic WarsBritish Army
Type
Chapter
Information
Civility, Barbarism and the Evolution of International Humanitarian Law
Who do the Laws of War Protect?
 , pp. 13 - 33
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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