Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T11:32:58.819Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Dramatis Personae: Military Biographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2017

Get access

Summary

Research into medieval military history in recent years has focused increasingly on the careers of individual soldiers. The creation of the database, ‘The Soldier in Later Medieval England’, has enabled detailed analysis of warriors of various types, and of different nationalities, who fought in English service in France during the fifteenth century. This focus has allowed detailed consideration of the extent to which the Hundred Years War witnessed the increasing professionalisation of the medieval warrior, as he took what had been an obligation and transformed it into an occupation. A lack of record evidence similar to that which has survived for medieval English armies means that similar work on the careers of Scottish soldiers has been largely absent. Although analysis has been undertaken on the political careers of important figures and families in contemporary Scottish history, their military careers have not been considered in detail. Chronicle sources provide a useful alternative to record evidence with their often detailed depictions of battles, sieges and raids, and the participants therein. Scottish literary sources, although written after the events described, are based in part on earlier works and therefore provide useful detail on the military careers of prominent men. As already suggested, these sources are not without their problems. Scottish chronicles at times give prominent place in their accounts to the ancestors of families prominent at the time their authors were writing. They also sometimes rewrote historical events to better suit the political reality of their own time, illustrated by the differing depictions of Robert the Steward following the succession of the Stewart dynasty to the throne. English chroniclers too provide essential detail of military activity, often reproducing official correspondence regarding battlefield casualties, captured enemies, and the leaders of invading forces. Chronicles were also the means by which many warriors’ deeds were remembered, and it is probable that medieval soldiers themselves recognised this fact. This and other evidence will provide the basis for exploration of Scottish military careers in this period.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2016

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×