Return of the mercenary

This Atlantic article explains why they are back in force:

McFate: The private military industry allows you to fight wars without having your own blood on the gambling table. And drones just do that as well. If you think about this as an arms-control issue, both [drones and private military companies] should be part of the same category, because they allow national governments to get involved in fighting without actually having citizens do it. And that creates moral hazard for policymakers, because it lowers the barriers of entry into conflict.

Scholarly editions and databases online

In the good old days of the early Internet, the appearance of a new site or resource often attracted a lot of attention. Now there are so many good resources that it’s quite easy for them to slip by without people who might really be interested finding out about them.

Here are three resources related to medieval military history and chivalry, one of my own particular interests. I am not surprised if you’ve missed them.

What looks like a brand-new one just caught my attention. It is a site devoted to the Spanish epic, the Song of the Cid (Cantar de mio Cid).  Its purpose is to make the text more accessible in its original language.  Thus its primary users will be students of medieval Castilian who want to compare the readings of the chief manuscript with a “normalized” text, to a spoken version, to an English translation. There is a lot of useful information packed into the site, and it is really pretty to look at, too. One gripe: it is not so easy to find the English translation. There is a button that takes you straight to it, but that button is not labelled. I rather think that was people who come to the site will be using the English version, even if they are not the core audience for whom the site was built.

A similar site has been around for a while. It is the Online Froissart, which like the Cid site presents textual material in a variety of ways, with once again serious scholars being the core audience. The value of the site is underlined by the fact that the the best print edition Froissart’s over a century old and still unfinished. Looking at book prices for much less specialized and complicated scholarly works, one wonders whether the print edition will be finished and if anyone will be able to afford it on that happy day. The editors of the site have broken down one set of barriers to this key later medieval work.

And how about Armour in Art?  It describes itself thus:  “ArmourInArt.com is a searchable database of medieval art featuring armour. Items in the database range in date from 1100 to 1450 and are located throughout Europe. Content is varied - frescos, altars, stained glass, reliefs, etc - anything that is not an effigy/brass or manuscript is included.”

Why those latter two exclusions? Because, Mr. Bones, there related sites to cover that of the material. See the links just above.

Even yet, the Internet offers us some good serious content along with the kitty cats and the child stars who have aged so badly.

Breaking a family tradition

Like a lot of Americans and Canadians I have a very mixed ethnic background, but perhaps the one I was most aware of growing up was Irish Catholic. (Despite the German name I had little sense of being German, although it did influence me to take German language courses in high school).  The family tradition around St. Patrick’s Day was pretty simple. We didn’t do anything at all. Of course there was a lot less fuss then about the holiday – something that is true of many other holidays, like Halloween.

So today I am breaking with that family tradition and wearing green. Why ? I don’t know.

It does remind me of my high school history teacher who talked quite a bit about his Irish grandmother and then wore orange on St. Patrick’s Day…

A twelfth-century description of a judicial duel on horseback

A new site dedicated to the "Song of My Cid" -- the famous Spanish epic -- includes this interesting account of the judicial duel between three of the Carrion clan whose "enfantes" mistreated the Cid's daughters and three of the Cid's chief vassals. Note that the bad guys are unwilling to face the famously sharp swords wielded by the good guys, and bail out by running out of the boundaries. I can't help thinking that structurally this combat may have been like a tournament. Get up and go out to the field, infantes of Carrión,

it is time for you to fight like men,

the Campeador's men will not fail in anything.

If you come off he field well, you will have great honor,

if you are defeated, don't blame us,

for everyone knows that you went looking for it.-

Now the infantes of Carrión are repenting,

for what they did they are filled with regret,

they wouldn't have done it for all there is in Carrión.

All three of the Campeador's men are armed,

King don Alfonso went over to see them,

the Campeador's men said,

-We kiss your hands as king and lord,

that you be field judge for them and for us,

help us fairly, allow no wrongs.

Here the infantes of Carrión have their band,

we know not what they will plan or what they won't,

in your hand our lord placed us,

protect our rights, for the love of the Creator.-

At that moment the king said, -With all my heart and soul.-

They bring them their horses, good ones and swift,

they blessed the saddles and mount confidently,

the shields that are well reinforced at their necks,

in their hands they take the shafts of the sharp lances,

these three lances have their own pennons,

and around them many fine men.

They now went out to the field where the markers were.

All three of the Campeador's men are in agreement

that each one of them should strike his adversary hard.

Behold at the other end the infantes of Carrión,

very well accompanied, for there are many relatives.

The king gave them judges to tell them what's right and what isn't,

that they not dispute with them about who is or isn't right.

When they were in the field King don Alfonso spoke,

-Hear what I say to you, infantes of Carrión,

this combat you might have had in Toledo, but you refused.

These three knights of my Cid the Campeador

I brought them safely to the lands of Carrión,

be in the right, don't commit any wrongs,

for whoever wishes to commit a wrong, I will severely prohibit it,

in all my kingdom he will not be welcome.-

Now it begins to grieve the infantes of Carrión.

The judges and the king point out the markers,

all those around them left the field,

they showed clearly to all six of them how they are laid out,

that there whoever went outside the marker would be defeated.

All the people cleared out around there,

that they not approach the markers by any more than six lance lengths.

They drew lots for field position, now they divided the sun equally,

the judges got out from between them, they are face to face,

then the Cid's men came at the infantes of Carrión

and the infantes of Carrión at the Campeador's men,

each one of them concentrates on his target.

They clasp their shields before their hearts,

they lower their lances along with the pennons,

they lower their faces over the saddlebows,

they struck their horses with their spurs,

the ground shook where they were riding.

Each one of them has his mind on his target,

all three on three have now come together,

those that are nearby think that at that moment they will fall dead.

Pedro Bermúdez, he who challenged first,

met with Fernán González face to face,

they strike each other's shield fearlessly.

Fernán González pierced the shield of Pedro Bermúdez,

he hit only air, he did not strike flesh,

in two places his lance shaft broke cleanly apart.

Pedro Bermúdez remained steady, he did lose his balance from it,

he received one blow, but he dealt another,

he broke the boss of the shield, he split it in two,

he went through it entirely, it didn't protect him at all,

he stuck his lance into his chest, it didn't protect him at all.

Fernando wore three layers of mail, this helped him,

two of them broke on him and the third held up,

the padded tunic with the shirt and with the mail

out from his mouth the blood came, his saddle-girths broke,

not one of them was of any use to him,

over the croup of the horse he was thrown to the ground.

In this way the people thought he is fatally wounded.

The other dropped the lance and the sword he took in hand,

when Fernán González saw it, he recognized Tizón,

rather than wait for the blow he said, -I am defeated.-

The judges granted it, Pedro Bermúdez let him be.

Martín Antolínez and Diego González struck each other with their lances,

the blows were such that both lances broke.

Martín Antolínez took his sword in hand,

it lights up all the field, it is so clean and bright,

he gave him a blow, he hit him a glancing blow,

it broke away the top of the helmet,

it cut away all the helmet straps,

it tore off the mailed hood, and reached the coif,

the coif and the hood all were ripped away,

it cut the hairs on his head, and it reached well into the flesh,

one part fell to the ground and the other remained.

When precious Colada has struck this blow,

Diego González saw that he would not escape with his soul,

he turned his horse to face his opponent.

At that moment Martín Antolínez hit him with his sword,

he struck him broadside, with the cutting edge he did not hit him.

Diego González has sword in hand, but he does not

use it,at that moment the infante began to shout,

-Help me, God, glorious Lord, and protect me from this sword!-

He reined in his horse and, dodging the sword,

rode it outside the marker, Martín Antolínez remained on the field

. Then said the king, -Come join my company,

by all you have done, you have won this battle.-

The judges grant it, that he says the truth.

Both men have won, I'll tell you of Muño Gustioz,

how he fared against Asur González.

They strike each other on their shields with such great blows,

Asur González, rugged and valiant,

struck the shield of don Muño Gustioz,

through the shield he broke his armor,

the lance hit only air, for it did not strike flesh.

This blow struck, Muño Gustioz struck another one,

through the shield he broke his armor,

he broke through the shield's boss,

it could not protect him, he broke through his armor,

he hit him on one side, not near the heart,

he thrust his lance and the pennon right through his flesh,

pushing it through the other side an arm's length,

he gave it a twist, he tipped him from the saddle,

when he pulled back on the lance he threw him to the ground,

the shaft came out red as did the lance-tip and the pennon.

Everyone thinks that he is mortally wounded.

He repositioned his lance and halted over him, said Gonzalo Ansúrez,

-Don't strike him, for God's sake!

He is defeated since this is finished.-

Said the judges, -This we hear.-

The good king don Alfonso ordered the field cleared,

the arms that remained there he took them.

The Campeador's men left fully honored,

they won this combat, thanks to the Creator.

Great is the grief through the lands of Carrión.

The king sent my Cid's men at night,

so that they not be attacked or have fear.

Like prudent men they ride day and night,

behold them in Valencia with my Cid the Campeador,

they left the infantes of Carrión in disgrace,

they have fulfilled their duty that their lord demanded of them,

my Cid the Campeador was pleased by this.

Great is the shame of the infantes of Carrión,

whoever scorns a good lady and then abandons her

may such befall him or even worse.

How Islamic is the Islamic State?

Fascinating article in the Atlantic by Graeme Wood. Its concluding passage:

Within the narrow bounds of its theology, the Islamic State hums with energy, even creativity. Outside those bounds, it could hardly be more arid and silent: a vision of life as obedience, order, and destiny. Musa Cerantonio and Anjem Choudary could mentally shift from contemplating mass death and eternal torture to discussing the virtues of Vietnamese coffee or treacly pastry, with apparent delight in each, yet to me it seemed that to embrace their views would be to see all the flavors of this world grow insipid compared with the vivid grotesqueries of the hereafter.

I could enjoy their company, as a guilty intellectual exercise, up to a point. In reviewing Mein Kampf in March 1940, George Orwell confessed that he had “never been able to dislike Hitler”; something about the man projected an underdog quality, even when his goals were cowardly or loathsome. “If he were killing a mouse he would know how to make it seem like a dragon.” The Islamic State’s partisans have much the same allure. They believe that they are personally involved in struggles beyond their own lives, and that merely to be swept up in the drama, on the side of righteousness, is a privilege and a pleasure—especially when it is also a burden.

Fascism, Orwell continued, is psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life … Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people “I offer you a good time,” Hitler has said to them, “I offer you struggle, danger, and death,” and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet … We ought not to underrate its emotional appeal.

Nor, in the case of the Islamic State, its religious or intellectual appeal. That the Islamic State holds the imminent fulfillment of prophecy as a matter of dogma at least tells us the mettle of our opponent. It is ready to cheer its own near-obliteration, and to remain confident, even when surrounded, that it will receive divine succor if it stays true to the Prophetic model. Ideological tools may convince some potential converts that the group’s message is false, and military tools can limit its horrors. But for an organization as impervious to persuasion as the Islamic State, few measures short of these will matter, and the war may be a long one, even if it doesn’t last until the end of time.

The psychology of the Islamic State as described here reminds me of the apocalyptic motivations of the promoters of and participants in the First Crusade.

Buy these books!

I recently got a royalty statement from my main publisher, Freelance Academy Press, and I'm sad to say that sales of been rather anemic the last six months. I know there are more people who are interested in this material than have heard about it. Also FAP does a classy job of printing and binding and illustrating these volumes. Finally, the price is right. The books are about a third the price of some of the other similar works put out by mainstream publishers. So I'm going to do my bit to get the word out, something that everybody who publishes these days is told they have to do. ,

FAP carries three recent books by me. All of them concern "deeds of arms" or chivalric sports and warfare in the late 14th century. All of them include translations of accounts from that period plus my own analysis of the material. I think I am quite a good writer so a lot of people should find my approach easy to understand and even entertaining.

First, there is "Royal Jousts". This book describes famous jousts of the 14th century as described by people who took part in them. This is the time when the kings of France and England competed not just on the battlefield but also in their sponsorship of chivalric sports. The best part of the book is the description of the jousts at St. Inglevert in the 1390s. It's famously described by Froissart, but other people wrote up the event too. I've included those other descriptions. If you are curious about what jousting meant to knights of the time, this is your book.

 Second is "the Combat of the Thirty." This is a famous incident of 1350s in which Breton – French men at arms fought English and mercenary men at arms for the fun of it. Each group controlled a strategic castle, but the war itself had bogged down. Out of boredom or other calculations, the captains of these garrisons decided to fight "30 against 30 with no one running away." Some people at the time thought it was a foolish pointless fight, while others thought it showed a true knightly spirit, unlike for instance the French cavalry who had run away from the battle of Crecy. There may have been some doubt too about whether the winning tactic was a fair one or not. Modern reenactors love to reenact this one. If you have friends who love the Hundred Years War, get them this book.

The third book is "Charny's men-at-arms." Geoffroi de Charny is the famous knight of the 1350s, among other things the first owner of the shroud of Turin. He was a trusted advisor of King John II of France and took part in John's efforts to revitalize chivalry in his kingdom. One project that Geoffroi de Charny participated in was an effort to revive knowledge of the "law of arms" that governed the relations between knights and knights (or "men at arms"). With the King's encouragement, Charny put together a list of questions about how the law of arms applied to jousting tournaments and warfare. Interestingly, he did not include or record any answers to those questions. So "Charny's questions"as they are usually called doesn't give us a codified legal document, but rather a list of things that practical warriors worried about – ransoms, who was qualified to fight in tournaments, and various questions of honour.

Let me also urge you to suggest to your local public library or academic library that they buy them books for their collections. These are not just books for scholars. Scholars will like them, but so will people of a variety of back grounds interested in some of the most colourful aspects of the Middle Ages.

Buy these books at Freelance Academy Press.