The essays brought together in this volume examine the conduct of war by
the Angevin kings of England during the long thirteenth century
(1189-1307). Drawing upon a wide range of unpublished administrative
records that have been largely ignored by previous scholarship, David S.
Bachrach offers new insights into the military technology of the period,
including the types of artillery and missile weapons produced by the
royal government. The studies in this volume also highlight the
administrative sophistication of the Angevin kings in military affairs,
showing how they produced and maintained huge arsenals, mobilized vast
quantities of supplies for their armies in the field, and provided for
the pastoral care of their men. Bachrach also challenges the
knight-centric focus of much of the scholarship on this period,
demonstrating that the militarization of the English population
penetrated to men in the lower social and economic strata, who
volunteered in large numbers for military service, and even made careers
as professional soldiers. (CS1088).