In War and Conflict in the Middle Ages, Stephen Morillo offers the
first global history of armed conflict between 540 and 1500 or as late
as 1800 CE, an age shaped by climate change and pandemics at both ends.
Examining armed conflict at all levels, and ranging across China and the
central Asian steppes to southwest Asia, western Europe, and beyond,
Morillo explores the technological, social, cultural, and environmental
determinants of warfare and the tools and tactics used by warriors on
land and at sea.
Part I explains the geographical, political, and technological rules
that shaped patterns of military activity everywhere. Part II explores
how these rules played out in various historical contexts. Armed
conflict played a central role in the making of the medieval world, and
medieval people used war and conflict to create, expand, and defend
their communities and identities. But the devastating effects of climate
change and epidemic disease continually reshaped these communities and
the nature of their conflicts.
Broad in its scope and rich in detail, War and Conflict in the Middle
Ages will be the go-to guide for students and aficionados of military
history, medieval history, and global history.