Medieval World Culture & Conflict Magazine

Medieval Warfare picks up where its sister magazine, Ancient Warfare, leaves off. Starting around 500 AD, Medieval Warfare examines the world during the Middle Ages up through the early years of the Renaissance (the magazine generally leaves off in the 16th century). While popular topics such as the Crusades and the Vikings are given regular coverage, Medieval Warfare also tackles more complex and obscure topics, ranging from the Umayyad Caliphate versus the Byzantine Empire to horse trading in 14th-century England.

Medieval World Culture & Conflict Magazine

Editorial

MARGINALIA

Al used on medieval manuscripts

ON THE COVER

Whales did this in the Middle Ages too

BLOODY WATERS • On 17 December 1598, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Korea’s greatest military hero, lay dying in the arms of his men on the deck of his flagship. Around his battle-scarred vessel floated the broken and burning remains of some 200 Japanese ships. The Battle of Noryang, Joseon Korea’s parting ‘gift’ to the withdrawing Japanese armies, brought six years of brutal conflict to an end. That the final battle took place at sea was most appropriate indeed.

Japanese warships

Joseon warships

HERALDIC ROOTS • Heraldry was one of the most important vis- ual media in medieval Europe, to be found on everything from the banners and shields of knights to the buildings and tableware of the nobility. But where did it come from?

THE WORLD OF LOUIS IX • Louis IX was born on 25 April 1214 at the royal residence at Pois- sy, about 25 kilometres outside of Paris, which had grown to be the largest and most vibrant city in Northern Europe. At the time, the king of France was Philip II (r. 1180-1223), known as Philip Augustus, who just three months later would soundly defeat the combined forces of King John of England and Otto of Brunswick, the claimant for the German imperial crown, and firmly establish the kingdom of France as the preeminent power in Western Europe - what contemporaries would have thought of as Latin Christendom.

The Sainte-Chapelle

DISASTER IN THE DELTA • In 1248, King Louis IX set out on an ambitious crusading expedition to conquer Egypt. After his victory there, Louis planned to move toward Jerusalem. This endeavour began auspiciously enough, but would ultimately fail due to leadership lapses and an overreliance on faith.

LOUIS AND THE MONGOLS • On 17 September 1248, King Louis IX arrived on the isle of Cyprus to take command of his crusading army, now known as the Seventh Crusade. His aim was to conquer Egypt and then, following its overthrow, to use the Nile Delta’s enormous commercial and agricultural wealth to fund the permanent reconquest of Jerusalem. This was an enormously ambitious goal, one that required him to engage with the complexities of Near Eastern geopolitics.

Innocent IV and Mongol diplomacy

LOUIS IX'S LARGE FAMILY • Studies of Louis IX often mention the formative influence of his mother, Blanche of Castile, but otherwise portray his world as resolutely masculine. This portrayal would be true enough for the officials and advisors at the Capetian court, but Blanche of Castile was part of an array of powerful female figures at the heart of Louis IX’s family, including his wife Marguerite of Provence, his sister Isabelle, and several of his daughters. The influence of these royal women on Louis’ reign has too often been minimized. At home and on crusade, they played crucial roles in this pivotal period in French history.

Louis' heir, Philip III

BLANCHE OF CASTILE • Louis VIII died of dysentery on his return from the Albigensian Crusade in 1226, leaving his twelve-year-old son and heir to succeed him as Louis IX. On his deathbed, Louis VIII consigned the guardianship of the young king and the governance of the kingdom of France to his wife, the...