Glossary

Large-scale mechanical devices that are intended to project a payload at a substantially greater distance than is possible with hand-held arms.

Private military households of great magnates in the late Roman Empire in the West and in the eastern Roman Empire.

A large-scale military operation that is intended to last for a lengthy period of weeks, months, or even years, often with a specific set of objectives.

A set of orders issued by Charlemagne (768–814) in the later eighth century to regulate the production of royal estates and ensure the provision of supplies to the royal army.

Mounted forces, the men of which are trained to fight on horseback.

Extended raids in force that often had the goal of demonstrating the inability of a ruler to defend his people by subjecting them to looting, arson, and death.

The accidental damage inflicted on a non-combatant population as well as economic assets during the course of military operations.

A military campaign that is undertaken for religious reasons and whose participants receive spiritual benefits.

A depiction of the centuries after the end of Roman imperial rule as primitive and bereft of the institutions and learning characteristic of the late Roman Empire.

A system of fortifications, transportation routes, and mobile troops that is designed to keep people and moveable property safe from enemy attack, deny supplies to an invader, and ultimately defeat the enemy forces piecemeal as they divide into small groups to search for supplies over a wide area.

Forces of non-professional troops that are mobilized to serve outside their home districts. These men usually are required to go on campaign because they met a minimum wealth requirement.

Positions that have been strengthened by human action to withstand enemy attack. These can be constructed of earth, timber, stone, or a combination of these. They may also be protected by ditches or moats, the latter of which are filled with water.

The militia forces of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. The great fyrd consisted of all free men, who were required to serve in defense of their local region. The select fyrd consisted of those men who met the property qualifications to be summoned to go on campaign outside their home district.

A list of reinforcements of heavily armed, mounted fighting men, who were sent to serve in the army of Emperor Otto II in Italy in 982.

Forces of men who are trained to fight on foot as part of a larger unit.

The interdisciplinary study of archaeological remains, natural topography, transportation arteries, and place names that provides information about the thinking of planners, who designed defensive systems.

These are the personal military forces of a magnate, such as an abbot, bishop, count, or ruler.

Organizations of laymen, who took vows of poverty, obedience, chastity, and also swore to give their lives in the defense of the crusader states and the church. Examples of the military orders are the Templars and Hospitallers.

The system of rites and practices, such as prayer, intercessory masses, vigils, penances, preaching, and confessions, that support the morale and discipline of armies in the field.

A dense formation of men serving on foot.

A document for managing a rural estate.

Handing over a fortification, whether private or public, to the legitimate ruler of a kingdom or principality.

The study of the physical reality in which events take place.

A military operation in which both sides commit substantial military forces to secure long-term control over a fortified site.