Description

From the Introduction:

 In accordance with tradition, “Quaestiones Medii Aevi Novae55 XI, entitled Arms and Armour’, is devoted to a single theme. During the Middle Ages wars fulfilled an extremely prominent function in social life and enjoyed particularly high regard. Arms were decisive for the fate of assorted nations, and new techniques and technologies improved their production and rendered them more effective; subsequently, the gained experiences revolutionised the making of weapons, as is the case up to this very day. Over half a century ago, Józef Łepkowski, the first Polish expert on historical arms and armour and rector of Jagiellonian University, wrote: “Arms might be the key to assessing the education of the people who use them” and went on to say: “Show an expert the arms of a certain nation and he will describe its education”. More than a hundred years later, Andrzej Nadolski, another excellent historian of arms and rector of Łódź University, also accentuated the value of weapons as one of the important sources for becoming acquainted with our history, especially that of the Middle Ages. It was thanks to his research and then that of his students, who had trained already a successive generation of archaeologists and historians of “arms and colours”, that we may speak about the high level of pertinent knowledge in Poland.

This is both significant and inspiring since the articles were written, after all, by professional historians and archaeologists dealing with military history in Poland, Germany, France, Russia, Lithuania, Hungary, and the British Isles. Such diverse approaches show the “spirit” of the author and his sincere efforts. The final shape of the articles was affected by numerous factors, the most important being the profession of the given author (archaeologist, historian, art historian), the inspiration provided by one’s master, and own invention. Such a combination could have yielded nothing but excellent results – the only sort which we present.

Contents:

– Jan Szymczak, Introduction

– Pamela Armstrong, Nicholas Victor Sekunda, A Byzantine Soldier from the Crusading Era

– Anatolij N. Kirpicnikov, Boopyжeниe и вoeннoe дeлo cpeднeвeкoвoй Руси…

– Ferenc Sebôk, The Hungarian Military System at the Begining of the 16th Century

– Sven Ekdahl, Verträge des Deutschen Ordens mit Söldnerführern aus den ersten Jahrzehnten nach Grunwald

– Klaus Militzer, Die Finanzierung einer Belagerung von 1366

– Witold Swietosławski, Arms and Armour of the Cumans Aristocracy in the 12th-13th Century

– Marian Głosek, Olgierd Ławrynowicz, Les origines et l’évolution des accessoires d’épée en Pologne médiévale

– Valérie Serdon, L’arbalète en Europe Occidentale. Remarques sur son rôle dans l’évolution de l’armement défensif

– Jan Szymczak, Secures, asciae, baculi ferrei, mallei bellici, tribulae et caetera – Schlagwaffen im mittelalterlichen Polen

– Mateusz Goliński, Firearms in 15th-century Silesian Military Art

– Gintautas Rackevicius, Vilnius Crossbow Workshops in the late Middle Ages (Second Half of the 14th Century – First Half of the 15th Century)

– Tadeusz Grabarczyk, Lorica, colnerium et balista – the Arms of Polish Mercenary Soldiers in 1471

– Danuta Quirini-Poplawska, Rafał Quirini-Poplawski, Italian Influences on the Black Sea in the late Middle Ages

– Magdalena Naum, Theory of Practice and Archaeology of Culture Contact: Case Study of Early Medieval Bornholm

– Kazimierz Skalski, Russian Military Services in the 10th-11th Century

– Pavel Krafl, Development and Current State of the Regesta Bohemiae et Moraviae aetatis Venceslai IV

VARIA:

– Tenth Anniversary of the Journal “Quaestiones Medii Aevi Novae”

– Kinga Szczepkowska-Naliwajek (1945-2006)

– Book Notices