IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 207: A Scandinavian Sonderweg?, II: Warfare

Monday 5 July 2021, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study, University of California, Berkeley
Organiser:	Hans Jacob Orning, Institutt for arkeologi, konservering og historie, Universitetet i Oslo
Moderator/Chair:	Jenny Benham, School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University
Paper 207-a	Patterns of Diversity: The Formation of the European Military Tradition (Language: English) John France, Department of History, Swansea University Index terms: Law, Military History, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 207-b	Conquest, Defence, Retaliation: The Diversity of Anglo-Norman Warfare (Language: English) Matthew J. Strickland, School of Humanities (History), University of Glasgow Index terms: Law, Military History, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 207-c	War without Siege and Plunder?: A Military Scandinavian Sonderweg in the Middle Ages? (Language: English) Hans Jacob Orning, Institutt for arkeologi, konservering og historie, Universitetet i Oslo Index terms: Law, Military History, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Abstract	Charles Tilly has identified war (alongside capital accumulation) as one of the two primary drivers of European state; yet warfare appears to have differed dramatically in Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian Europe. Most European warfare between the 11th and 14th centuries was conducted through sieges, with battles being rare and armies remaining surprisingly small. Scandinavian warfare, in contrast, featured naval warfare, while land battles involved exceedingly large armies. This session explores these aspects of warfare within a comparative perspective. Was Scandinavian warfare truly different from that elsewhere in Europe or has the contrast been overstated?