IMC 2021: Sessions

All too frequently, the efforts of both the authors of medieval entertainment literature and romantically-minded modern scholars have succeeded in presenting fighting men in the Middle Ages as heroic super-heroes, who were immune from normal human frailties. In reality, these men were no different than modern soldiers in feeling the full range of human emotions, and most notably fear or even terror when facing the need to kill, and potentially to be maimed or killed in combat. Effective military leaders throughout the Middle Ages used a wide range of techniques to alleviate the fears of their men and to raise their morale, that is to combat what might be termed a 'climate of fear' among their troops. Among the most important of these techniques was the development by military leaders of a reputation as a careful and prudent commander, who only placed the lives of his men at risk when this was a military necessity. This type of prudence, as can be seen in both narrative works and in military handbooks, went hand in hand with the development of effective military intelligence, which made it possible to place one's men in the best position to succeed and to avoid situations in which failure was likely. In short, effective military intelligence was an essential tool in combating soldiers' fear.