IMC 2023: Sessions
Session 504: The Spoils of War: Plunder and Profit in Medieval Warfare
Tuesday 4 July 2023, 09.00-10.30
| Sponsor: | Northern Network for the Study of the Crusades |
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| Organiser: | Connor Wilson, Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Moderator/Chair: | John France, Department of History, Swansea University |
| Paper 504-a | Money, Mendicancy, and Mercenaries in the Early Crusading Era, c. 1100-c. 1200 (Language: English) Index terms: Economics - General, Military History |
| Paper 504-b | The Role of Plunder in Portuguese Warfare in North Africa, 1415-1521 (Language: English) Index terms: Maritime and Naval Studies, Military History |
| Paper 504-c | Battlefield Spoils and Looted Treasure in the Early Latin Narratives of the First Crusade (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Military History |
| Paper 504-d | From Umayyad Madinat al-Zahra to Almohad Seville: The Plunder and Reuse of Andalusi Capitals (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Architecture - General, Art History - General, Islamic and Arabic Studies |
| Abstract | Taking spoils of war, be it victuals and livestock, treasures, or captives for ransom, formed a central dynamic element of medieval conflict, as a driver of conquest, a motivator for service, and a supplement for pay. Unlike lands and titles, movable wealth occupied a unique place in medieval warfare and society, demarcated by its immediacy and mobility. Whether by capture or recapture, gifting, or sale, spoils flowed from frontiers and battlefields to the centres of secular and religious authority. Traversing national and international boundaries, as well as diverse geographies, the use of and attitudes to war spoils communicate histories of cross-cultural contact, as well as conflict. |