Abstract
Logistics are those things that armchair generals find so annoying. They are boring, requiring a degree of attention to detail and accounting that gets in the way ofthe fun and excitement ofbattle. There is no heroic noise, no clash of metal on metal, no huge cheers and great speeches. Yet logistics are those things that all armies must do. Armies form. They eat; they move; they eat more. Maybe, just maybe, they end up fighting a battle. Even then, logistics will shape the manner in which the troops fight. Logistics are the grunts of the teamster, the creak of the wagon, and the hot ovens making bread early in the morning. Logistics are a vital part of the problem of warfare along the Atlantic littoral at any period, but especially during the Middle Ages. The needs of armed warriors were the same—food, weapons, and movement—whether they were the personal bodyguards of a prince or the nobility who held their lands and privileges in return for military service or the freebooters who fought for profit (however that was defined). This chapter examines four logistical models employed in the Atlantic theater of operations from the ninth to eleventh centuries: Carolingian, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, and Irish. Expanded attention will be given to the Irish material as the availability of legal and literary materials offers a useful supplement to the historical records.
For armies are more often destroyed by starvation than battle, and hunger is more savage than the sword.
Vegetius, Epitome of Military Science
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Notes
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© 2012 Benjamin Hudson
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Beougher, D. (2012). “More Savage than the Sword”: Logistics in the Medieval Atlantic Theater of War. In: Hudson, B. (eds) Studies in the Medieval Atlantic. The New Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137062390_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137062390_7
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