Introduction

Few historians in the past 50 years have argued so forcefully or persuasively as Bernard S. Bachrach for the study of war as not only worthy of scholarly attention, but demanding of it. As Bachrach observed in the introduction to his 2001 monograph Early Carolingian Warfare, “In the West, military matters have consumed more material resources and lives than any other human endeavor over more than 3,000 years.” ¹ In his 20 books and more than 130 articles, Bachrach has established unequivocally the relevance of military institutions and activity for an understanding of medieval European polities and mentalities. In so doing, as much as any scholar of his generation, he has helped to define the status quaestionis for the field of medieval military history.