ABSTRACT
I entered academic combat in the field of medieval military history virtually unsupported. I had worked essentially alone as a graduate student; I was an American with an English degree and supervisor; and my first academic job came after an interlude during which I worked as a graphic artist and cartoonist for a New Orleans weekly newspaper. I felt alone and exposed on the academic battlefield. Fortunately, before I had a chance even to think about panicking and deserting, I stumbled into the camp of a group of scholars based in the Haskins Society. The senior scholars, the platoon commanders of this group, were Warren Hollister and Bernie Bachrach, and they both welcomed me. Having now achieved veteran status and contributed already to a collection of articles in honor of Warren (a collection co-edited by Bernie), 1 it is with pleasure that I can now repay my debt of gratitude to Bernie by contributing to his well-earned Festschrift.
