ABSTRACT
The MPBs (Maciejowski Bible and the Morgan Picture Bible) value as a historical source for the study of thirteenth-century warfare goes well beyond the accuracy of its details about armour, weapons, and siege equipment, but the codexs value lies not in the realism of its representation of the performance of war. Battles as depicted in the MPB, as opposed to the artist's meticulous presentation of armour, horses, equipment, weapons, and siege machinery, were not based on the artists personal knowledge of warfare. The draftsmen responsible for the scenes of warfare were clearly familiar with knights, armour, and military equipment. Real warfare was characterized by ravaging and pillaging, the most common military activities of the period, and sieges of walled towns and castles. The MPBs exaggerated violence was grounded in the crusading ideology prevalent in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
