ABSTRACT
Medieval society was dominated by landed proprietors and it was they who decided upon and directed war. This chapter considers how war sprang from the loose nature of the ties that bound this elite. An emperor or a king was undoubtedly a sovereign authority, but the weakness of royal power in many parts of Europe meant that others wielded public authority at a very high level. Warfare which was about feudal adjustments, at whatever level, was almost bound to be limited and hardly worth the risks of battle and sustained major conflict. At the same time, however, an apparently small-scale quarrel could escalate and destabilize even the mightiest of feudal agglomerations. Kings claimed a sovereignty, but in practice they had to share power with others whose allegiances were uncertain and could easily be transferred to other lords. Power rested on possession of land and the king had to struggle to hold and expand his, just like any other landlord.
