Technology, Society, and the Infantry Revolution of the Fourteenth Century

Abstract

Major developments in the technology and technique of warfare are commonly understood to be an important source of historical change. Not only do they alter the character of warfare, but they also prompt broader social developments. This position has been notably adopted by Clifford J. Rogers, who claims that the emergence of newly effective infantry forces was responsible for the rise of the commons during the fourteenth century. This article argues that developments in the technique of infantry warfare during the period were largely a consequence, rather than a cause, of social change. In doing so it calls for a new approach to understanding late-medieval military developments, one which is informed by the view that war is powerfully shaped by the societies which wage it.

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