While the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk realm in 1516-17 doubtlessly changed the balance of political power in Egypt and Greater Syria, the changes must be seen as a wide-ranging transition process. The present collection of essays provides several case studies on the changing situation during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and explains how the reconfiguration of political power affected both Egypt and Greater Syria. With reference to the first volume (2017), this second volume continues the debate on key issues of the transition period with contributions by scholars from both Mamluk and Ottoman studies. By combining these perspectives, the authors provide a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of the process of transformation from Mamluk to Ottoman rule.

A major new exploration of the history and development of gunpowder weapons in the 15th century based on the artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy. The four Valois Dukes of Burgundy created, in little more than a century, a fabulously wealthy and independent state. Their centralised control and chancellery have bequeathed to us a vast treasure trove of documents, including accounts and inventories of the Masters of the artillery under the later Dukes. Although many of these were extracted and transcribed in the late nineteenth century, modern historians have largely ignored their unprecedented insights into fifteenth-century guns and their use. When Charles the Bold, the last Valois Duke, took on the combined Swiss confederate forces in 1476 he lost not just the battles and his personal fortune, but much of his artillerytrain as well. Of the dozens of cannons captured, at least 25 pieces survive in Swiss museums. The documents that survive from the Valois state give us, almost for the first time in medieval Europe, the ability to see the course of history in a period when Europe was undergoing some of the most profound changes before the 20th century. The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy is the first attempt to combine all these sources, bringing newand fresh insights into the development and use of artillery in the fifteenth century. Moreover this is the first modern study of medieval cannon, one of the most important discoveries of the post-classical world. KELLY DeVRIES has authored numerous books and articles on medieval warfare. ROBERT DOUGLAS SMITH formerly Head of Conservation in the Royal Armouries, Tower of London, is an acknowledged expert on medieval artillery. This study is thefirst major fruit of their combined researches.

These articles are devoted to the two main aspects of medieval warfare: men and technology. Men fought, led, and ultimately killed in war, while the technology that they used facilitated these tasks. The first group of essays highlights human strengths in the fighting of medieval wars, with a focus on events of the 14th and 15th centuries, specifically the Anglo-French wars and wars against the Turks. A second group addresses the technological side of warfare, in particular the advent and proliferation of early gunpowder weapons which evolved rapidly during the late Middle Ages, although never replacing the role of men. The articles study various facets of this evolution, from the increased use and effectiveness of guns in battles, sieges, and naval warfare, to changes in their science and metallurgy, surgical treatment of wounds caused by them, and governmental centralization of the technology.

Der Band enthält 26 Beiträge in deutscher, französischer und englischer Sprache. Die Themenvielfalt reicht vom Aufgabenbereich der Grafen im karolingischen Ostfrankenreich, dem Gottesfrieden von 1163 in der Diözese Toulouse, der Persönlichkeit Kaiser Karls IV. und der Tanzpolemik in der Zeit des Großen Abendländischen Schismas über Schützengesellschaften im Reich des 16. Jahrhunderts, die französische Botschaft im osmanischen Istanbul und die Rolle der Muskatnuss in der Île-de-France bis zu Darstellungen des Bürgerkönigs Louis-Philippe, das Verhältnis Bismarcks zu Frankreich, die Heimkehr des Historikers Walther Cartellieri aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg und einem Rückblick auf die 68er-Bewegung in Deutschland und Frankreich. Mit Fragen des spätmittelalterlichen Rittertums befassen sich die Beiträge einer 2016 veranstalteten Tagung.

In this groundbreaking new study, Kate van Orden examines noble education in the arts to show how music contributed to cultural and social transformation in early modern French society. She constructs a fresh account of music's importance in promoting the absolutism that the French monarchy would fully embrace under Louis XIV, uncovering many hitherto unpublished ballets and royal ceremonial performances. The great pressure on French noblemen to take up the life of the warrior gave rise to bellicose art forms such as sword dances and equestrian ballets. Far from being construed as effeminizing, such combinations of music and the martial arts were at once refined and masculine-a perfect way to display military prowess. The incursion of music into riding schools and infantry drills contributed materially to disciplinary order, enabling the larger and more effective armies of the seventeenth century. This book is a history of the development of these musical spheres and how they brought forth new cultural priorities of civility, military discipline, and political harmony. Music, Discipline, and Arms in Early Modern France effectively illustrates the seminal role music played in mediating between the cultural spheres of letters and arms.