| The Warfare of Henry II, 1149--1189 positions King Henry II of England as a significant medieval commander. Hitherto, no complete history of his military career has been written, and his legacy as a general has suffered as a result. His reign was, nevertheless, quite important in the development of high medieval warfare. Relying heavily upon medieval sources, the dissertation considers the scope of Henry's warfare in terms of battles, strategy and tactics, military command, fortifications, and its political repercussions.; The dissertation's primary goal is to provide both a chronological narrative of the king's military career and a probing historiographical investigation into the state of modern scholarship on the subject. Secondarily, it argues that Henry II was as capable a medieval general as his predecessors and successors alike, if not more so. In the process, the author urges not only a reappraisal of traditionally maligned medieval generals but also a reevaluation of our modern criteria that dictates how modern historians construct their legacies. |
