John of Salisbury

John D. Hosler, Ph.D. (2005), University of Delaware, is Associate Professor of British History at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. Specializing in medieval French and English warfare, he is the author of Henry II: A Medieval Soldier at War, 1147-1189 (Brill, 2007).

• Acknowledgements … ix Abbreviations … xi Introduction … 1 1. John’s Military Lexicon … 11 2. The Soldiers … 39 3. Organization and Logistics … 63 4. Armies at War … 87 5. The Language of War … 119 6. Contemporary Military Accounts … 149 Conclusion … 173Index

"...a very successful book. Hosler deserves great credit for so cogently demonstrating the importance of John of Salisbury as military thinker and reliable source regarding contemporary ideas about the conduct of war and our own understanding of them. One hopes his book will be a model for future studies of other medieval writers that will further illuminate the significance of military education in the medieval period. I recommend this text both to specialists and to medieval scholars generally." Review by David S. Bachrach, The University of New Hampshire, in Michigan War Studies Review, 2013-100, 16 December 2013."In this fine book, Hosler provides a fascinating study of the ways in which a twelfth-century scholar viewed war. While John of Salisbury’s writings on military matters are very unlikely to have influenced the practice of war, this excellent study has illuminated a neglected aspect of his thought, one conditioned far more by his reading of the classics than by his knowledge of contemporary events and practices". Review by Michael Prestwich, University of Durham, in Journal of Military History, 78/1, 2014, 347-8"...a very impressive, insightful, and well-researched book. Hosler's volume should be indispensable reading not only by John of Salisbury scholars (a small group, to be sure), but also by an audience of military, intellectual, and political historians interested in the twelfth century." Review by Cary J. Nederman, Texas A&M University, in Mediaevistik, 27, 2014, 367-369