"16th Century Europe and Ottoman Empire" Topic

With my (fairly) recent purchase of Black Powder and of Hail Caesar, I have, as you do, been looking over my existing armies to see how they are suited to the new rules.

In doing so I made a striking discovery. I have armies for pretty much every age of warfare, from Old Kingdom Egyptians to the recent unpleasantness in Libya.

However there is a gap. I have nothing from the end of the Wars of the Roses until the English Civil War. It struck me as surprising, but I put it out of my mind. As if

The real problem is the 16th century is a period of History I know naff-all about. I have been struck by the rather nice little figures Essex do in 15mm for Turks, and it's the sort of army I would like painting – but it would be a total mystery to me who they would have been fighting, and I hate buying armies I don't know anything about.

So, can anyone suggest some really, really good history books for the period?

Pat

yes,

anything by Roger Crowley, and about half of the books by Ernle Bradford cover this period (although they are mostly sea based, since both are sailing in the Med sorts of guys)

anything they write is worth a read, and even if you are not a naval gazer , sorry, gamer, you will be inspired by something project wise.

Not history books but a short list of enemies of the Turk.

Poles (winged hussars, oh yeah)
Russians.
Cossacks(vodka and black bread for game snacks)
Persians
Austrians(landsknechts, saurkraut, and dark beer)
Kights of St. John(Hvy foot knights vs janissaries)
Venice ( a good wine would go good with the battle )
Mamalukes ( hummus and olives, wild cav fights)

a bit more specifics:

bradford, the great siege
crowley, empires of the seas : venice, how Venice won and lost an empire

I also recommend the French Wars of Religion as a project, but book wise, its not the most well resourced period in english for the first time reader.

Try Thomas Arnold, the Renaissance at War, for a quick cover history which covers the century – anything he recommends in his bibliography will be worth reading.

the post today on Ogniem i Mechiem (english version due in may) is worht keeping an eye on too

For a general overview there is a three volume set called the Venture of Islam by Marshall Hodgson. Volume three on the Gunpowder Empires starts in the 16th century and covers Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires.

You can catch a glimpse at Amazon: link

Thanks all

Pat

As it happens the era between the Burgundian wars and the French wars of Religion happen to be one of my favourites. In military issues you see the complete transformation from medieval warfare into the modern era, with all you might expect in between. The rise of the Swiss as predominant infantry, the making and decline of the Landsknechts, the finest hour and slow descent of the knight, the artillery and handgun becoming first regular and then dominant battlefield weapons – the dominance of the pike block, the era of the field battles and the renaissance of the fortification. Charles the Bold, Maximilian, Ferdinand and Isabella, Mehmed the conqueror, Suleyman the lawgiver, Charles V, Francois I, Henry VIII – not to forget personalities like Alexander and Cesare Borgia, the Medicis, Luther, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Columbus…

The main military campaigns of the age where probably the Italian wars and the Ottoman wars, followed in importance by the religous wars within Europe. There is no "definite" book out on any of these, though.

On general developments I recommend
"Weapons & Warfare in Renaissance Europe" by Bert Hall

A general (if outdated and biased, but cheap to get by) overview on the Italian wars is Taylors "Art of War in Italy 1494 – 1529".

A very good book for just one facet is Arfaiolis "The black bands of Giovanni", handling the last years of the famous Italian Black Band after Giovanni Medicis death in their campaign in Italy. If you have any book on the "Sack of Rome" (there are several) – this story puts up where these end.

For biographies I recommend Charles V or Francious (Francis) I (of France) for some key players. Interestingly enough for roughly 20 years the reign of four prominent powers in Europe: France, England, the Empire (Spain/Germany) and the Ottomans was in unchanged hands, so the rulers do develope their interrelations. For military leaders Frundsberg or Colonna are good choices if you find something.

Some other books that give a good starting point and are quite readable (if not exactly scientific) come from James Reston (esp. Defenders of Faith, but also Dogs of God), Roger Crowley (Empires of the Sea) or Angus Konstam (Sovereign of the Sea – the quest to build the renaissance battleship) and, of course (already mentioned) Ernle Bradford (The Great Siege of Malta 1565).

There is plenty more, but you need to find out which areas are of interest to you. A problem for the historical gamer is that the rules of the "game" changed almost per decade, as weapons developed and generals became more proficient with the new weapons.

BTW: For the historical flavour, the "Assassins Quest" line shows some nice setups of Florence, Venice and Rome (and Constantinople in the newest edition, but I have not played that one yet). Take this, of course, with some grain of salt.

PS: I just forgot the original source on the wars in italy: Guiccardinis "History of Italy". A source used by most of the later authors. Sadly its only available in English in a translated version that left out most of the "boring" bits, like battles or campaigns (with some exceptions). Time to learn italian…

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Gunpowder and Galleys" by Guilmartin (it's not easy to find), it's a great source for 16th century naval/mediterranean warfare. I highly recommend it, it's one of the best books on military history I have ever read.

The nature of Galley warfare in the mediterranean included a lot of amphibious actions, so events like that Siege of Malta are covered in detail.

Pat,

Funnily enough I'm looking at the Turks as well. Have a look at Museum Miniatures currenly offering 25% off.

Puster is one of the resident experts on the period and so his advice is worth reading…..Another personality which Puster left out is Julius II the Warrior Pope….a good book is this one
link
Starts before the period in question but has some great stuff on the Renaissance period….

>Puster is one of the resident experts on the period
Too much honor, I am just an avid reader. (Thanks, though)

BTW: Popes, Cardinals and War just ordered. I put "Gunpowder and Galleys" on my list – 200$ is a bit too stiff for me :-)
When I see it for below 50, I will go for it…

link
Vlad the Impaler from Warhammer Historical. For a good overview of the Balkans in the 15thC it can't be beat. Don't be put off by the name or that it's for Warhammer. It's a great general reference book. And currently just £5.00 GBP