"Oman’s Art of War in the Middle Ages" Topic

Reviews? Recommended?

I'm trying to start painting a long-delayed Second Barons' War project and earlyblazon.com cites Oman in footnotes as the source for the arms of the principal combatants. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for- is Oman a good source for that kind of granular info?

Thanks,

w.

It's regarded as a classic, or was at one time. Is it still seen that way by academics? I'm curious to know. I have a copy on my shelves but don't think I've ever read it cover to cover, just dived in here and there.

I have a 1953 edition of Oman's The Art of War in the Middle Ages revised and edited by John H. Beeler. It is a small paperback and has no illustraions or description of the arms of the principal combatants. And by "arms" I presume you are referring to the "coats of arms" they had on their shields and surcoats, not their weapons. That information may have been in the two volume edition published in 1924, but I do not know if that's true.

You may have to do on-line searches for each individual principal combatant.

Jim

I have both volumes of this and have read them both a couple of times over a very long period. They are a great read but I would not go to them for the granular info you are looking for.
The same can be said for his Art of War in the 16th Century.

Have you tried the Lance and Longbow Society? – lanceandlongbow.com

Or De Re Militari? – deremilitari.org

Great read, though obviously dated. My copy has no illustrations of arms, but it does have some maps of battle maneuvers (somewhat conjecture, of course).

You're probably better off looking for a book on heraldry if that's all you want, or a modern illustrated work on Medieval history. That's not something I look for much, so I don't have a recommendation.

I have it, and have read it…it's a great read, but VERY out of date.

Note there are two separate works by Oman. THE ART OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE AGES is a short volume. The more thorough is the two volume HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE AGES which is likely to be dated in terms of his interpretations but most likely still correct for basic facts. The second is worth having even if it needs to be checked against more recent publications to validate whether Oman's interpretations still hold.

Oman's works are period pieces. They do not represent the latest scholarship. In general terms, they are interesting. However, they mirror the prejudices of the author and his time. Scholarship has advanced considerably since their publication.

Batesmotel34 – The original of the 1-volume work is available from Project Gutenberg for free
gutenberg.org/ebooks/44308

For that price, I'd get it ;-)

If you just want typical, rather than specific, coats of arms there's always the Caerlaverock Roll which dates to Edward I, just after the second Barons War:
link

I can't remember a great deal in Oman.
Blaauws's "The Barons' War' has quite a few coats of arms in the footnotes. It is also useful for an idea of who was at each battle.
I suspect that there will be inaccuracies but for an 1871 book it is worth a look.
link

My blog may have some other links of use.
link

If you really want to go down the rabbot hole, the county histories on British History Online are a great heraldry resource e.g. this for Beaudesert, home of Peter de Montfort
link

Legionarius +1

I would also add that to better understand the context of the book & its times, looking a bit into general historiography is very educational.

Damon.