The Vikings and Their Enemies: Warfare in Northern Europe, 750-1100 by Philip Line

Author:Philip Line
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781632205032
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2015-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Fortifications and Siegecraft

During the period 780–1100 large numbers of fortifications were constructed or continued in use throughout Europe, from Ireland to Russia. The sole region where they were not widespread was Scandinavia. A fortification may have many purposes: to obstruct a route of advance or retreat for an enemy, to guard or block access to a strategic point in the landscape, to provide a center for domination of a hostile or subject population, as an observation post, as a place for storage of valuables or supplies, as an assembly point for troops before a military campaign, as a refuge from attack for local population, or to enclose a population center. Since all have to be habitable to some degree, even refuges, and there is often an element of display in their appearance, there is always a compromise between defense and other requirements. In the past most attention has been given to tactical considerations such as the topography of the site and the design and construction of the defenses, but many fortifications also had a strategic function, related to the defense of the surrounding polity, “controlling” important routes, river crossings, passes, coastal landing places and so on, or as bases for attackers to threaten surrounding territory and disrupt communications. This assumes an element of planning in their placement in the landscape. Other fortifications were built primarily with the defense of one site in mind, or by a local landowner purely to defend himself, his family and the occupants of his estate, in which case tactical considerations came to the fore.

Opinions have varied on the strategic effectiveness of medieval fortifications. On the one hand medieval forts or castles are often mentioned as “controlling” or “dominating” surrounding areas, while on the other it has been said they were relatively ineffective in controlling them, as they were easily bypassed by an invader or raider. Medieval fortresses were not equipped with anything capable of hurling a projectile more than a few hundred meters, if that, so the garrison could not prevent any force from passing nearby without sallying out to do battle with them. However, fortifications do not have to form an impenetrable barrier to contribute to the defense of a territory. As noted earlier, frontiers were not conceived of as linear borders before the advent of accurate maps, but were probably identifiable locations recognized by neighboring rulers as between their jurisdictions, or as an ill-defined zone between two sites occupied by people of different allegiance. A frontier might approach our concept of a border where there were strings of fortresses close to one another or linear earthworks known to represent the limit of a ruler’s authority, similar to the Roman Limes or Hadrian’s Wall in function. The raising of forces to face invaders took time, and fortresses at strategic points slowed their advance and restricted the routes available. The fact that some fortifications may never have been attacked does not mean that their function was primarily non-military, as defenses are as much a deterrent to attack as a physical obstruction when actually attacked.

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