Ernazarov K.F. The Phenomenon of Fighting Princes in England and France in the 11th–15th centuries in 20th–21th Century Historiography: Some Observations // Vox medii aevi. 2025. Vol. 1 (12). P. 127–157. URL: https://voxmediiaevi.com/2025-1-ernazarov/
DOI: 10.24412/2587-6619-2025-12-127-157
Kamil Ernazarov
PhD student, Doctoral School of History, Faculty of Humanities, HSE University; research fellow, Department of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences; junior researcher, Laboratory of Linguo-Semiotic Studies, HSE University
iernazarov67@gmail.com
The Phenomenon of Fighting Princes in England and France in the 11th–15th centuries in 20th–
21th Century Historiography: Some Observations
The article deals with the history of the study of the phenomenon of the fighting or non-fighting rulers in England and France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Since the early the 20th century, there have been two different methodological approaches to this problem in historiography. On the one hand, it was studied by military historians, for whom the priority was the reconstruction of the “actul” behaviour of rulers on the battlefield. The basis of this approach was laid by the German historian Hans Delbrück in the early 20th century. Subsequently, Jan Frans Verbruggen, Philippe Contamine and others continued this line of research. On the other hand, in the second half of the 20th century, historians focusing authority in society, philologists and specialists in chivalric culture turned to the study of the phenomenon of the fighting ruler. Representatives of this group focus on the study of ideas and perceptions related to the military role of the sovereign, including the issues of his direct participation or non-participation in battle. Ernst Kantorowicz should be named here,
first and foremost, as well as Jean Flory, Peter Noble, and others. The renewal of military history in the 1960s had a significant impact on the revision of research approaches. Already in the 1980s,
the prince’s participation in battle began to be seen as a key element of his relationship with the army. The reasons for the different behaviour of sovereigns in battle began to be interpreted through
the prism of socio-cultural attitudes of society. John Keegan made a fundamental contribution to the development of these ideas. In modern historiography there is a comprehensive approach to the study of the phenomenon of a fighting prince. In addressing this issue, researchers such as Christopher Allmand and John France draw on cultural attitudes, textual analyses of literary works, and data on the military-political context of the era.
Keywords: Behaviour of rulers on the battlefield; medieval England and France; medieval military history; methodology; military history; military leadership; generalship.