Deception in Medieval Warfare

by James Titterton

First full-length study of the use and perception of deceit in medieval warfare.

Deception and trickery are a universal feature of warfare, from the Trojan horse to the inflatable tanks of the Second World War. The wars of the Central Middle Ages (c. 1000-1320) were no exception. This book looks at the various tricks reported in medieval chronicles, from the Normans feigning flight at the battle of Hastings (1066) to draw the English off Senlac Hill, to the Turks who infiltrated the Frankish camp at the Field of Blood (1119) disguised as bird sellers, to the Scottish camp followers descending on the field of Bannockburn (1314) waving laundry as banners to mimic a division of soldiers. This study also considers what contemporary society thought about deception on the battlefield: was it a legitimate way to fight? Was cunning considered an admirable quality in a warrior? Were the culturally and religious "other" thought to be more deceitful in war than Western Europeans? Through a detailed analysis of vocabulary and narrative devices, this book reveals a society with a profound moral ambivalence towards military deception, in which authors were able to celebrate a warrior's cunning while simultaneously condemning their enemies for similar acts of deceit. It also includes an appendix cataloguing over four hundred incidents of military deception as recorded in contemporary chronicle narratives.

Genres: History, Medieval, Medieval History, Academic

292 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2022

Reviews

[Stephen Sorensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for its content and style. Although it didn't go into the wartime use of literary deception as much as I had hoped, it gave me plenty to think about in regards to a vast array of other types of military deception.

At the beginning are some maps of relevant geographical areas and at the end is a bibliography, index, and a recommended reading list for “warfare in history”.

Titterton strikes me as level-headed and clear-minded academic. I'm looking forward to the possible future editions of this book, as well as any studies that this book might inspire.

There were multiple errors in editing. I didn’t note them all down but the one I did was of a spelling error on page 24. I think “is that is” should be “is that it”.

Here’s a quote from the conclusion that I liked:
“[The medieval chroniclers] … depicted kings and emperors, crusaders and Muslims, nobles and commoners employing deception to achieve their goals.”

[Russ Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

a more challenging read than the last book that I read by this author, however this is more squarely aimed at the world of academia than that, with footnotes largely in Latin, rather than explaining and entertaining, as the last one did. However, it is still a rewarding read, replete with examples of use of various kinds of deception in Europe in the Holy Land in the middle ages. One of the more interesting chapters, and also the most challenging to read, was the chapter on the use of language to describe the use of different kinds of deception, and the way the same basic techniques could be phrased when used by an ally or an enemy, placing them in a favourable light, or otherwise. There is also a discussion on what a just war is, and what is permissable in such a war - "the ends justifies the means" isn't quoted as such, but is the essence of the conclusion, if your cause and war is good, then anything that leads to victory is acceptable. The author goes to great lengths to highlight differences between the medieval and modern mindsets, and accounts of such actions in both times, and yet in many cases, the ends are depressingly the same

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall an enjoyable read. Highly recommend for fantasy and historical fiction writers as it gives a lot of inspiration. From a historical aspect, it handles the conversations over the sources very well, though as for the events, unless you have a pre-existing knowledge of high medieval wars, it is quite easy to get loss from constant jumping around (though the themes overall are consistent, i.e. types of deception).

[Freya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative!

[Farhad Zaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first, this is a book written by an academic for an academic audience. The author emphasizes, time and time again, on their reliance on the chroniclers; the goal is to delve into the place of trickstery and deception in medieval times, not to verify whether the recorded incidents happened or not. Following this path, the book is a narration of recorded events that help the audience understand the nuance of deception in "chivalric" Europe.
I especially enjoyed the appendix, where the author has brought a great collection of recorded acts of deception in select bibliography.
Overall, this is a great book for the specialist and a good read for those interested in a grey image of the knightly warfare.