num_pages: 248
description: Alongside the familiar pitched battles, regular sieges, and large-scale manoeuvres, medieval and early modern wars also involved assassination, abduction, treason and sabotage. These undercover operations were aimed chiefly against key individuals, mostly royalty or the leaders of the opposing army, and against key fortified places, including bridges, mills and dams. However, because of their clandestine nature, these deeds of "derring-do" have not been studied in any detail, a major gap which this book fills. It surveys a wide variety of special operations, from the eleventh to the sixteenth century. It then analyzes in greater depth six select and exciting the betrayal of Antioch in 1098; the attempt to rescue King Baldwin II from the dungeon of Khartpert in 1123; the assassination of Conrad of Montferrat in 1192; the attempt to storm Calais in 1350; the "dirty war" waged by the rulers of France and Burgundy in the 1460s and 1470s; and the demolition of the flour mill of Auriol in 1536. Professor YUVAL NOAH HARARI teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of the international bestseller A Brief History of Humankind.Table of ContentsSpecial Operations, Strategy and Politics in the Age of An Analytical OverviewThe Gateway to the Middle Antioch, 1098Saving King Khartpert, 1123The Assassination of King Tyre, 1192For a Sack-full of Gold É Calais, 1350Princes in the The Rise and Fall of Valois Burgundy, 1407-1483The Mill of Auriol, 1536ConclusionsWorks citedIndex
language: English
title: Special Operations in the Age of Chivalry, 1100-1550 (Warfare in History)
titlecomplete: Special Operations in the Age of Chivalry, 1100-1550 (Warfare in History) (Volume 24)
genres: Historical, War, 15th Century, Medieval History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Military Fiction, 16th Century, Espionage, History
ratings_count: 277
publisher: Boydell Press