Why was warfare such a constant feature of late medieval life?

Answer 1

I think war has always been a constant feature, except recently. We know more about wars in the Late Middle Ages than we do of the Early Middle Ages, but that is probably because records were not kept in the Early Middle Ages quite as well in the later times. Remember, the Early Middle Ages was prehistoric for large parts of Europe, and we have very little information about what was happening in those places.

As English speaking people, our sense of history is also very much formed by the history of England. The Late Middle Ages is often dated as being from 1300 to 1453, and the Hundred Years' War lasted from 1337 to 1453, nearly the entire time. When we consider the broader picture, we see that in the years from the start of the Late Middle Ages to the beginning of the Hundred Years' War, there were other conflicts going on, with the English being involved in the Wars of Scottish Independence from before 1300, with only four years' break, until 1357. So there were only four years in which England was not at war in the Late Middle ages.

But if we compare this with the Early Middle Ages, Britain was occupied by a large number of small kingdoms, and there was always conflict among them. We read about the heptarchy, which had seven kingdoms, but in fact the number was closer to twenty, and that was just Anglo-Saxons. Include Scots, Picts, Welsh, and others, and there was quite a number of small nations. And we have not begun to talk about Vikings, who were at constant warfare with All of these people.

In the High Middle Ages, England was often warring with the Welsh, Scots, and each other. Of course, we must remember the crusades.

Since the Middle Ages, there was nearly always some sort of war going on in Europe, until the late 19th century.

Before the Middle Ages, there was a time some historians refer to as the Pax Romana. But you might consider the gates of Janus, which were closed when there was peace everywhere for Romans. During the first centuries of their existence, under the kings and the republic, they were only closed twice for short times. Augustus closed them two or three times, each time to be reopened. They were occasionally closed under later emperors, to much celebration. But they never stayed closed for long.

Hopefully, the 20th century taught us something, which is that wars are too costly for anyone to win. When a war starts, the most likely result is that everyone loses.