Development of warfare and honour on the battlefield

[GBlair88]

Honour in battle died with Manfred von Richtofen.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

snip

War, war never changes. Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything. From God, to Justice, to simple sycotic rage. War never changes.

 

[Nocta-Aeterna]

well one thing i can tell you is that medieval warfare had massive amounts of civilian casualties:

1. armies did not have supply lines back in those days and lived of the land (read: pillaged and plundered the locals)
2. the battle was fought
3. the winner loots the losers city and in most cases kills all the local population with a different relegion

so no those few hundred or thousand people dieng of bombs is actually not that bad considering history

1. Loads of civilians died in Medieval warfare.

You know, I know, but I think my friend meant something along the line that none of the serfs were daft enough to go plough the fields when the weatherforecast of Agincourt predicted heavy showers of arrows

I'm just relaying his opinion.

 

[SextusMaximus]

well one thing i can tell you is that medieval warfare had massive amounts of civilian casualties:

1. armies did not have supply lines back in those days and lived of the land (read: pillaged and plundered the locals)
2. the battle was fought
3. the winner loots the losers city and in most cases kills all the local population with a different relegion

so no those few hundred or thousand people dieng of bombs is actually not that bad considering history

1. Loads of civilians died in Medieval warfare.

You know, I know, but I think my friend meant something along the line that none of the serfs were daft enough to go plough the fields when the weatherforecast of Agincourt predicted heavy showers of arrows

I'm just relaying his opinion.

What I actually meant was that civilians were pressured and pulled into training, and then on top of that, those who did agricultural duties and the like were killed in city battles or pilages.

 

[Nickolai77]

Medieval warfare was never honourable- it was a bloody mess and chaotic most of the time. Besieging a castle involved an ultimatium to the defenders- surrender or be slain- no prisoners would have been taken if the besiegers broke into the castle. Unless you where a knight worthy of a random- in which case you where treated quite well and returned once the ransom was paid. However, if you where a French knight at Agincourt you would'nt have been so lucky. The English took so many French prisoners that they outnumbered themselves, and scare of food supplies, the English butchered the French prisoners instead. Likwise, when the Normans conquored England- rebellion was crushed merclessly- peasants massacred and their homes burnt to the ground.

There would be some exhamples of chivalry. Richard the Lionheart was killed by a French boy wielding a cross bow from the walls of this castle he was besieging. Dying from gangerine Richard had the boy brought to him and compensated the boy for killing a King, giving explict instructions that thye boy's life be sparred- unlike the other castle defenders. However, one chronicler records that when Richard was dead one of his mercanary captains had the boy flayed alive anyway.

If anything, modern warfare, with the Geneva Convention and strict rules protecting civilians is a lot more "honourble" than it ever has been before.