Abstract

The introduction of the military revolution into armies of the British Isles by officers and soldiers who had served in mainland European armies during the religious and dynastic wars of the seventeenth century was retarded by a martial culture shaped by a chivalric revival characterized by an aristocratic preference for edged weapons over gunpowder weapons and tactics. Aristocratic officers were reluctant to accept the idea that military hierarchies had superseded social hierarchies or that in warfare they should pursue military objectives rather than personal honour. Except for the New Model Army, English military forces before 1688 were backward in developing styles of command and leadership appropriate to the changed conditions of modern warfare.

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