Military Communities in Late Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ayton ed. by Gary P. Baker et al. (review)

An approach and method still unfamiliar to many, prosopographical research can be considered the 'big data' of historians. It investigates the patterns and common characteristics of a group through its collective biography or, more elegantly described by Katherine Keats-Rohan in her article 'Prosopography and Computing: A Marriage Made in Heaven?': 'what the analysis of the sum of data about many individuals can tell us about the different types of connection between them, and hence about how they operated within and upon the institutions—social, political, legal, economic, intellectual—of their time' (K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, History and Computing, 12 (2000), 1–11). This collection of essays is dedicated to a pioneer of this research method, Andrew Ayton, whose influence and contributions to the field of medieval military history are unmistakable. Coining the term 'military community', Ayton described how medieval armies were 'products and extensions of the social fabric and structure of late medieval society' (p. xx)—they were influenced by social and political relationships, but also by the communities of mind, of experience, and of enterprise.

Among the essays in this collection, several contributors have stayed close to Ayton's own research. The equine theme of his earlier work is continued by Michael Prestwich and by Robert Jones, the former considering the questions surrounding the size of the (supposedly sizeable) destriers in the army of Edward I, while the latter focuses on the origins and roles of hobelars during the Scottish wars. Other contributors seek to further refine the conclusions drawn from Ayton's research. Peter Coss examines the impact of military service and community in the evolution of the gentry, resulting in a more nuanced view on the many aspects that shaped gentle society and social status. Military service was not necessarily a 'lever' to gain status. As Coss states: 'The military community did much to determine the structure of the gentry and its relations with the higher nobility. But military service cannot be elevated to the level of prime mover' (pp. 48–49).

Much in the same line of thought, David Simpkin focuses on the diminishing significance of the knights banneret. Despite their essential role in military recruitment, by the early fifteenth century the rank of knight banneret lacked the substantial civilian dimension it needed to remain meaningful; as Simpkin himself emphasizes, a topic compelling further investigation.

Towards the end of the book, Craig L. Lambert argues for a revaluation of the military importance of the Cinque Ports. The so-called naval-decline theory claims these ports had all but lost their influence by the time of Edward III's reign. Viewing the ports as a military community, much like the land-based type Ayton identifies in his military contexts, Lambert makes a compelling case against this naval-decline theory. The persistent involvement of England in wars created a highly militarized environment; with proper research, new light might be cast on the influence of the coastal towns and the marines that shaped them.

The final essay shows the amount of information that can be drawn from garrison lists; Anne Curry skilfully calculates the number of English soldiers involved in the defence of Normandy in 1436. Through careful reconstruction of the distribution of troops over the months, Curry points to an increase in the size of the garrisons in the early summer, underlining the 'massive effort made by the English to preserve their position in the wake of a veritable crisis' (p. 260). The implications of these garrison sizes, namely that these were centrally dictated, show interesting options for further research of these subjects.

Military Communities in Late Medieval England stands out among other Festschriften through its impressive consistency and high quality of research. The contributions all adhere closely to the central theme, the focus on the...