Religion and the Conduct of War, c. 300-1215 (review)

David S. Bachrach's book is a valuable study of the role of the Christian religion on the battlefields of Europe during the late Roman Empire and the Early and High Middle Ages. Readers looking for another book on the Knights Templar will be disappointed, for the author limits his study to lay people, wisely leaving aside the morass of information on militant monastic orders and fighting bishops for another time (p. 3). Instead, he focuses on Christian attitudes towards war manifest in the beliefs and rituals of kings, generals, and soldiers. In the process he addresses our current understandings of religious violence, explicates the relevant studies and schools of thought, and offers some new interpretations on issues contentious not only for military scholars but also theologians and church historians.

Bachrach offers a comprehensive discussion of the changing nature of military devotion while simultaneously emphasizing an undercurrent of continuity in different regions. Five chapters separate the period of inquiry into manageable parts: late antiquity, 300–750; the Carolingian Empire, 742– 900; the West in general, 900–1095; and finally, two chapters on 1095–1215, the first dealing with the Crusades and the second with secular wars. Geographically, he centers for the most part on France, Germany, and Italy, with periodic focus on England and the Low Countries. His concluding argument, that military leaders saw in religion an essential element in the conduct of war (p. 194), is proven over and again with examples of prebattle sermons, the integration of military chaplains, and soldierly reliance upon the intercession of saints. Most impressive to this reviewer are Bachrach's treatments of personal confession and the use of penitential manuals in the Carolingian period (pp. 49–63), both of which evolved into necessary preparations for combat. Overall, he makes a strong case for an enduring awareness, within armies, of the difficulties of being a faithful soldier, especially when fighting against other Christians. Enterprising readers will enjoy the extensive and learned historiographical discussions in the footnotes.

Given the scope of Bachrach's project, one cannot expect full analysis of every relevant military incident. He is generally judicious with his examples but there are some curious omissions. Augustine of Hippo's musings on justifiable violence in Against the Manichaeans are not mentioned in the discussion of early Christian attitudes to homicide (pp. 24–30). More noticeable is the absence of an examination of the warfare between Anglo-Saxons and Vikings after the death of Bede in 735. The events surrounding 1066 receive heavy treatment, but surely there are other incidents from the tenth and eleventh centuries that illustrate the role of Christianity in boosting morale or affecting the outcome of battles. One example of this would be the wars of Alfred the Great (871–99) against the Danes, which were retold as holy struggles by Asser, the king's biographer. Bachrach also tends to pass over events for which he finds insufficient evidence concerning the religious behavior of soldiers themselves. Thus he leaves aside the English and French aspects of the Third Crusade due to a lack of descriptive information, which he feels stems from its lack of great battles (p. 135 n. 121). Throughout the book, he employs said battles as a framework for his discussion. This is very effective at times; for example, the accounts of the Battle of the Standard (1138) are full of vivid descriptions of religious battle oratory, individual confession, and the use of saints' banners in the ranks (pp. 153–61). However, given the recent efforts of military historians to deemphasize decisive battle as the hallmark of medieval warfare, we should pause to reconsider the methodology. If large-scale battles were indeed relatively uncommon events, how commonplace were the religious conventions and rituals appearing therein?

In the end, these and other questions do little to diminish Bachrach's achievement. This is a thought-provoking book. Christianity was...