The rulers of Renaissance France regarded war as hugely important.
This book shows why, looking at all aspects of warfare from
strategy to its reception, depiction and promotion. The `other'
Renaissance experienced by France was that of war. In Italy from
1494 to 1529, for instance, France was involved in at least a
hundred battles, some of them `batttles of giants' like Marignano.
After 1530, though the emphasis partly shifted away from Italy and
major battles were replaced by complex sieges and wars of
manoeuvre, the presence of war was universal. In the `Habsburg
Valois' wars that began in 1521, the country was subjected to major
military incursions but continued to make notable attempts to
occupy contiguous territory in the Pyrenees, the Alps and the
north-east. Explaining such prodigious military efforts is the
theme of this book. Why did therulers of France attach so much
importance to war and did the development of French armies in this
period contribute to a significant modernisation of the country's
military potential? The author attempts to answer these crucial
questions, through an exploration of the strategy of the country's
rulers in the light of contemporary writings, analysis of the
nature of the country's high command, and a study of the major
components of the king's armies. He argues that France was a
society geared to war, persuaded by a sophisticated network of
printed communications; the reception of the triumphalist view of
war favoured by the rulers is discussed via an investigation of
public opinion,as revealed in the literary, artistic and musical
worlds. He also shows how the strengthening of the frontiers with
new fortifications emerged as a major stage in the adaptation of
France to age of artillery. DAVID POTTER is Reader in History at
the University of Kent, Canterbury.
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