The societies of ancient Europe underwent a continual process of militarisation, and this would come to be a defining characteristic of the early Middle Ages. The process was neither linear nor mono-causal, but it affected society as a whole, encompassing features like the lack of demarcation between the military and civil spheres of the population, the significance attributed to weapons beyond their military function and the wide recognition of martial values.Early medieval militarisation assembles twenty studies that use both written and archaeological evidence to explore the phenomenon of militarisation and its impact on the development of the societies of early medieval Europe. The interdisciplinary investigations break new ground and will be essential reading for scholars and students of related fields, as well as non-specialists with an interest in early medieval history.

Ellora Bennett is a D.Phil Candidate at the Freie Universität Berlin Guido M. Berndt is a Research Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin Stefan Esders is Professor of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages at the Freie Universität Berlin Laury Sarti is Lecturer at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

1 Introducing early medieval militarisation, 400900 AD Laury Sarti, Ellora Bennett, Guido M. Berndt and Stefan Esders Part I: The military and society 2 Soldier and civilian in the Byzantine Empirec. 600c. 900: a militarised society? Philip Rance 3 Theexercitus Gothorum in Italy: a professional army in a demilitarised society? Kai Grundmann 4 Military organisation as an indicator of militarisation (and demilitarisation) in Lombard Italy Guido M. Berndt 5 The dark matter evidence for Alfredian military reforms in their ninth-century context Ryan Lavelle Part II: Warfare and society 6 War and the transformation of society in the early Byzantine Arabia Conor Whately 7 The role of the military factor in the political and administrative shaping of the Visigothic Kingdom (sixth to seventh centuries) Pablo Poveda Arias 8 Recent archaeological research on fortifications in France, Belgium and Swizerland, 7501000 Luc Bourgeois 9Gens Germana gente ferocior: Lombards and warfare between representation and reality Stefano Gasparri 10 The blinkers of militarisation: Charles the Bald, Lothar I and the Vikings Simon Coupland Part III: Ethics of war 11 Manlike discipline and loyalty against the enemies of God: some observations on the militarised frontier society of easternFrancia around 600 Stefan Esders 12 Swords in Christian hands: reflections on the emergence of the Schwertmission in the early Middle Ages Uta Heil 13 Holy wars? Religious wars? The perception of religious motives of warfare against non-Christian enemies in ninth-century chronicles Hans-Werner Goetz Part IV: Perceptions of the warrior 14 Change of habit equals change of values? Burials of military men between 300 and 500 AD Benjamin Hamm 15 Warlike and heroic virtues in the post-Roman world Edward James 16 Military equipment in late antique and early medieval female burial evidence: a reflection of militarisation? Susanne Brather-Walter 17 The construction of the enemy in pre-Viking England Ellora Bennett 18 Warriors and warlike kings in theGesta Karoli of Notker the Stammerer Thomas Wittkamp 19 Early medieval warrior images and the concept ofGefolgschaft Michel Summer 20 Conclusion: militarisation: process or discourse? Guy Halsall Index