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Warfare

During the Renaissance, warfare became more frequent and much more destructive than in the Middle Ages. New technology, especially the introduction of gunpowder weapons and artillery, changed the nature of war. With the rise of more centralized states came the establishment of large standing armies. Some scholars have described the developments in the period between 1350 and 1600 as a military revolution.

THE NATURE OF WAR

Medieval* warfare was limited in scope, often involving conflicts between individual nobles or between a noble and a prince*. However, during the Renaissance some princes, particularly in France and Spain, grew much more powerful than their neighbors. In addition, some European rulers pursued a policy of building their kingdoms by conquering independent territories. War ceased to be a local affair. It often involved troops from many different lands who fought on soil far from home.

Causes of Wars. In the Renaissance wars were generally fought to defend one's territory, to acquire more territory for the state, or to gain control of the monarchy. Many European wars of the period involved disputes over inherited titles and territories. For example, the WARS OF ITALY (1494–1559) began because King Charles VIII of France claimed to be the rightful heir to the kingdom of Naples. However, the English monarchy's campaigns of conquest against Ireland and Scotland did not rest on any claims of inheritance but were driven by the desire to enlarge the kingdom. The Spanish and French kingdoms also grew by annexing* territory, often by warfare.

Other factors had an impact on warfare. The chivalric* ideal, which flourished during the Renaissance, led many men to fight for honor or glory. This attitude was common among the nobility, and even some mercenary* captains, for whom war was a profession, would engage in combat for reasons of honor. Religious differences played a role in many Renaissance wars (most notably the THIRTY YEARS' WAR), but few conflicts were based solely on religion. Nevertheless, religious matters typically increased the bitterness of fighting and complicated the process of making peace.

While princes fought for power, glory, and honor, the common soldier often had different reasons for joining the military. Defending one's country was a powerful motive, but soldiers were often lured by the prospect of adventure and the opportunity to enrich themselves by looting towns or defeated enemies. Some men took up soldiering as a way to escape trouble, debts, or an unhappy family life. Many simply needed the employment and wages offered by military service.

Major Renaissance Wars. Important wars occurred in almost every part of Europe during the Renaissance. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) between France and England was fought to determine how much control England would have over French territory. It ended with England holding only the port of Calais. Besides battling each other, both the French and English monarchies struggled to maintain control at home. English nobles fought one another for power in the civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses (1452–1487). France waged wars to add Brittany and Burgundy to the kingdom.

The Wars of Italy began as an attempt by France's King Charles VIII to claim Naples as his inheritance. His invasion in 1494 set off a series of wars for control over Italy that lasted for more than 60 years. The major combatants were France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire*. By 1525 Spain had emerged as the clear winner and the most powerful kingdom in Europe. At home, the Spanish monarchy waged war against the Muslim kingdoms that had existed in southern Spain for hundreds of years. Granada, the last Muslim stronghold, fell in 1492.

Religious violence in France led to a long civil war during the late 1500s. The WARS OF RELIGION (1562–1598), which went through various phases of fighting, were a particularly bitter chapter in French history. The conflicts resulted in the assassination of several noble figures and the killing of several thousand Protestants and others at the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572. Religious differences also led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Although it began as a dispute between German princes and the Holy Roman Emperor, it grew into a war that involved almost every major power in Europe. Some scholars say that the Thirty Years' War marked the political end of the Renaissance.

CHANGING WARFARE

Historians generally agree that a military revolution occurred during the Renaissance, marking the start of the development of modern warfare. They have different views, however, on the timing of this revolution and propose dates ranging from the mid-1300s to the end of the 1600s. The first part of the military revolution was the growth in the size of armed forces. Armies expanded steadily from about 1350 to 1550. By 1500 all European states except England supported the idea of a standing army. Following the increase in military forces came the introduction of new, sturdier fortifications. Spain built a chain of fortifications to defend the state from internal and external attack. By 1600 the rest of Europe had begun developing costly defensive works along with larger armies.

Significant advances in military technology occurred during this period as well and profoundly changed the nature of warfare. Technology was applied to both offensive and defensive warfare, and the dominant military strategy shifted from defense to offense and then back again to defense during the Renaissance. In addition, the increasing use of mercenaries made war a more professional undertaking.

Soldiers. All adult male subjects of a kingdom were eligible for military service. However, armies consisted largely of people from two groups in society—the aristocrats who managed the war and the lower classes who fought it. In most states, captains recruited soldiers from certain areas, but there were never enough volunteers to fill out the ranks of the army. Many men were pressed into service, but others dodged the military or deserted as soon as they had the chance. As a result, states relied heavily on mercenaries to fight their wars. Many Italian states used hired soldiers in the 1300s and 1400s, and eventually the practice spread to northern Europe.

Mercenaries had many advantages over citizens as soldiers. They were better fighters and much better disciplined, which had benefits both on and off the battlefield. Soldiers dismissed at the end of a war were often penniless, and many of them formed outlaw bands to harass the peasants. Mercenaries, by contrast, could be trusted to return home with their pay and not cause problems. Many mercenary captains were nobles who had turned to military service because of the poverty of their lands.

Weapons and Tactics. Gunpowder and artillery dramatically changed the nature of warfare during the Renaissance. Defenders discovered that castles that withstood the attack of catapults (devices for hurling stones) and other forms of medieval artillery could be brought down by gunpowder artillery. During the Hundred Years' War, the French developed new artillery tactics. They used small, easy-to-move cannons to attack English castles and fortified towns, and the high, thin walls of medieval castles collapsed under the repeated battering of French cannons.

Because castles no longer provided a secure stronghold, armies were forced out into the open to fight. This led to offensive warfare involving battles fought by large armies that produced heavy casualties. The standard battlefield arrangement was a large square formation of soldiers with pikes (long poles topped by a blade). Cavalry stood alongside the pikemen, and a line of crossbowmen marched in front to provide covering fire for the infantry.

In the early 1500s the Italians developed a new type of fortress that could stand up to gunpowder artillery. Its walls were lower and thicker, making them harder to hit and to destroy. These fortresses were also designed to hold defensive guns. By the mid-1500s defensive tactics had the advantage again, and siege* warfare replaced open battlefield conflicts. A dense square made up of pikemen and soldiers carrying early firearms called harquebuses became the main military formation.

As firearms became more efficient, they began to take on an offensive role. Gunners arranged in lines rather than squares could concentrate their firepower and wreak havoc on tight formations of pikemen. As a result, new infantry formations emerged in which the men were deployed in shallower lines. By the late 1600s, thin lines of men with firearms had replaced the large bodies of pikemen in most armies. Heavy cavalry, which had dominated the medieval battlefield, never regained its importance. However, new formations of light cavalry emerged at this time. Finally, large standing armies were established in most countries.

Naval warfare also changed with the use of gunpowder. The main fighting vessel in the early Renaissance was the galley, a long, narrow ship driven by oars and sails. Naval battles involved trying to get close enough to put soldiers aboard an enemy's vessels and fight a sort of land battle at sea. By the 1400s, sailors were effectively adapting land cannons for use in naval warfare. However, galleys could carry very few cannons and little ammunition. Shipbuilders designed larger sailing ships such as caravels and galleons with separate decks to hold guns.

By the end of the 1500s, gunfire rather than close-range fighting was deciding most important sea battles. Cannon played a key role in the Battle of Lepanto, a famous conflict in 1571 between the Ottoman Turks* and Christian forces. More than 500 ships took part. The Christian ships, which had bigger guns, fired at point-blank range. The Turks lost about 200 ships and thousands of men in the ferocious one-day battle.

(See also Arms and Armor; Fortifications; Mercenaries; Ships and Shipbuilding.)

* medieval

referring to the Middle Ages, a period that began around A.D. 400 and ended around 1400 in Italy and 1500 in the rest of Europe

* prince

Renaissance term for the ruler of an independent state

* annex

to add a territory to an existing area

* chivalric

referring to the rules and customs of medieval knighthood

* mercenary

hired soldier

See color plate 13, vol. 2

* Holy Roman Empire

political body in central Europe composed of several states; existed until 1806

See color plate 11, vol. 4

Heavy Metal

The design of Renaissance cannons differed significantly from those used in later eras. Early illustrations from around 1326 show cannons shaped like a vase or bottle that apparently fired projectiles resembling large arrows. Most cannons were cast in brass, bronze, or another alloy containing copper. This was because most early cannons were produced by bell makers, who used the techniques and materials with which they were familiar. Some cannons had barrels composed of flat bars of wrought iron arranged in a circle and held tightly together by iron hoops. The most famous large siege gun of the Renaissance, known as Mons Meg, was constructed by this method. It reportedly could fire a 330-pound stone ball a distance of up to two miles.

See color plate 12, vol. 2

* siege

prolonged effort to force a surrender by surrounding a fortress or town with armed troops, cutting the area off from aid

* Ottoman Turks

Turkish followers of Islam who founded the Ottoman Empire in the 1300s; the empire eventually included large areas of eastern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa