The Late Middle Ages in Northern Europe

The Middle Ages, by historiographical convention, lasted from the fifth to the fifteenth century, beginning at the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ending with the Renaissance.¹ For ease, it is often separated into three distinct divisions: Early (500–100 ad), High (1000–1250 ad) and Late (1250–1500 ad). The period in question is extremely complicated, encompassing a multitude of interdependent legal systems within both Western and Eastern Europe that developed at different rates, and were influenced in different ways by local conditions.²

For much of the Early Middle Ages, the lack of any centralised authority meant that there was something akin to the ‘State of Nature,’ as suggested by Hobbes.³ As such, most means and methods of warfare ‘emanated in the Germanic custom of settling judicial disputes through Blutrache (vendetta) and faida (feud).’⁴ This Chapter focuses upon the Late Middle Ages, which involved the evolution of feuding into varying forms (dependent upon the authority on which it was declared), the rise of the household heavy cavalry as a powerful class, and the elevation of ethical warfare.