John Hosler – författare

There are no book-length studies in any language on the military career of King Henry II of England (1154-1189). Historians have generally regarded his warfare as cautious and limited, and the king himself, while noted for his considerable political and legal accomplishments, is not considered one of the great commanders of the Middle Ages. This book reexamines the medieval evidence and situates Henry II within the context of practiced warfare of the twelfth century. It sketches a narrative of his military activities from boyhood to death and examines his use of fortifications, manpower, strategy, tactics, and weaponry in the prosecution of war. The result is a revision of the king's military legacy: far from a passive or disinterested general, Henry II sought to vanquish his foes and expand his empire by way of direct military confrontation and was, in reality, a proficient commander of men.

The English scholar John of Salisbury was a major intellectual of the twelfth century whose contributions to the fields of education, grammar, political theory, and rhetoric are well-known. His significance is amplified further in John of Salisbury: Military Authority of the Twelfth-Century Renaissance, in which John D. Hosler examines his heretofore overlooked contributions to the ideals and practice of medieval warfare. This book surveys an array of military topics present within John’s extant corpus, including generalship, strategy, tactics, logistics, military organization, and training; it also collates John’s military lexicon and charts the influence of classical texts upon his conceptualization of war. John of Salisbury, it argues, deserves inclusion in the roll-call of military theoreticians and writers of pre-Reformation Europe.

Where Heaven and Earth Meet is a Festschrift in honor of Daniel F. Callahan, Professor of History at the University of Delaware. It is an interdisciplinary collection that celebrates and advances research in his principal scholarly interests. One central focus is on the writings of Ademar of Chabannes and what they reveal about heresy, music, warfare, and the Peace of God in the early Middle Ages. Another is on Western religious history (ecclesiastical houses, hagiography, and papal writings), and the collection is rounded out by studies of early Islamic Jerusalem as well as Arabic numismatics. Contributing authors include Professor Callahan’s former classmates, graduate students, colleagues and admirers of his research. The collection will be of interest to researchers in art history, history, musicology, and religion.Contributors are: Bernard S. Bachrach, Daniel F. Callahan, Lawrence G. Duggan, Michael Frassetto, Matthew Gabriele, James Grier, John D. Hosler, Anna Trumbore Jones, Lawrence Nees, Richard R. Ring, Jane T. Schulenburg