Preface

Summary

This volume is largely derived from papers delivered at the 2010 Fifteenth Century Conference, held at the University of Southampton. One of the themes was “England's Wars 1399–c.1500,” building on a similar event held at the University of Reading in July 2009 which had focused on the same topic in the previous century and resulted in two publications. As it turned out, the subjects covered ranged much more widely than England, but proved highly complementary. Revised versions of these papers form the core of this guest-edited volume; we were delighted to be able also to include further submissions from Andy King and Randall Moffett (both linked to the University of Southampton), and Bastian Walter, whose article happily landed on the general editors' desk at the time we were putting together this special issue. We are grateful to them for allowing us the opportunity to act as guest editors.

The Welsh feature in two studies. Adam Chapman provided new insights, based on close reading of the surviving archival sources, of the Welsh archers recruited for Henry V's campaign of 1415. These archers have achieved almost mythical status, but as Chapman shows, the reality of the situation was rather different. As he notes, there is no mention of Agincourt in Welsh poetry of the fifteenth century, yet such poetry is an exceptionally valuable, and as yet underexploited, source for the study of warfare in the period.