I am not looking for a particular answer/how to for my assignment, but I am looking for sources and insights that some historians may have. I am doing plenty of work on my own through my school's library. Just wanted to see if I can get any extra goodies from reddit.
I am taking a history course that requires a 15 (roughly) page final paper. My focus, and my professor's request, is to look into the evolution of battle tactics in Europe (particularly France) during and after the first crusade.
My professor has lead me to look into the author John France, and the historical character, Louis the Fat. He mentions that Louis was one of the first European rulers to utilize siege machines such as trebuchets, towers, catapults, etc.
The question I have is this: What influence did the First Crusade have on the development of warfare in Europe? Another thing I want to look at is; is it possible that these siege tactics and technologies were borrowed/taken (and started) from Muslim or other Eastern armies during the First Crusade? Is there a tie, or crossover that can be found, where European armies took tactics from the Muslims? My thought behind that second question is that many cities Eastern Europe and the Middle East, such as Constantinople and Jerusalem were walled, and likely required siege warfare in order to be taken. Walled cities in Europe were not so common however, but siege warfare could be used not to take cities, but castles.
This isn't just limited to siege warfare either. Weapons, armor, battlefield tactics, etc, etc are all on the board.
I hope I have given valid question, and any sources anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
I know John France significantly better for his book on Cistercians.
Three books:
Contamine, Philippe. War in the Middle Ages. New York: B. Blackwell, 1984.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades: A Short History. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Shaw, M.R.B., ed. Joinville & Villehardouin: Chronicles of the Crusades. London: Penguin Books, 1963.
The first of these is the most relevant to your question; the second is the definitive overview; the last is a primary source.
In addition, you might be interested in:
Madden, Thomas F. The New Concise History of the Crusades. 2nd ed. Critical Issues in History. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
Allen, S. J., and Emilie Amt, eds. The Crusades: A Reader. Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures 8. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2003.
One good place to look would be the William of Apulia's "The Deeds of Robert Guiscard" (can be found online). It's a primary source from that period, covering the Norman Conquest of Italy and has plenty of battle descriptions.
There's plenty of other books about the Normans in the South, and the prolific de Hauteville family as well. They were an early group of northern European knights who met, fought with and against the Byzantines, Muslims, etc of Southern Italy and the Balkans a generation before the crusades began. And on the first crusade, they played a pretty large role (Bohemund and Tancred were de Hautevilles). I would think they were far more familiar with that style warfare than the other crusade participants, and might be a major source of the crossover that you are looking for.