(3) Great Commanders of the Middle Ages

Dark Ages (480 AD-700 AD)

Clovis (466-511) -

Flavius Belisarius (505-565) -

Narses (478-573) -

Flavius Heraclius (575-641) -

Muhammad ibn Abdullah (570-632) -

Khalid ibn al-Walid (585-642) -

Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (602-680) -


Early Medieval Period (700-1000)

Charles Martel (686-741)

Pepin the Younger (714-768)

Charles the Great (742-814)

Krum the Fearsome (760-814)

Abu Muslim Khorasani (718-755)

Harun al-Rashid (763-809)

Tahir ibn Husayn "al-A 'war" (775-822)

Alfred the Great (849-899)

Simeon the Great (864-927)

Otto the Great (912-973)

Brian Boru (941-1014)

Basil the Bulgar Slayer (958-1025)

Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030)

Tughril (990-1063)


High Medieval Period (1000-1250)

Canute the Great (995-1035) -

Robert Guiscard (1015-1085) -

William the Conqueror (1028-1087) -

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (1043-1099) -

Henry I of England (1068-1135) - One of the sons of William the Conqueror, he had two older brothers. William II succeeded as King of England and Robert II succeeded as Duke of Normandy. Henry was given no lands and so he purchased the County of Cotentin. In 1088 Normandy was in chaos and King William II and Duke Robert II were in conflict, many barons in Normandy and England also rebelled. Henry was arrested by his brother Robert but later set free. In 1090 he supported Robert against rebellious lords in Normandy and saved his castle of Rouen from these rebels. In 1091 William II invaded Normandy and forced his brother Robert to negotiate. Duke Robert was paranoid and banished his younger brother Henry. In the same year William II and Robert II declared war on their brother Henry and besieged him at Mont Saint-Michel, he surrendered and fled into France. Henry planned to overthrow Robert and take Normandy and in 1094 William II invaded Normandy again, Henry went to London. William's campaign ended in failure but Henry was gaining support from barons and was now loyal to William. Together they campaigned in Vexin in 1097 and 1098. King William II died in a hunting accident in 1100 and since Robert was on Crusade in Jerusalem it was Henry who took the throne of England as King Henry II. In 1101 Robert invaded England for the throne, many barons joined him. Henry II maneuvered and intercepted them at Alton and they made peace. Then in 1102 Henry II purged the barons which were not loyal to him, some rebelled and he took their castles of Arundel, Tickhill, Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Normandy was still in chaos so Henry II invaded in 1105, he defeated his brother Robert at Tinchebray in 1106. In 1113 Henry II supported his nephew Theobald II de Blois against rebel barons. In 1108 and 1114 he carried out campaigns in Wales. A revolt broke out in Alencon in 1118 and when Henry went to put them down he was defeated by count Fulk V of Anjou. In 1119 he took Breteuil from his son-in-law Eustace. Then made an alliance with Fulk V of Anjou. In Vexin he defeated the army of King Louis VI of France and Robert's son William Clito. In 1120 his son William Adelin drowned at sea and caused a succession crisis. Fulk V of Anjou turned on Henry once again and supported William Clito. In 1123 Henry besieged the rebels in Normandy and fought them at Bourgtheroulde where he captured them in 1124. To prevent the French from supporting the rebels, he had his son-in-law Emperor Henry V lead a campaign from the east. Emperor Henry V died in 1125 and needing a successor he had his daughter Matilda remarry count Geoffrey V of Anjou in 1127. In 1135 Geoffrey V and Matilda supported a revolt in Normandy so Henry campaigned against them, he fell ill and died at the end of the year. His nephew Stephen de Blois claimed the throne of England and began a war with Matilda and Geoffrey V of Anjou. Eventually Henry's grandson Henry II, the son of Geoffrey V and Matilda, would become king.

Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-1190) -

Henry II of England (1133-1189) - Perhaps the most prestigious of the Plantagenets, he ruled an empire in all but name. His campaigns extended into Scotland, Wales and Ireland. At the start of his reign as Duke of Anjou and Normandy he was required to press the claim of his mother, Empress Matilda, in order to take the throne of England. This he managed to do militarily by defeating the enemy of his mother King Stephen (son of Adela of Normandy). Although the war was unpopular amongst the clergy and nobility, and so a peace was negotiated, Stephen's son died and the succession passed on to Henry. His real claim to fame was the defeat of the Great Revolt of 1173. He defeated his three sons Henry, Richard and Geoffrey as well as Louis VII of France. The rebels and their allies were defeated in Northumbria, East Anglia and Normandy. His final campaign against his rebellious son Richard and Philip II of France came at the very end of his reign, in which he acceded to Richard's demands and died within a few days. At the time there was an interest among the rulers of Europe to go on Crusade, what the Third Crusade would have been like under Henry is unknown but would have been interesting.

Nur ad-Din Zangi (1118-1174) -

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (1138-1193) -

Richard the Lion Heart (1157-1199) -


Late Medieval Period (1250-1490)

Baibars (1223-1277) -

Ruggiero di Lauria (1245-1305) -

Edward I Longshanks (1239-1307) -

Robert I de Brus (1274-1329) -

Vettor Pisani (1324-1380) -

Edward III of England (1312-1377) -

Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376) -

Bertrand du Guesclin (1320-1380) -

Nuno Alvares Pereira (1360-1431) -

Timur (1330-1405) -

Jan Zizka (1360-1424) -

Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola (1382-1432) -

Henry V of England (1386-1422) -

Joan of Arc (1412-1431) -

Edward IV of England (1442-1483) -

Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405-1468) -

Janos Hunyadi (1406-1456) -

Stefan III Cel Mare (1433-1504) -

Murad II (1404-1451) -

Mehmed II (1432-1481) -