Reflexiones en torno a la guerra en la historia de la plena Edad Media (guerra, ejército y sociedad en Aragón. Siglos XI-XIII)

Abstract

The fake image of «il gioco de la guerra» (war-play) or «antiqua festa crudele» (old cruel feast) survived till modern times. War and its victors have been the main characters in history. Historians have always felt attracted by war, battles have marked societies’ changes and the net that holds the historical identity of the different nations is sustained in battles and heroic deeds of great warriors. Holy war, fair war, necessary war. This tendency towards a «history-battle» started to be overcome some time ago (political history, social history, economical history, history of mentalities), and war as a historical phenomenon has come to be analyzed with sociological criteria, as a social phenomenon, through its economical effects, its technical development and as a cultural and mental matter. All that without loosing sight of what is substantial in it: violence. A threefold perspective, «war, army and society», is necessary as a solid base for a thorough knowledge of the subject. An approach to the kingdom of Aragon in the central centuries of the Middle Ages can be used as a model.