Behind Charlemagne's extraordinary conquests stood a military system capable of assembling warriors, moving armies across vast territories, sustaining long campaigns and extending royal authority across western Europe. Discover how the Carolingian rulers transformed military obligation, aristocratic power and battlefield organization into the foundations of an empire.

The Carolingian Army, AD 751-888, by Kieran Goodwin, takes readers deep into the military world of Charlemagne and his successors, revealing the soldiers, weapons, institutions and strategic decisions that shaped one of medieval Europe's most influential powers.

From mounted elites equipped with swords, spears and mail armour to ordinary freemen summoned for military service, this richly researched volume examines how the Frankish army was raised, commanded, equipped and sustained. Along the way, readers encounter the realities of campaigning, the challenges of siege warfare, and the often-overlooked administrative machinery that made Carolingian expansion possible.

Inside this volume, discover:

• The soldiers behind the empire: Royal warriors, mounted elites, local levies, aristocratic retainers and the obligations that brought them into military service.
• Weapons, armour and battlefield tactics: Carolingian swords, shields, spears, mail, warhorses, infantry formations and the evolving role of mounted combat.
• The machinery of conquest: Royal summons, military discipline, supply networks, river transport, fortifications and Charlemagne's ambitious canal project.
• Campaigns that shaped medieval Europe: The Saxon Wars, the conquest of Lombard Italy, Roncevaux, the Avar campaigns and the military pressures that eventually fragmented the empire.

Through carefully developed historical analysis, military detail and illuminating episodes, Kieran Goodwin connects the experiences of individual soldiers with the political and economic structures that sustained their armies.

Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how Carolingian military power functioned, why it achieved remarkable territorial expansion, and how its strengths and vulnerabilities shaped the future of medieval European warfare.

Armies of the Medieval World - Volume 2

Explore the military system behind Charlemagne's empire and discover the foundations of an extraordinary chapter in medieval history.