But let`s now look at the 3 different parts of an early medieval military. The Ottonian kings adopted that organization into 3 groups from the Carolingians, more on them here. There is the general levy, the expeditionary levy, and the household militaries of the king as well as of secular and ecclesiastical magnates. In the 11th century bishop Thietmar of Merseburg writes that the early medieval military is organized into 3 parts. His works about the composition and organization of armies during the Early Middle Ages, more precisely the time of the late Ottonian dynasty, are especially valuable since Thietmar himself was obliged to provide armored mounted men, the Frankish early version of knights, for the wars of his king. One of our sources on the organization of armies during the Early Middle Ages comes from the 11th century and was written by Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg.

Sources How were medieval armies organized?.

Military households of ecclesticial and secular magnates.

Men of the Military households – the core of an Early Medieval army.

Exceptions to the duty of serving as a part of the expeditionary levy.

Who was responsible for mobilizing a medieval army?.

The equipment of the expeditionary levy – dependent on each man’s wealth.

The Wealth requirements for being part of the expeditionary levy.

Each man with a certain amount of wealth (at least the income that 120 acres of land could generate) could be summoned as a part of the expeditionary levy and had to bring his own equipment. For offensive purposes, the majority of the army would be made up of men from the expeditionary levy while the Military households of the king and secular & ecclesiastical magnates formed the core.

The general levy was made up of all able-bodied men and was exclusively used for defensive purposes. The medieval military consisted of 3 parts. But since the Middle Ages are such a long period I would like to focus on the composition & organization of armies during the early Middle Ages although many principles are also applicable for the High Middle Ages and in parts also the Late Middle Ages.

So this article is dedicated to cast some light on the composition and the organization of medieval armies. But the composition, as well as the organization of the military during the Middle Ages, is mostly unfamiliar to the public. When it comes to medieval armies we usually have a certain picture regarding equipment and tactics in mind.

Size groupings for military tanks