IN FRANCE, WARFARE WITH COMPARABLE CURBS

IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE WAR AND HUNTING
-- SPORTS RESERVED TO NOBLES --  
DESTROY PEASANT SURPLUSES
AND THE COST OF ARMOR, HORSES AND TRAPPINGS DISPERSES THEIR OWN WEALTH

But as in Africa,
fighting takes place in a way that limits destruction  

War and hunting
The great occupation of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, is war.

 He often fights neighboring lords. 

Count Geoffrey's great pleasure is hunting.
In chasing his prey, he tramples peasants' harvests.

 -- 1950's schoolbook

•   Crowds hamper army movement

while emphasizing the king

° The tent in the background 

shows that the parade is part of a campaign.

 Wealthy townsmen are present, 

and the figure in black on the left may be a woman

Sixteenth-century tapestry, Renaissance Museum, museum publication

° The Sun King's army 

advances only a few kilometers a day 

because the court accompanies it

The royal entry Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse in Arras in 1667 by Adam Frans van der Meulen, chateau of Versailles

* Bring women:
The queen, his official favorite (Louise de Vallière) and her rival (Madame de Montespan) ride in his coach: the population thinks he has three wives. 

* A march based on rank:
On another occasion, Louis does not invite Louise. She comes regardless and charges down the hill on horseback to him. "What! You ride before the queen!" he says furiously.  

* Social events:
The Duchess of Montpensier's love story begins on one of those campaigns.

 • Medieval fighting stops on holidays,

which take up one day in three

(for the Ashanti, two days in three)

Among the reasons for condemning Joan of Arc is her attacking Paris on a saint's day. 

• Horses are used for flight,

dismounting for victory...

In that way 12th-century English knights defeat their astounded opponents.

 -- The pillars of the earth,
historical novel by Ken Follett, 1989

• Arms can be for show,

not combat

Shield of Charles IX (c.1560), Louvre; other photos, also Louvre, same epoch

• Elsewhere...  

Marshal Bugeaud during the conquest of Algeria by Horace Vernet, 1846, chateau of Versailles

Abd-el-Kader, the leader of Arab opposition to the French, moves about with several thousand people, including families, as do royal African campaigns. 

His camp appears in the background, mirroring the hierarchy of bivouacs in the African savannah.

Chronicles, narratives and works of art
glorify violence. 
One can suppose that it was everywhere
(informally) muzzled in practice.

*      *      *

 Next,

Valor, nobles' reply to nascent capitalists?