FRENCH WARFARE HAS SIMILAR LIMITS

IN MEDIEVAL FRANCE WAR AND HUNTING — ACTIVITIES RESERVED TO NOBLES — DESTROY PEASANT SURPLUSES,

WHILE 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

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Crowds hamper army movement while emphasizing the king: 

• As in parts of Africa, a population follows an army. Wealthy townsmen are present, and the figure in black on the left may be a woman:

Tapestry (detail) Renaissance Museum / Claude Abron

• Louis XIV's army advances only a few kilometers a day because the court accompanies it:

            The Royal Entry of Louis XIV and Marie-Thérèse in Arras in 1667 by Adam van der Meulen, toward 1685 / zoom

 

• 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 cries furiously.  

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

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Medieval fighting stops on holidays, which take up one day in three (for the Ashanti, two days in three). Attacking Paris on a saint's day is one of the reasons for condemning Joan of Arc.

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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

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Arms can be for show, not combat. Sixteenth-century weapons at the Louvre:

Shield of Charles IX (toward 1560)

Elsewhere...  

Marshal Bugeaud during the Conquest of Algeria by Horace Vernet, 1846 / zoom

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. The size of the tents ressembles the hierarchy of royal bivouacs in the African savannah. 

Chronicles, narratives and arts of the time
glorify violence. 
One can suppose that it was everywhere,
and informally muzzled in practice.

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 Next,

Valor: Nobles answer nascent capitalists