Equipaggiamento difensivo, armi individuali e tecniche d’assedio in Calabria e in Italia meridionale (sec. XIII-XV)

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation examines the development of defensive equipment, individual weaponry, and siege technologies in Southern Italy—particularly in Calabria—between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, within the broader political and military framework of the Angevin domination. The study aims to reconstruct the material culture of war by integrating documentary, iconographic and archaeological evidence, in a region whose sources are often fragmentary due to the destruction of the Angevin Chancery Registers and the uneven survival of local archival materials. The research adopts a comparative and interdisciplinary methodology. First, it examines the Southern Italian case within the evolution of European military historiography and within the field of scientific hoplology, which has redefined the study of arms and armour over the past decades. Second, it relates documentary terminology—drawn from inventories, fiscal records, and administrative documents of both Neapolitan and Provençal origin—with the visual record preserved in sculptures, manuscript illuminations, funerary monuments, and painted cycles. This dual approach allows for a more accurate assessment of morphological changes in equipment, technological improvements, and the circulation of craftsmen, materials, and stylistic models between Provence, Tuscany, and the Kingdom of Naples. The first part of the thesis outlines the historiographical landscape and addresses methodological issues concerning the study of medieval warfare, including the renewed attention to logistics, recruitment, cavalry, operational practices, and the transformation of armies in the late Middle Ages. The second part focuses on the analysis of military equipment: defensive armour, offensive weapons, equestrian tools, and naval outfitting, highlighting technological developments between the early Angevin conquest and the Durazzesque period. Particular emphasis is placed on projectile weapons and the progressive introduction of gunpowder artillery, whose impact altered both battlefield dynamics and siege warfare. The final section examines the organization, recruitment, and deployment of the armies mobilized by the Neapolitan crown, with special attention to the interplay between feudal obligations, urban and rural levies, professional mercenaries, and Provençal contingents. The study reconstructs tactical and strategic patterns across several reigns—Charles I and II, Robert of Anjou, Joanna I, and Ladislaus—highlighting how military practices shaped territorial control, social structures, and the economic life of communities. The dissertation includes an extensive iconographic appendix and database, offering a comprehensive collection of military representations for medieval Calabria. Through this integrated approach, the work contributes to redefining the role of Southern Italy in the broader history of medieval warfare and in the technological and cultural exchanges that shaped European and Mediterranean military development.