4 Warfare and enslavement
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Janel M. Fontaine
Abstract
This chapter demonstrates how the evidence of raiding illustrates a dramatic surge in captive-taking practices in both the British Isles and the Czech lands at a period coinciding with rising demand for foreign slaves in the Islamic world, the Viking North Atlantic, and Byzantium. Up until the late ninth century documented raiding in our slaving zones was primarily political, with captive taking serving primarily a social rather than economic function. In the late ninth and tenth centuries a dramatic shift occurs in both slaving zones, in which the escalation of raiding created huge numbers of captives that could not feasibly be absorbed by the demand established in Chapter 1. The resulting picture is one in which warfare altered in style and frequency to support increased slave taking throughout the tenth century. From the middle of the eleventh century captive taking clearly experienced a decline, in line with decreased external demand and major political shifts within the slaving zones.
Abstract
This chapter demonstrates how the evidence of raiding illustrates a dramatic surge in captive-taking practices in both the British Isles and the Czech lands at a period coinciding with rising demand for foreign slaves in the Islamic world, the Viking North Atlantic, and Byzantium. Up until the late ninth century documented raiding in our slaving zones was primarily political, with captive taking serving primarily a social rather than economic function. In the late ninth and tenth centuries a dramatic shift occurs in both slaving zones, in which the escalation of raiding created huge numbers of captives that could not feasibly be absorbed by the demand established in Chapter 1. The resulting picture is one in which warfare altered in style and frequency to support increased slave taking throughout the tenth century. From the middle of the eleventh century captive taking clearly experienced a decline, in line with decreased external demand and major political shifts within the slaving zones.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vi
- List of abbreviations vii
- Maps ix
- Introduction 1
- I The economics of slave trading 17
- 1 Slavery within the slaving zones 19
- 2 External demand 46
- 3 Making slaves 75
- II Logistics and strategies of slaving 103
- 4 Warfare and enslavement 105
- 5 Small-scale slave trading 143
- 6 High-demand systems 165
- 7 Slaving and power 201
- Epilogue 230
- Bibliography 243
- Index 273
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vi
- List of abbreviations vii
- Maps ix
- Introduction 1
- I The economics of slave trading 17
- 1 Slavery within the slaving zones 19
- 2 External demand 46
- 3 Making slaves 75
- II Logistics and strategies of slaving 103
- 4 Warfare and enslavement 105
- 5 Small-scale slave trading 143
- 6 High-demand systems 165
- 7 Slaving and power 201
- Epilogue 230
- Bibliography 243
- Index 273
