It is easy to see medieval warfare and politics as being long on activity but chronically short on reflection. To misquote the 1970s feminist rallying cry, it is pretty obvious that hairy, unwashed medieval warriors needed strategy every bit as much as a fish needs a bicycle. Or at least that is often our unspoken but default attitude.
This is lazy and patronising thinking, and potentially very misleading. We believe ourselves to be good at strategy because we, alongside our modern governments, their generals and their PR teams, use the word a lot. Despite this, our strategies are often hard to discern in the activities that take place on the ground.
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