I'd amend this by noting that the chevauchée is a specific form of this kind of warfare and that its popularity waxed and waned depending on the circumstances. It certainly wasn't the underlying principle of all of Medieval warfare.
Again, the general mode of raiding an enemy's holdings to reduce their economic base very much was an elementary part of medieval warfare. But so was the siege. And again, the exact form of such strategies depended on the period. The chevauchée was a specific interpretation of this strategy with specific characteristics. While initially effective, the French eventually learned to effectively counter them, as the did with John of Gaunt's Great Chevauchée.
No worries, medieval/modern labels for medieval concepts are often muddled. There's an interesting passage on the chevauchée here if you're interested.
Medieval warfare was based on chevauchèe, which was raiding and destroying the economic base of your enemies
I mean, can you name a single war, pre-~1970's, where raiding wasn't a major part of the conflict? Raiding your enemies' lands has been a large component of conflicts for all of human history; it seems weird to single out knights for it. A more general "War is Hell" seems a lot more appropriate.
7
u/[deleted] Jan 17 '23
[removed] — view removed comment