Special operations are not a novel late modern phenomenon. They were an integral and very important part of the military and political tool-kit already in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The main targets of medieval and Renaissance warfare in general, namely strongpoints and leaders, were often more vulnerable to special operations than to regular ones.

The extensive usage of special operations demonstrates that medieval and Renaissance warfare did not always obey the conventions of chivalric fair play. Commanders habitually relied not only on guile and ruse, but also on bribery, treason, assassination, and abduction. Chivalry was nevertheless an important part of medieval and Renaissance wars. It still had a restraining effect on the use of special operations, especially assassination and abduction. Conversely, the potential usefulness of assassination and abduction was so great in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance precisely because political loyalties were still feudal and chivalric in nature.

Several important questions are left open by the present book, to await future research. The methods and importance of assassinations and poisoning in chivalric culture deserve much further study. Such study might confirm or disprove Franklin L. Ford's hypothesis that assassination was of comparatively smaller importance in the military and political culture of high medieval Europe, and that it became far more important only during the sixteenth-century wars of religion. Though the present book indicates that assassination was of great importance throughout the Middle Ages, a much more detailed study is needed before any firm conclusions can be reached.