An Urban legend:

MC professor authors another book

By: Dustin Looney
Features Editor

Many writers are on a life-long endeavor to complete a book and become a published author.

Apparently, William Urban has not had this predicament.

Urban, the Lee L. Morgan Professor of History and International Studies at Monmouth College, has written nearly 20 books, including his most recent under the title “Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War.”

The book is a follow-up, of sorts, to his earlier work, “The Teutonic Knights,” which he completed immediately prior to “Medieval Mercenaries.”

Mercenaries are professional soldiers who fight for a country in exchange for wages, as opposed to pure patriotism or being drafted into service. Urban said he was exposed to the roles of mercenaries in the Middle Ages when completing his research for the earlier book.

“Mercenaries are necessary for any state that wants to defend itself because nobody has enough troops to take on a bigger power and the bigger powers need mercenaries to defeat the smaller powers,” Urban said.

As one might expect, the life of a professional soldier during any era is full of adventure and fraught with danger. “Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War” is a 256-page narrative which revolves around the particularly hazardous life of a mercenary soldier in the Middle Ages.

Urban said he turned to an acquaintance of his, Terry Jones, to write the forward for the book. Jones is a noteworthy medievalist, but he is best known for his comedic role in the famous BBC television series, mous BBC television series, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”

In the forward, Jones writes: “William Urban provides an astonishingly clear overview of the subject of mercenaries with tremendous authority and wit. It makes a thrilling read.”

When asked what his inspirations were for writing this book, Urban had a simple reply: “My editor asked me to write it.” He then elaborated, “That was really the final motivation, he wanted me to write another book and we negotiated about the topic.”

They eventually agreed upon “Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War.”

Urban has been a member of the Monmouth College community for over four decades, as he started teaching here in 1966.

He said he enjoys working here and appreciates the small school atmosphere. In addition to researching various historical subjects and writing, he also takes pleasure in watching the world’s most popular sport, soccer.

Urban served as the first soccer coach in Monmouth College history, as he ran the program for seven seasons from 1972 to 1981. He has written numerous essays and articles on various topics of the game. He said he still enjoys watching soccer and tries to attend most Monmouth College home games.

In addition to coaching Monmouth’s first soccer team, Urban wrote the second book about the history of Monmouth College. He was also an editor for the “Journal of Baltic Studies” from 1990 to 1994.

“Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War” was published by Greenhill Books and it has been well-received so far, particularly by the Military Book Club. It is currently available in hardcover only, but Urban said it will likely be printed in paperback in one or two years.

Urban is already working on a follow up to this book, which will be titled “Bayonets For Hire: Mercenaries 1550-1789.” This book is set to be published in July.