Best of
14th-Century

2020

Highlander's Christmas


Mariah Stone - 2020
    She’s the noblewoman he abandoned nine years ago. Can forgiveness give them a second chance at love this Christmas?The Scottish Highlands, 1308. Infamous mercenary Hamish Dunn betrayed a powerful clan and is now pursued by killers almost as ruthless as himself. Deep in the snowy wilderness, a Highland faerie convinces Hamish to travel to the Border Lands for one last job.Deidre Maxwell has a dangerous secret. She’s not the widow she claims but a disowned noblewoman with an illegitimate daughter. After being cast aside by Hamish, the man she loved, she’ll never let herself be hurt again. And she’ll keep her daughter, Maeve, safe from the pain of rejection whatever the cost.When Hamish visits the warden of the West English March, he finds more than a job. The lass he never stopped loving is now the family’s wet nurse and has a daughter. Hamish wants to protect them both, though he has been hired to murder Deidre's father. Deidre strives to keep him from learning of his child, but she can’t resist the dark Scot’s draw. Can the magic of Christmas and a child’s love heal the wounds of the past and finally give this improbable pair a happy ending?Highlander’s Christmas is a historical romance novella set in medieval Scotland and connected to the enthralling Called by a Highlander time travel romance series. If you like reunion romances, secret babies, and dark alpha heroes, then you’ll swoon over Mariah Stone’s tale of forbidden love.Previously published in the 12 Days of Christmas in a Highlander's Arms collection

The Pardoner's Crime


Keith Moray - 2020
    M. Powell, Karen Maitland and S J Parris. All is not as it seems… 1322, Yorkshire, England Sir Richard Lee, Sergeant-at-Law, has been sent to Sandal Castle by King Edward II to preside over the court of the Manor of Wakefield. On the way, he is threatened with his life when he comes across the outlaw Robin Hood. The Hood lets Sir Richard pass, but before long a man is found murdered – with an arrow through his eye. With the vicious murder and a brutal rape to be investigated, Sir Richard must make his mark and solve the mysteries. But with the current authority against him, and Robin Hood on his trail, it may not be as easy as it first appears… THE PARDONER’S CRIME is the first book in the Sandal Castle Medieval Thriller series: historical murder mysteries set in Yorkshire. ‘anybody who enjoys a pacy story ought to find plenty to praise’ - My Shelf Blog

Giotto di Bondone: A Life from Beginning to End (Biographies of Painters)


Hourly History - 2020
    

Royal Seals: The National Archives: Images of Power and Majesty


Paul Dryburgh - 2020
    Royal Seals is an introduction to the seals of the kings and queens of England, Scotland and latterly the United Kingdom, as well as the Church and nobility.Ranging from Medieval times to modern day, it uses images of impressive wax seals held at The National Archives to show the historical importance of these beautiful works of art.Included are features on the great seals of famous monarchs like Richard III, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and twentieth-century monarchs, as well as insights on the role of seals in treaties and foreign policy.With ecclesiastical seals and those of the nobility and lower orders included, this is a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated guide.

Murder During the Hundred Year War: The Curious Case of Sir William Cantilupe


Melissa Julian-Jones - 2020
    As the case progressed, fifteen members of his household were indicted for murder, and his armor-bearer and butler were convicted. Through the lens of this murder and its context, this book will explore violence, social norms and deviance, and crime and punishment 'at home' during the Hundred Years War.The case of William Cantilupe has been of interest to historians for many years, ever since Rosamund Sillem brought it to light in her work on the Lincolnshire Peace Rolls in the 1930s, but this is the first time it has received a book-length treatment, taking relationships between the lords and their servants into account. The verdict - guilty of petty treason - makes this one of the first cases where such a verdict was given, and this reveals the deep insecurities of England at this time, where the violent rebellion of servants against their masters (and wives against their husbands) was a serious concern, enough to warrant death by hanging (for men) and death by burning (for women). The reader is invited to consider the historical interpretations of the evidence, as the motives for the murder were never recorded. The relationships between Sir William and his householders, and indeed with his own wife and, and whether the jury were right to convict him and his alleged accomplice in the first place.