1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned.Sharon Kay Penman's magnificent fifth novel summons to life a spectacular medieval tragedy whose unfolding breaks the heart even as it prepares the way for splendors to come—the glorious age of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Plantagenets that would soon illumine the world.

    SEE INSIDE AN AMAZING 14TH-CENTURY CASTLEFrom the creators of INCREDIBLE CROSS-SECTIONSWHY...did castles have wooden walkways around the top of their walls?...did one castle attacker set fire to 40 dead pigs?...was the longbow such a fearsome weapon?WHO...was a "gong farmer"?...catapulted animals over the castle walls?...ate elaborate dishes of porpoise and peacock?WHAT...was strewn on castle floors?...was a quantain?...was a squire's job?Follow the story of life in the castle in both peace and war - and find the enemy spy!

    The strange imagination displayed in the pages, the impeccable technique and the very fine state of preservation make The Book of Kells an object of endless fascination.This edition reproduces the most important of the fully decorated pages plus a series of enlargements showing the almost unbelievable minuteness of the detail; spiral and interlaced patterns, human and animal ornament—a combination of high seriousness and humor. The text is by Bernard Meehan, the Keeper of Manuscripts at Trinity College, Dublin.

    C. Doherty, each one using characters from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In Chaucer's poem, the pilgrims narrate tales to pass the time during their journey to the sacred shrine of Canterbury; Doherty's pilgrims entertain their companions with stories of mystery, terror, and murder. The Knight's Tale begins with the story of an ancient evil: the destruction of a sinister vampire cult that thrived in the wilderness of Oxfordshire during the reign of William the Conqueror. The tale then leaps two hundred years ahead to Oxford, where students are disappearing and citizens are murdered in a bizarre and brutal fashion. The sheriff of the city and the university authorities are baffled, but Lady Constance, Abbess of the Convent of St. Anne's, believes the murders are connected with the legends of the cult, and petitions the king for help. Two investigators, special commissioner Sir Godfrey Evesden and royal clerk Alexander McBain, arrive in Oxford and begin an investigation. The Archbishop of Canterbury sends unusual assistance in the person of the blind exorcist Dame Edith Mohun who, as a girl, had a horrifying experience with what may have been a remnant of that ancient cult. What this trio discovers and the repercussions for the city and the university form the scarily delightful plot of this novel.

    Thomas on Aristotle. Each volume has the full text of Aristotle with Bekker numbers, followed by the commentary of St. Thomas, cross-referenced using an easily accessible mode of referring to Aristotle in the Commentary.Each volume is beautifully printed and bound using the finest materials. All copies are printed on acid-free paper and Smyth sewn. They will last.

    As you gaze in astonishment through close-up reproductions of such dazzling illuminated masterpieces as the Book of Kells, as well as superb compositions of contemporary artists, you’ll appreciate the infinite possibilities of the form. Try your hand and imagination at twelve classic alphabets, from Celtic and Gothic to Renaissance and Modern Revival, all carefully broken down to their components. Undertake projects that include copying intricate lettering and designs from The Lindisfarne Gospels; Emperor Henry II’s Pericopes, from the 11th century; the Duc de Berry’s Book of Hours; and others. Every exquisite page is a pleasure to view.

    When she comes face to face with the one who stole her future, she seizes the opportunity to exact revenge. Soon he is her prisoner, at her mercy. But something is different about him, something that makes her question her purpose. Is it possible a man can be so changed? More, can she right the wrong that could lay ruin to her family? SHE WAS A QUESTION NEVER BEFORE ASKED OF HIM Ranulf Wardieu does not seek a bride, nor a settling of scores when his mission for the king places him in the path of a beguiling, raven-haired maiden. But fascination turns to fury when she imprisons him. Accused of wrongdoing, the nature of which she refuses to reveal, he discovers the lady is as skilled at wielding a sword as she is at verbal sparring. When he bests her at her game and his jailer becomes his captive, he is determined to learn what wrong he has done her. However, as they engage in a battle of wits and wills and he glimpses her woman’s heart, he discovers Lizanne is a question never before asked of him—one his own jaded heart refuses to answer.

    Now, combined into a single convenient volume, the New, Expanded Edition of "The Romance of Arthur" covers nearly a thousand years of translated texts in a broad range of genres, from the early chronicles and Welsh verse through Sir Thomas Malory. A new section on lyrics has been added. The translations from Latin, French, German, Spanish, Welsh, Middle English, and Italian were freshly done for the original anthologies and have now been updated. As before, complete text are presented whenever possible.

    His writings reveal a mystical theology that Thomas Merton, a monastic heir to Bernard’s Cistercian reform, says "explains what it means to be united to God in Christ but (also) shows the meaning of the whole economy of our redemption in Christ." Critical of the monastic opulence of his times, Bernard exhorted his monks to consider that "Salt with hunger is seasoning enough for a man living soberly and wisely." Martin Luther believed that Bernard was "the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together."Bernard's zeal and charisma led to the reform of Christian life in medieval Europe. Today it is reported that Pope Benedict XVI keeps Bernard's treatise Advice to a Pope close at hand for spiritual support. Honey and Salt is an original selection for the general reader of Bernard’s sermons, treatises, and letters.

    Concise and readable explanations ofthe technical terms most frequently encountered by the museum-goer are presented in an easily portable format. With numerous illustrations, many of them in color, this volume will be invaluable to all readers wishing to increase their understanding and enjoyment of illuminated manuscripts.

    And in the midst of this magnificent struggle for power, two strangers born to be enemies discovered a passion as savage as the wild Scottish moors.Jonet Maxwell...a fiery green-eyed girl and a much sought after bride with a dowry of rich lands., she would become a pawn in a deadly game of vengeance and desire...and her heart would be ignited by the dashing spy who was her captor.Alexander Hepburn...the baron of Durham had a handsome face and a ruined name; his blood enemy was Robert Mure, Jonet's uncle. To exact an exquisite revenge, he would spirit away an innocent girl and hold her hostage, only to lose himself to the smoldering passion in her eyes.He was sworn to clear his father's name. She was fighting to save her beloved uncle's life. They were enemies in a battle of blood ties and birthright, allies in a dangerous truce.

    Translated by Richard Russell in 1968. Introduction by Dr. E.J. Holmyard, preface by Todd Pratum. Numbered edition of 999 copies, printed on acid-free paper, smythe-sewn.

    Addressed to some of the most notable people of the day, as well as to some of humble status, the correspondence reveals the saint in ways her more famous works leave obscure: as determined reformer, as castigating seer, as theoretical musician, as patient adviser, as exorcist. Sometimes diffident and restrained, sometimes thunderously imperious, her letters are indispensable to understanding fully this luminary of medieval philosophy, poetry, and music. In addition, they provide a fascinating glimpse at life in tumultuous twelfth-century Germany, beset with schism and political unrest. This first volume includes ninety letters to the highest ranking prelates in Hildegard's world--popes, archbishops, and bishops. Three following volumes will be divided according to the rank of the addressees.

    

    Martin Irvine draws together several aspects of medieval culture--literary theory, the nature of literacy, education, Biblical interpretation, linguistic thought--in order to reveal the more far-reaching social effects of grammatica in medieval culture. The book is based on new and previously neglected sources, many of which have been edited from medieval manuscripts for the first time.

    The different forms of tapestry associated with tribal and nomadic life are discussed, as well as those of the developed world, and tapestry is considered both as an art form and as an everyday, practical craft.The copious illustrations reveal the sumptuous texture and beauty of tapestries in detail, and show them in the settings in which they are used. A truly inspiring sourcebook of ideas, Tapestry even offers practical advice on where to see the most interesting collections, how to buy antique or modern tapestry and how to care for it.

    Curley sets out to instruct the nonspecialist in the events of Geoffrey's career, the techniques governing his three known works - the History, The Prophecies of Merlin, and The Life of Merlin-, and Geoffrey's enduring appeal as commentator on the human condition. Geoffrey's characters "are driven by passion, greed, rivalry, a thirst for glory and adventure, a restless spirit, and a consciousness of their origins," Curley asserts in his preface; "Above all, they are imbued with a sense of their own autonomy." In the five chapters that follow, Curley provides cogent biographical and background information, treats each of Geoffrey's works, and addresses the many issues scholars have raised about the writer. Throughout, Curley guides readers gracefully through complex, highly influential works of not just the Middle Ages but indeed Western civilization, amply demonstrating the power of Geoffrey's contribution to British historiography and cultural myth.

    'An extraordinary rich study of the power of place in the Northern medieval world by two medievalists, who are also 'compleat geographers' in that they do fieldwork that is always informed by theory and they demonstrate exceptional sensitivity to place's double nature-compelling presence and elusiveness to interpretation.' Yi-Fu Tuan, Department of Geography University of Wisconsin at Madison

    The writings of Gildas, who wrote the near contemporary and extended description of the "English Settlement", are central to the story. Higham offers his own insights into Gildas' purposes and the social, political and chronological context in which he worked. He shows how Gildas wrote around the years 479 to 485 in the context of Saxon domination south of the Mersey, and how he wrote in order to find a way to reverse the conquest, using metaphor and imagery as his literary weapon. This first volume of a three-part analysis of the origins of England shows how history can still contribute to our understanding of the "dark ages", and challenges the interpretations now being offered by many archaeolologists researching pagan England.

    However, despite the status of the knightly warrior in medieval society, the military service of the later medieval English aristocracy remains an unaccountably neglected subject, and the warhorse itself has never attracted a major study based upon archival sources. This book seeks to open up new fields of research: it focuses on the horse inventories, documents which offer detailed lists of men-at-arms and their appraised warhorses, the valuation of which is a measure of its owner's social and military status. Dr Ayton is primarily concerned with the inventories and related records for Edward III's reign, a period which witnessed significant changes in the organisation of the English fighting machine. Thedocuments produced during this period of `military revolution' cast valuable light on the character and attitudes of the aristocratic military community at a time when its traditional role was in the course of re-evaluation.Dr ANDREW AYTON is senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull.

    It explores the nature of the impact of the Norman Settlement on monastic life, how Britain responded to new, European ideas, and also to the needs of religious women. Every aspect of the life and work of the religious orders is covered, from their daily life to their contribution to intellectual developments. Particular attention is paid to the relationships between religious houses and their founders and patrons, showing the degree of dependence on local patrons and the tension between the religious life and the pressures of the world.

    He finds the spiritual roots of the Mendicants in the evangelical movements of the twelfth century, and in the ideas of the apostolic life which shaped the religious experience of their founders.

    The saints counted most prominently as potential intercessors before God, but the ordinary dead as well were called upon to aid the living, and even to participate in the negotiation of political disputes. In this book, the distinguished medievalist Patrick J. Geary shows how exploring the complex relations between the living and dead can broaden our understanding of the political, economic, and cultural history of medieval Europe. Geary has brought together for this volume twelve of his most influential essays. They address such topics as the development of saints' cults and of the concept of sacred space; the integration of saints' cults into the lives of ordinary people; patterns of relic circulation; and the role of the dead in negotiating the claims and counterclaims of various interest groups. Also included are two case studies of communities that enlisted new patron saints to solve their problems. Throughout, Geary demonstrates that, by reading actions, artifacts, and rituals on an equal footing with texts, we can better grasp the otherness of past societies.

    Brilliantly painted and often bound in silver and decorated with jewels, these volumes constitute the principal source of information on the history, religion, language, and art of Armenia. Treasures in Heaven is a comprehensive introduction in English to the art and history of Armenian manuscript painting. It reveals the degree to which this art form embodies a distinctively Armenian aesthetic and religious experience. Eighty-eight of the most significant examples of Armenian manuscript illumination are reproduced and extensively discussed in the catalog. Essays by a team of international scholars examine each of the principal schools and periods of Armenian illumination--from the earliest surviving works of the seventh century to manuscripts produced by the Armenian Diaspora communities during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Chapters on the history and religion of Armenia place illuminated manuscripts within the broader context of Armenian culture. The distinctive techniques and materials of Armenian manuscript painting and bookbinding are also explained. Contributors to this volume include Helen C. Evans, Nina G. Garso�an, Thomas F. Mathews, Krikor H. Maksoudian, Sylvie L. Merian, Mary Virginia Orna, and Alice Taylor.

    Women praying for their dead, monks creating and re-creating their archives, scribes choosing which royal families of the past to applaud and which to forget: it is from such sources that most of our knowledge of the medieval period comes. Throughout richly detailed descriptions of various acts of remembrance--including the naming of children and the recording of visions--the author unearths a wide range of approaches to preserving the past as it was or formulating the past that an individual or group prefers to imagine.

    The documents included in this volume vividly illustrate Caesarius’s career and the social and religious history of Provence at a time of far-reaching political change, during which the region was ruled by a series of Visigothic, Burgundian, Ostrogothic and, ultimately, Frankish kings.

    Greek literary production throughout this period of some eight centuries is embedded in its historical and social context, and Professor Dihle sees this literature as a historical phenomenon, a particular mode of linguistic communication, with its specific forms developing both in an organic way and in response to the changing world around. In this it differs from conventional humanist approaches to Greek and Latin literature which analyse the works as objects of timeless value independent of any historical setting or purpose.This magisterial survey by one of the leading European authorities on classical literature will establish itself, as it already has in Germany, as the standard account of the subject.

    Based on a wealth of new documentation John Henderson provides a fascinating account of the development of the major confraternities in Florence in relation to other types of communal ecclesiastical institutions. Henderson discusses in detail their devotional activities for living members, including the singing of lauds, self-flagellation, processions and dramatic presentations, as well as funerals and commemorative services for the dead. He then provides one of the most detailed analyses of poor relief in late medieval Europe, all against the background of changing social, demographic, and economic regimes of the late medieval commune. Taken together the two themes of this book, piety and charity, provide new evidence concerning the complex relationship between religion and society in both private and public life.

    Alongside contributions on how different social groups saw themselves and were seen by others are more general discussions of key aspects of fifteenth-century life: attitudes to the rule of law, to the power of the ruler, to education, to honour and service, and finally to death.

    Martin of Tournai, and, later, Bishop of Cambrai--was one of the most illustrious teachers and philosophers in Christendom. Yet only one of his works, a treatise on the Mass, has heretofore been translated into English. Irven M. Resnick here provides the first English-language translation of two of Odo's other works.The first, On Original Sin, is at once an exposition of Christian doctrine and a philosophical investigation into the origin of the soul, the character of the sin that all human beings inherit from Adam, and the relationship of the individual to the species. The second translated text, A Disputation with the Jew, Leo, Concerning the Advent of Christ, the Son of God, continues the discussion, in dialogue form, of original sin and its effects.

    Using a study of the individual monarchs, from the 9th to 11th centuries, the supremacy of the Scots in northern Britain is placed in the wider context of Irish and English history. This study uses family history and literature in conjunction with political narrative and places medieval Celtic history into the tradition of Scottish historical research.

    The texts are newly edited from manuscripts, and are supplemented with notes and a glossary. The book focuses on five major authors, Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Dame Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe; extracts from contemporary translations are also included to illustrate the reception of European mystical texts in later medieval England.

    These interactions-sometimes hostile, sometimes surprisingly intimate-occurred during that one period between the mid-tenth and mid-eleventh century when Shi'ite Islam, not Sunni Islam, dominated the Muslim world. The ethnic and secretarian fragmentation that marks present-day Islam was already well in place at the end of the tenth century.

    D'Ailly's writings on the stars, the focus of this book, clearly illustrate the complex relationships among astrology, science, and Christian thinking in the late Middle Ages. Through an examination of his letters, sermons, and philosophical, astrological, and theological treatises, Laura Ackerman Smoller reveals astrology's appeal as a scientific means to interpret history and prophecy, and not merely as a magical way to forecast and manipulate one's own fate. At the same time, she shows how d'Ailly dealt with delicate problems--such as free will and God's omnipotence--in elevating astrology to a compelling, but not always consistent, natural theology. The French cardinal's most intriguing prediction was for the advent of Antichrist in 1789, one that stemmed from his deep concern over the Great Schism (1378-1414). Smoller maintains that the division in the church led d'Ailly to fear the imminence of the apocalypse, and that he eventually turned to astrology to quell his apocalyptic fears, thereby gaining confidence that a church council could heal the Schism. In elucidating the place of astrology in medieval society, this book also affords a personal glimpse of a man facing a profound crisis.Originally published in 1994.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

    The individuals or single families whose records Molho has scrutinized, as well as his analysis of several thousand marriages over nearly a century and a half, illuminate a culture that consistently and relentlessly subordinated individual goals and preferences to larger and deeper concerns. The book combines the application of quantitative methods and close reading of contemporary texts in order to gain new insights into the history of Florence in the late Middle Ages.