Now, she gives us her most exciting novel yet: a medieval tale set on the untamed Scottish border, where a man and a woman risk their hearts on the stormy battlefield of love. As wild as the rugged north country where she was raised, Saxan Honey Todd has sworn to avenge the murder of her twin brother. Recklessly, she gallops across the English countryside in pursuit of the man she believes to be his murderer: Botolf, Earl of Regenford. As hard and unyielding as the armor he wears in battle, Botolf is irresistibly drawn to the impetuous beauty who has come to wage war with him. Saxan stirs his passion to the point of madness . . . but to love her would be madness indeed. Now, as a desperate enemy stalks him and the greensward runs with innocent blood, Botolf brings Saxan to his castle . . . as his bride. But Saxan needs more: to fight by Botolf's side and triumph over the danger that surrounds them--as the beloved mistress of his very heart and soul. Contains mature themes.

    But when the old king dies and his successor is appointed, John faces a terrible choice: he must join the rival faction-his enemies- or risk losing everything. His new wife helps him carry his burden, but his final choice will seal not only her fate, but those of his young children. As the fight for England's crown enters a new phase, John may be forced to make a terrible sacrifice...

    Henry had not always been so unpopular. The son of John of Gaunt, he was courteous, confident, well-educated, musical and spiritually fervent. In 1399, at the age of thirty-two, he was enthusiastically greeted as the saviour of the realm when he ousted from power the insecure and tyrannical King Richard II.Therein lay Henry’s weakness. By making himself King he had broken God’s law and left himself starkly open to criticism. Enemies everywhere tried to take advantage of his questionable right to the crown. Such overwhelming threats transformed him from a hero into a duplicitous murderer: a king prepared to go to any lengths to save his family and his throne.But against all the odds, what Henry achieved was to take a poorly ruled nation, establish a new Lancastrian dynasty, and introduce the principle that a king must act in accordance with Parliament. He might not have been the most glorious king England ever had, but he was one of the bravest, and certainly the greatest survivor of them all.

    It will be of immeasurable help to students in history, art history, literature, and religious studies who are encountering medieval manuscripts for the first time, while also appealing to advanced scholars and general readers interested in the history of the book before the age of print.Introduction to Manuscript Studies features three sections:- Part 1, Making the Medieval Manuscript, offers an in-depth examination of the process of manuscript production, from the preparation of the writing surface through the stages of copying the text, rubrication, decoration, glossing, and annotation to the binding and storage of the completed codex.- Part 2, Reading the Medieval Manuscript, focuses on the skills necessary for the successful study of manuscripts, with chapters on transcribing and editing; reading texts damaged by fire, water, insects, and other factors; assessing evidence for origin and provenance; and describing and cataloguing manuscripts. This part ends with a survey of sixteen medieval scripts dating from the eighth to the fifteenth century.- Part 3, Some Manuscript Genres, provides an analysis of several of the most frequently encountered types of medieval manuscripts, including Bibles and biblical concordances, liturgical service books, Books of Hours, charters and cartularies, maps, and rolls and scrolls. The book concludes with an extensive glossary, a guide to dictionaries of medieval Latin, and a bibliography subdivided and keyed to the subsections of the volume's chapters.Every chapter in this magisterial guidebook features numerous color plates that exemplify each aspect described in the text and are drawn primarily from the collections of the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

    Late Middle Ages-Rebirth, Waning, Calamity? 2. Philip the Fair versus Boniface VIII 3. Fall of the Templars and the Avignon Papacy 4. The Great Papal Schism 5. The Hundred Years War, Part 1 6. The Hundred Years War, Part 2 7. The Black Death, Part 1 8. The Black Death, Part 2 9. Revolt in Town and Country 10. William Ockham 11. John Wycliffe and the Lollards 12. Jan Hus and the Hussite Rebellion 13. Witchcraft 14. Christine de Pizan and Catherine of Siena 15. Gunpowder 16. The Printing Press 17. Renaissance Humanism, Part 1 18. Renaissance Humanism, Part 2 19. The Fall of the Byzantine Empire 20. Ferdinand and Isabella 21. The Spanish Inquisition 22. The Age of Exploration 23. Columbus and the Columbian Exchange 24. When Did the Middle Ages End? Late Middle Ages (24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)Course No. 8296 Taught by Philip DaileaderThe College of William and MaryPh.D., Harvard University

    

    He examines surviving copies of the personal prayer books which were used for private, domestic devotions, and in which people commonly left traces of their lives.  Manuscript prayers, biographical jottings, affectionate messages, autographs, and pious paste-ins often crowd the margins, flyleaves, and blank spaces of such books. From these sometimes clumsy jottings, viewed by generations of librarians and art historians as blemishes at best, vandalism at worst, Duffy teases out precious clues to the private thoughts and public contexts of their owners, and insights into the times in which they lived and prayed. His analysis has a special relevance for the history of women, since women feature very prominently among the identifiable owners and users of the medieval Book of Hours.Books of Hours range from lavish illuminated manuscripts worth a king’s ransom to mass-produced and sparsely illustrated volumes costing a few shillings or pence. Some include customized prayers and pictures requested by the purchaser, and others, handed down from one family member to another, bear the often poignant traces of a family’s history over several generations. Duffy places these volumes in the context of religious and social change, above all the Reformation, discusses their significance to Catholics and Protestants, and describes the controversy they inspired under successive Tudor regimes. He looks closely at several special volumes, including the cherished Book of Hours that Sir Thomas More kept with him in the Tower of London as he awaited execution.

    Gilles Emery, O.P., provides an explanation of the main questions in Thomas's treatise on the Trinity in his major work, the Summa Theologiae. Hispresentation clarifies the key ideas through which Thomas accounts for the nature of Trinitarian monotheism. Emery focuses on the personal relations of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, both in their eternal communion and in their creative and saving action. By highlighting the thought of one of thegreatest defenders of the doctrine of the Trinity, he enables people to grasp the classical Christian understanding of God.

    Unlike previous studies it integrates historical and archaeological evidence and discusses Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and North Africa, demonstrating that the Roman Empire and its neighbours were inextricably linked. A narrative account of the turbulent fifth and early sixth centuries is followed by a description of society and politics during the migration period and an analysis of the mechanisms of settlement and the changes of identity. Guy Halsall reveals that the creation and maintenance of kingdoms and empires was impossible without the active involvement of people in the communities of Europe and North Africa. He concludes that, contrary to most opinions, the fall of the Roman Empire produced the barbarian migrations, not vice versa.

    The first comprehensive history of these world-famous monsters, The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame argues that they transformed the iconic thirteenth-century cathedral into a modern monument.Michael Camille begins his long-awaited study by recounting architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s ambitious restoration of the structure from 1843 to 1864, when the gargoyles were designed, sculpted by the little-known Victor Pyanet, and installed. These gargoyles, Camille contends, were not mere avatars of the Middle Ages, but rather fresh creations—symbolizing an imagined past—whose modernity lay precisely in their nostalgia. He goes on to map the critical reception and many-layered afterlives of these chimeras, notably in the works of such artists and writers as Charles Méryon, Victor Hugo, and photographer Henri Le Secq. Tracing their eventual evolution into icons of high kitsch, Camille ultimately locates the gargoyles’ place in the twentieth-century imagination, exploring interpretations by everyone from Winslow Homer to the Walt Disney Company.Lavishly illustrated with more than three hundred images of its monumental yet whimsical subjects, The Gargoyles of Notre-Dame is a must-read for historians of art and architecture and anyone whose imagination has been sparked by the lovable monsters gazing out over Paris from one of the world’s most renowned vantage points.

    The text draws extensive details from historical accounts, records, chronicles, and literature, as well as modern historical and archaeological research. All this potentially dull and dusty detail is brought to vibrant life with a narrative that follows an English knight and family, his servants, officials and tenants, associates and soldiers through a year in their lives. The Peel Affinity represents the culmination of years of work by La Belle Compagnie. Founded in 1992, La Belle is a group of independent scholars and history enthusiasts committed to the presentation of history through the medium of "living history." La Belle Compagnie has worked with schools, civic groups, museums, and other organizations to bring a bit of the past to life and has won numerous awards for its presentations.

    He has been especially beloved through the centuries for his paintings of peasant scenes. With an illuminating text by Manfred Sellink, this superb monograph, now available at a new affordable price, reprints the first biography of Bruegel, in facsimile and translation, written by Karel van Mander around 1604. This stunning book reproduces all 40 paintings and 70 drawings attributed to Bruegel in lush full color, with numerous close-up details, as well as his 75 prints.

    The purse became a fashion item and was an essential part of a persons outfit. This book provides a typology for all types of purse-like artefacts, in some cases inventing new terminology to describe them. The book is illustrated with finds from the Netherlands, woodcuts and other contemporary depictions, and with Goubitzs gloriously detailed reconstruction drawings.

    It is Beltane, an evening of Pagan revelry and wanton sexuality. There is magic in the air...and danger. Caught in the spell of the sensual spectacle before her, Deidre of the Languedoc is saved from near rape by the darkly handsome Gilead MacOengus, a man of virile strength and masculine perfection. He promises her safety in his family castle, but once there Deidre is quickly thrust into the midst of familial scandal and marital strife.Observing the Beltane festivities from afar, Gilead MacOengus quickly comes to the aid of a young lass whose story of an attack by bandits makes him skeptical, but whose beauty leaves him spellbound. Gilead senses Deidre is hiding something from him and, with a Saxon invasion imminent, knows he must respond with reason—not passion. Yet how can he resist this bewitching temptress, the one woman whose desire matches his own?

    Edition and translations of a fascinating body of medieval Welsh poetry related to the legendary figure of Taliesin.

    Royal prestige, intellectual curiosity, commerce and territorial expansion all propelled mankind to make perilous voyages across unpredictable oceans to find out what lay beyond the horizon, and the art of navigation allowed them to do so. From initial conjecture and philosophical reason, man ventured forth to glean first-hand information of the seas by exploration and scientific investigation.The author pieces together the advances in astronomy, navigation, shipbuilding and surveying through the ages to tell the fascinating and absorbing history of navigation and exploration in an elegant volume that is beautifully illustrated with manuscripts and rutters, portolans and sea charts, ship's instruments and artefacts. The meticulous research, based on original sources, has brought to light a lot of new information, which in some cases contradicts popular held beliefs.The book opens with the basic questions and challenges of navigation. Part 2 unravels the development of science and seafaring from the ancient times to the Mediterranean era. This created a basis for longer sailings, which are at the heart of Part 3 and in Part 4 the book ends with the advanced technology that made it possible to determine a ship's exact position at sea.

    Stories, More Stories A and More Stories B involve familiar situations and a variety of fantasy settings through the magic key adventures.

    It combines thousands of Celtic place- and group names, as well as Celtic inscriptions and other mappable linguistic evidence. Moving away from a narrative story of the Celts, the aim of this ground-breaking publication is to empower the reader with a wide range of evidence, lucidly presented, to show the geographic relationship of Celtic-language and non-linguistic cultural evidence, allowing individual interpretation. The Atlas has 64 large format pages of colour maps alongside pages of explanatory text, theoretical discussion, map details, bibliography, and index. This will be an essential work for anyone studying the Celts.

    Far from just a gaffe, however, such medievalism has become a dominant paradigm for comprehending the identity and motivations of America’s perceived enemy in the war on terror. Yet as Bruce Holsinger argues here, this cloying post-9/11 rhetoric has served to obscure the more intricate ideological machinations of neomedievalism, the global idiom of the non-state actor: non-governmental organizations, transnational corporate militias, and terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda.Neomedievalism, Neoconservatism, and the War on Terror addresses the role of neomedievalism in contemporary politics. While international-relations theorists promote neomedievalism as a model for understanding emergent modes of global sovereignty, neoconservatives exploit its conceptual slipperiness for their own tactical ends. Holsinger concludes with a careful parsing of the Bush administration’s torture memos, which enlist neomedievalism’s model of feudal sovereignty on behalf of the abrogation of human rights.

    Covering a period of over four and a half centuries, this study offers the first integrated analysis of Latin writings produced in the area, examining not only religious, literary, and legal texts. Ronald G. Witt characterizes the changes reflected in these Latin writings as products of the interaction of thought with economic, political, and religious tendencies in Italian society as well as with intellectual influences coming from abroad. His research ultimately traces the early emergence of humanism in northern Italy in the mid-thirteenth century to the precocious development of a lay intelligentsia in the region, whose participation in the culture of Latin writing fostered the beginnings of the intellectual movement which would eventually revolutionize all of Europe.

    This carefully researched work depicts in vivid detail an era characterized as much by intense piety as by brutal violence. It is a world peopled by Vikings and saints, popes and warriors, and by such historical personages as Macbeth and Lady Godiva. One of the great turning points of Western history, the Conquest is also a gripping human tale of passion, heroism, victory and defeat.

    It includes a huge range of rich and diverse poetry: prayers and hymns of Iona, lays of Finn, praise poems and satires from the drinking halls of chiefs, courtly songs and lewd rants from the aristocracy, songs of battle and death, poems of love, and incantations.All poems appear with facing-page translations which capture the spirit and beauty of the originals, and each poem is accompanied by critical information about the piece itself, the poet and the historical context of his/her work. The entire collection is prefaced by a comprehensive introduction which includes a history of Gaeldom and the Gaelic language in Scotland, as well as an analysis of the role and functions of poetry in Gaelic society.

    Christian readings of the Qur'ān have in consequence typically been depicted as tedious and one-dimensional exercises in anti-Islamic hostility.In Reading the Qur'ān in Latin Christendom, 1140-1560, Thomas E. Burman looks instead to a different set of sources: the Latin translations of the Qur'ān made by European scholars and the manuscripts and early printed books in which these translations circulated. Using these largely unexplored materials, Burman argues that the reading of the Qur'ān in Western Europe was much more complex. While their reading efforts were certainly often focused on attacking Islam, scholars of the period turned out to be equally interested in a whole range of grammatical, lexical, and interpretive problems presented by the text. Indeed, these two approaches were interconnected: attacking the Qur'ān often required sophisticated explorations of difficult Arabic grammatical problems.Furthermore, while most readers explicitly denounced the Qur'ān as a fraud, translations of the book are sometimes inserted into the standard manuscript format of Christian Bibles and other prestigious Latin texts (small, centered blocks of text surrounded by commentary) or in manuscripts embellished with beautiful decorated initials and elegant calligraphy for the pleasure of wealthy collectors.Addressing Christian-Muslim relations generally, as well as the histories of reading and the book, Burman offers a much fuller picture of how Europeans read the sacred text of Islam than we have previously had.

    Integrating linguistic and textual approaches into an anthropologically-inspired framework, this book reassesses the full range of evidence. It traces continuities and changes in medieval non-Christian beliefs with a new degree of reliability, from pre-conversion times to the eleventh century and beyond, and uses comparative material from medieval Ireland and Scandinavia to argue for a dynamic relationship between beliefs and society. In particular, it interprets the cultural significance of elves as a cause of illness in medical texts, and provides new insights into the much-discussed Scandinavian magic of seidr. Elf-beliefs, moreover, were connected with Anglo-Saxon constructions of sex and gender; their changing nature provides a rare insight into a fascinating area of early medieval European culture. Shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award 2007 ALARIC HALL is a fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

    As homes or ruins, these historic buildings are today largely objects of curiosity. For centuries, however, they were at the heart of the kingdom's social and political life. The English Castle is a riveting architectural study that sets this legion of buildings in historical context, tracing their development from the Norman Conquest in 1066 through the civil wars of the 1640s.In this magnificent, compellingly written volume, which includes over 350 illustrations, John Goodall brings to life the history of the English castle over six centuries. In it he explores the varied architecture of these buildings and describes their changing role in warfare, politics, domestic living, and governance.

    Pleasant, prolific, and decorative, plants like the blackberry are looked upon as sources for harvest, landscape, and visual pleasure. To the medieval and Renaissance artist, however, these botanicals were far more. Part of a richly symbolic visual language culled from the classical era, their exquisite depiction in illuminated manuscripts of the age evoked fertility, conjured bad dreams, and even aligned itself with ancient wisdom. The popular and enduring appeal of flowers in medieval art and literature extended beyond simple botanical illustration; instead, flowers helped to tell countless stories without words through potent symbolic imagery.The Medieval Flower Book artfully presents an alphabetical collection of over one hundred of the major flowers that appear in medieval manuscripts—gathered with fascinating explanatory texts on their history, significance, and usage. The sumptuous reproductions that accompany each entry offer a visual reference to the symbolism of botanicals in medieval manuscripts that’s beyond breathtaking in its appeal. An introductory section explaining the ancient roots of practical horticulture’s expansion into cultural and spiritual realms not only places the volume in the context of gardening history, but gives the general reader insight into our enduring interest in these remarkable herbals.  Widely appealing to all of those interested in flowers and gardening, the horticultural historian, and the student of visual culture and medieval history, The Medieval Flower Book is a fascinating and important primer on the beauty and language of florals. Extensively ranging through the canon of medieval botanicals—from acanthus and anemones to violets and wallflowers—this volume is the perfect gift for anyone interested in blossoms and blooms, and should thrill the everyday gardener and art collector alike.

    This modern retelling preserves the splendor of those Old English poetic conventions, while the taut, restrained phrasing captures Beowulfs original aural experience. But this is not a book for the ears only. Justin Gerards luminous paintings create empathy for a time when despair meant defeat and only courage could win the day.

    An English translation of four early Welsh legends, coupled with landscape photographs of places named in the text.

    Order of Premonstratensians, the religious order founded by St. Norbert of Xanten).

    It now arrives in a print edition, expanded and revised.Red Wolf was the strongest of the Nine Great Chiefdoms of the lycan clans, which had long suffered under the yoke of the blood-drinking sa'necari necromancers. Thirty years ago, the realm of the sa'necari, Waejontor, was conquered by the amazon nation, Shaurone. The Sharani brought the lycan people three decades of peace and freedom that is now threatened by the sudden rise to power of a young Waejontori Queen.Clan Redhand, the family that rules Red Wolf, is plunged into danger when a sa'necari bounty hunter and mercenary named Malthus Estrobian arrives in their valley, posing as a human refugee from the battles beyond their borders. Unknown to them, Malthus is the "Butchering Serpent," the genocidal mastermind behind the hidden laboratories where hundreds of lycans perished in vicious experiments. He infilitrates Red Wolf with two goals in mind: find out what happened to his brother, Troyes, who disappeared in the valley several years ago; and destroy the Redhand family in order to subjugate Red Wolf for his queen.The only person standing between Malthus and his objectives is a young guardsman with a concealed heritage: Kynyr Maguire. Trained by the greatest armsmaster the lycans have ever known, and educated well beyond the norm for his kind, Kynyr must find a way to defeat the dark arts of the Butchering Serpent or see his people destroyed, including the woman he loves.Praise for Serpent's Quest: "Janrae Frank is more than a writer, she is a world-builder. Serpent's Quest defies the limitations of genre because it is bigger than any one label can contain. It's an epic adventure, filled with unbridled horrors and sweeping romance, but more than that, Serpent's Quest is populated by characters who are visceral and alive. Serpent's Quest captivates you not only because of its larger than life drama, but because you become invested in the world as a living and breathing place."Bob Freeman, Author of the Cairnwood Manor series Janrae Frank's books are always something I grab the moment I have the chance. They are wonderful reads, well written, dense and richly evocative. She makes the reader see the worlds and characters which she has created and want always to see more of them as well. Her work is brilliant, hard-hitting, and the sort of thing I for one tend to be reading still at 2am since I can't put it down until I know how things are going to turn out."Lyn McConchie, Author of Beast Master's ArkThree time winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Science Fiction Novel "The prose is tight, the characters utterly believable, and the plot is so fast and slick it threatens to run you over like a steamtrain. An incredible piece of storytelling."Gareth Owens, Author of "Fun With Rainbows"

    This collection aims to redress the situation, presenting English verse translations in contemporary idiom and a highly readable form. It includes some 125 poems, with a strong representation of those composed by women, and goes beyond traditional limits in time to feature a sampling of the earliest texts in the Occitan language, written in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and later works from the early fourteenth. Though most poems translated in the book were written in Occitan, the vernacular of southern France, there are also a few translations of poems written in the same place and time but in other languages, including Latin, Hebrew, Norse, Catalan, and Italian. Genres include love songs, satires, invectives, pastourelles, debates, laments, and religious songs. A comprehensive introduction places the troubadours in their historical context and traces the development of their art; headnotes introduce each poet, and the book ends with a bibliography and suggestions for further reading. WILLIAM D. PADEN is a Professor of French and Italian at Northwestern University, and was recently named a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques. FRANCES FREEMAN PADEN is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in The Writing Program and Gender Studies, also at Northwestern University.

    The longbow played a central role in the English victory at the battles of Crecy and Agincourt. Completely undermining the supremacy of heavy cavalry, the longbow forced a wholesale reassessment of battlefield tactics. Richard Wadge explains what made England's longbow archers so devastating, detailing the process by which their formidable armament was manufactured and the conditions that produced men capable of continually drawing a bow under a tension of 100 pounds. Uniquely, Wadge looks at the economics behind the supply of longbows to the English army and the social history of the military archer. Crucially, what were the advantages of joining the first professional standing army in England since the days of the Roman conquest? Was it the pay, the booty, or the glory? With its painstaking analysis of contemporary records, Arrowstorm paints a vivid portrait of the life of a professional soldier in the war which forged the English national consciousness.

    Because medieval theories of vision relied upon distinctions between active and passive seers and viewers, optical discourse had social and moral implications for gender difference in late fourteenth-century England. By exploring ocularity's equal dependence on invisibility, Chaucer offers men and women access to a vision of "manhed," one that fragments a traditional gender binary by blurring its division between agency and passivity.

    To dismantle a colonizing culture, they made public the private feminine space allocated by gender difference: they constructed “unhomely” spaces. They inverted gender roles of characters to valorize the female; they created alternate idealized feminist societies and cultures, or utopias, through fantasy; and they legitimized female triviality—the homely female space—to provide autonomy. While these methodologies often overlapped in practice, they illustrate how cultures impinge on languages to create what Deleuze and Guattari have identified as a minor literature, specifically for women as dis-placed. Women writers discussed include Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, Hildegard of Bingen, Marie de France, Marguerite Porete, Catherine of Siena, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, and Christine de Pizan.

    This book argues that the religious literature of the late Middle Ages articulates with great subtlety and vividness the extent to which all being is to some extent enclosed being. In other words, we're all in the closet, and that might be a good thing. Through extended readings of English, French, and Italian writers of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Claustrophilia shows that medieval enclosures actually make room for desires and communities that a poetics of pure openness would exclude. When God holds and confines, revelation is in the boundaries and not beyond them. Accordingly, this book says, love your closet; it is only through what holds and defines us that we can know and love the world.

    The Anglo-Saxon Literature Handbook presents an accessible introduction to the surviving works of prose and poetry produced in Anglo-Saxon England, from AD 410-1066.Makes Anglo-Saxon literature accessible to modern readers Helps readers to overcome the linguistic, aesthetic and cultural barriers to understanding and appreciating Anglo-Saxon verse and prose Introduces readers to the language, politics, and religion of the Anglo-Saxon literary world Presents original readings of such works as Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

    History remembers this as an age of chivalry interwoven with mythic feats of bravery. Yet this is a period of war when three nations struggled against each other over 200 years bringing England to the brink of Civil War. Many historians have tackled the questions of why the wars between England, Scotland and France between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries occurred; few have had the expertise to explain how England came to dominate medieval warfare. Peter Reid, formerly the Major General of logistics for the British Army, uses his experience to recast how the small English forces were able to face down their enemies on so many fronts. Within the 116 years of conflict only a handful of battles were actually fought; instead the British army conducted a policy of raiding and sieges. Additionally, when two armies met, the famous English archers created havoc on the field, and battles were won or lost by hand to hand fighting. Medieval Warfare is revelatory about the role of war in creating Great Britain.

    INsiders brings knights & castles to life, with the most up-to-date information and state-of-the-art 3-D illustrations that practically leap off every page, stimulating minds and imaginations in a whole new way.

    650-1500) has, like few others, influenced the fates and fortunes of countless human beings. It is a story of contact and cultural exchange across countries and creeds, affecting many people from kings to the common crowd. This tradition formed the roots from which modern Western medicine arose. Contrary to the stereotypical picture, medieval Islamic medicine was not simply a conduit for Greek ideas, but a venue for innovation and change.Medieval Islamic Medicine is organized around five topics: the emergence of medieval Islamic medicine and its intense crosspollination with other cultures; the theoretical medical framework; the function of physicians within the larger society; medical care as seen through preserved case histories; and the role of magic and devout religious invocations in scholarly as well as everyday medicine. A concluding chapter on the "afterlife" concerns the impact of this tradition on modern European medical practices, and its continued practice today. The book includes an index of persons and their books; a timeline of developments in East and West; and a section on further reading.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    A fascinating collaboration between a medieval historian and a professor of psychiatry, this enthralling book applies modern biological and psychological research findings to the lives of medieval mystics and ascetics.Drawing upon a database of over 1,400 medieval holy persons and in-depth studies of individual saints, this illuminating study examines the relationship between medieval mystical experiences, the religious practices of mortification; laceration of the flesh, sleep deprivation and extreme starvation, and how these actions  produced altered states of consciousness and brain function in the heroic ascetics.Examining and disputing much contemporary writing about the political and gender motivations in the medieval quest for a closeness with God, this is essential reading for anyone with an interest in medieval religion or the effects of self-injurious behaviour on the mind.

    It assesses whether the term still has utility as a tool of analysis and it explores the wider ramifications of the process of state-formation from the experience of central Europe from the early 17th century to the start of the 19th.

    Texts from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries describe how cleverly-cut garments or unique possessions make a character distinctive, and even offer advice on how to look attractive on a budget or gain enough spending money to shop for oneself. Such descriptions suggest fashion's presence, yet accepted notions date the birth of Western fashion to the mid-fourteenth-century revolution in men's clothing styles. A fashion system must have been present prior to this 'revolution' in styles to facilitate such changes, and abundant evidence for the existence of such a system is cogently set out in this study. Ultimately, fashion is a conceptual system expressed by words evaluating a style's ephemeral worth, and changes in visual details are symptomatic, rather than determinative. SARAH-GRACE HELLER is an associate professor in Medieval French at Ohio State University.

    Reporting on recent archaeological fieldwork that has uncovered preserved prehistoric field patterns in the fields of Cambridgeshire, this monograph describes advances in understanding how the field boundaries of Roman Britain were organized into a completely new landscape—that of the medieval common or open fields.

    The book covers the principal research questions, such as the origins of the Slavs, societies of the proto-state period and the origins of the Polish state. The volume also includes a discussion of the most interesting, sometimes controversial, archaeological discoveries or issues. These include pagan Slavonic holy places, the monumental mounds of Little Poland, the first traces of medieval writing, exceptional strongholds, the origins of Polish towns, rural landscapes, archaeology of the oldest monastic complexes, and the question of locals and aliens viewed through archaeological evidence and many other topics. The book is meant mainly for students, archaeologists and historians. It can also be useful for a wider audience interested in the history and archaeology of central Europe. In November 2006 "The Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland" received the KLIO Award from the Association of Polish History Publishers.

    Included in this volume are extended entries on more than 30 writers who incorporate Arthurian legend in their works. Arranged chronologically, the entries trace the pervasive influence of Arthurian lore on world literature across time. Entries are written by expert contributors and discuss such writers as Geoffrey of Monmouth, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, and Margaret Atwood. Each entry provides biographical information, a discussion of the author's use of Arthurian legend and contribution to the Arthurian literary tradition, and a bibliography of primary and secondary material. The volume begins with an introductory overview and concludes with suggestions for further reading.The central figure of the medieval world, King Arthur has captivated literary imaginations from the Middle Ages to the present. This book includes extended entries on more than 30 writers in the Arthurian tradition. Arranged chronologically and written by expert contributors, the entries trace the pervasive influence of Arthurian legend from the Middle Ages to the present.Each entry provides biographical information, a discussion of the writer's use of Arthurian legend and contribution to the Arthurian literary tradition, and a bibliography of primary and secondary material. The volume begins with an introductory overview and closes with a discussion of Arthurian lore in art, along with suggestions for further reading. Students will gain a better understanding of the Middle Ages and the lasting significance of the medieval world on contemporary culture.

    Using four main categories - history, miracle, cult and Passion - Anthony Bale demonstrates how varied and changing ideas of Judaism coexisted within well-known anti-semitic literary and visual models, depending on context, authorship and audience. He examines the ways in which English writers, artists and readers used and abused the Jewish image in the period following the Jews' expulsion from England in 1290. The texts are analysed in their manuscript and print contexts in order to show local responses and changing meanings. This important work opens up fresh texts, sources and approaches for understanding medieval anti-semitism and shows how anti-semitic stereotypes came to be such potent images which would endure far beyond the Middle Ages.

    In many ways, their desire for eternity has become realized as their civilization -- nearly 9,000 years after its birth -- still captures the imagination and hearts of travelers. Travel to this country and witness the Pyramids at Giza -- the only one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.Journey through the Valley of the Kings and discover the spectacular Temple of Hatshepsut, the mysterious Sphinx, the dramatic interiors of the great pyramids and mosques. Visit the Egyptian Antiquities Museum of Cairo with Tutankhamun's gold and treasures. Read about the daily life of the pharoahs, their gods and sacred funerary rites Learn about sand dunes, desert oases, and the fertile Nile delta. Travel to Alexandria -- once the second largest city in the Roman Empire -- and navigate its open-air markets and then steal-away to a quiet walled-garden. The Knopf Guide to Egypt is packed with all the essential, practical information you will need including where to stay, shop and enjoy local cuisine, as well as how to order a coffee ziada (sweet), mazbut (fairly sweet) or sada (bitter). It is a perfect companion to this engaging and sometimes challenging destination.

    is one of the most significant events in the history of early Western Europe. This pioneering work of historiography provides a comprehensive history of Iceland from 870 A.D. to the end of the Commonwealth in 1262.

    Drawing on the wealth of material about religious belief and practice that survives in the chronicles, Carl Watkins explores the accounts of signs, prophecies, astrology, magic, beliefs about death, and the miraculous and demonic. He challenges some of the prevailing assumptions about religious belief, questioning in particular the attachment of many historians to terms such as 'clerical' and 'lay', 'popular' and 'elite', 'Christian' and 'pagan' as explanatory categories. The evidence of the chronicles is also set in its broader context through explorations of miracle collections, penitential manuals, exempla and sermons. The book traces shifts in the way the supernatural was conceptualized by learned writers and the ways in which broader patterns of belief evolved during this period. This original account sheds important light on belief during a period in which the religious landscape was transformed.

    Challenging this stereotype, Rereading the Black Legend contextualizes Spain’s uniquely tarnished reputation by exposing the colonial efforts of other nations whose interests were served by propagating the “Black Legend.”A distinguished group of contributors here examine early modern imperialisms including the Ottomans in Eastern Europe, the Portuguese in East India, and the cases of Mughal India and China, to historicize the charge of unique Spanish brutality in encounters with indigenous peoples during the Age of Exploration. The geographic reach and linguistic breadth of this ambitious collection will make it a valuable resource for any discussion of race, national identity, and religious belief in the European Renaissance.

    After examining the spiritual benefits of personal silence as a form of protection against the perils of sinful discourse in early monastic thought, this work shows how the monks of the Abbey of Cluny (founded in 910 in Burgundy) were the first to employ a silent language of meaning-specific hand signs that allowed them to convey precise information without recourse to spoken words. Scott Bruce discusses the linguistic character of the Cluniac sign language, its central role in the training of novices, the precautions taken to prevent its abuse, and the widespread adoption of this custom in other abbeys throughout Europe, which resulted in the creation of regionally specific idioms of this silent language.

    The book examines the place of food and feasting in funerary rituals from the earliest period to the eleventh century, considering the changes and transformations that occurred during this time, drawing on a wide range of sources, from archaeological evidence to the existing texts. It looks in particular at representations of funerary feasting, how it functions as a tool for memory, and sheds light on the relationship between the living and the dead. CHRISTINA LEE is a lecturer in the School of English Studies at the University of Nottingham.

    Leading scholars explore the role of the spread of Christianity and the formation of new principalities in the birth of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Rus' around the year 1000. Drawing on history, archaeology and art history, and emphasizing problems related to the sources and historiographical debates, they demonstrate the complex interdependence between the processes of religious and political change, covering conditions prior to the introduction of Christianity, the adoption of Christianity, and the development of the rulers' power. Regional patterns emerge, highlighting both the similarities in ruler-sponsored cases of Christianization, and differences in the consolidation of power and in institutions introduced by Christianity. The essays reveal how local societies adopted Christianity; medieval ideas of what constituted the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians; and the connections between Christianity and power.

    Elizabeth of Hungary lived over 800 years ago, she has a unique appeal for Christians today. Love, rather than ideology or politics, was the basis of her whole life. Born in 1207, the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and married to Ludwig IV, the Landgraf of Thuringia, Elizabeth was a happily married woman who loved her husband and children. As a lover of the poor, she not only practiced charity, but protested the injustices practiced against the poor in the feudal world, even her husband's own policies. Above all, Elizabeth hungered for God and found him in her everyday activities as a noblewoman, ruler, wife and mother before she found him in religious life and service to the poor in imitation of St. Francis. Originally published in 2007 to coincide with the 800th anniversary of St. Elizabeth's birth, this life, now revised and expanded, is based on the most up-to-date research and is accompanied by the testimonies given at her canonization process, including some that have never before been translated into English.

    Her favorite book was an illuminated manuscript of extracts from the gospels, and her personal copy, currently held in the Bodleian Library, is reproduced here for the pleasure of modern readers. Margaret’s piety, dignity, and compassion made her a beloved figure long after her death. Her illuminated manuscript reveals the depths of her sanctity, opening with a Latin poem relating the one miracle attributed to her, where she preserved this book from damage. Exquisite illustrations transform the script into an arresting treasure, and Rebecca Rushforth uses incisive and comprehensive commentary to explain the story behind the manuscript and set it within Margaret’s historical context. She explores both the creation of the manuscript and its special meaning for Margaret, along with Margaret’s role as a significant figure in British and world history. A fascinating piece of historical art, St Margaret’s Gospel-Book will be treasured by historians, religious scholars, and classicists alike.

    Mark, to the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon in 1797, the visual arts in Venice were dramatically influenced by Islamic art. Because of its strategic location on the Mediterranean, Venice had long imported objects from the Near East through channels of trade, and it flourished during this particular period as a commercial, political, and diplomatic hub. This monumental book examines Venice's rise as the "bazaar of Europe" and how and why the city absorbed artistic and cultural ideas that originated in the Islamic world.Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797 features a wide range of fascinating images and objects, including paintings and drawings by familiar Venetian artists such as Bellini, Carpaccio, and Tiepolo; beautiful Persian and Ottoman miniatures; and inlaid metalwork, ceramics, lacquer ware, gilded and enameled glass, textiles, and carpets made in the Serene Republic and the Mamluk, Ottoman, and Safavid Empires. Together these exquisite objects illuminate the ways Islamic art inspired Venetian artists, while also highlighting Venice's own views toward its neighboring region. Fascinating essays by distinguished scholars and conservators offer new historical and technical insights into this unique artistic relationship between East and West.

    But until now, students of the Inferno have lacked a suitable resource to guide their reading.Welcome to Danteworlds, the first substantial guide to the Inferno in English. Guy P. Raffa takes readers on a geographic journey through Dante’s underworld circle by circle—from the Dark Wood down to the ninth circle of Hell—in much the same way Dante and Virgil proceed in their infernal descent. Each chapter—or “region”—of the book begins with a summary of the action, followed by detailed entries, significant verses, and useful study questions. The entries, based on a close examination of the poet’s biblical, classical, and medieval sources, help locate the characters and creatures Dante encounters and assist in decoding the poem’s vast array of references to religion, philosophy, history, politics, and other works of literature.Written by an established Dante scholar and tested in the fire of extensive classroom experience, Danteworlds will be heralded by readers at all levels of expertise, from students and general readers to teachers and scholars.

    How the saint tamed the wolf with kindness resonants for families today in this beautifully illustrated picture book.Saint Francis was born in 1182, the son of a wealthy merchant. After a swashbuckling youth in Assisi, he had a change of faith and decided to live the life that he ascribed to Jesus, one of poverty and abstinence. He gave away everything he owned. His father disowned him. But over the years he drew to himself a substantial following of men and women and died revered and beloved in 1225. Three years later he was canonized as Saint Francis of Assisi by Pope Gregory IX.This lovely retelling of one of the less known of the Saint Francis lessons centers on the legend of the great wolf of Gubbio, a ferocious canine who terrorized the town and was slowly reducing it to penury and starvation. In nearby Assisi, Brother Francis heard of their plight and came to their rescue. Unbelievingly, the villagers watched from the ramparts as Brother Francis called to the wolf, tamed it with his tenderness, and made it pledge that if the people of Gubbio would care for it, he would do them no harm. He took the pledge and lived in harmony with the citizens of the city until his death.A wonderful collaboration between a Newbery-winning author, Jane Langton, and Caldecott-winning illustrator, Ilse Plume, with a timeless lesson.

    Slowly, however, the wealthy began to build parts of their houses that were private and where private activities, such as reading, could be enjoyed. This was a new development and differed from the solitude of the hermit and the silence of the monk. Diana Webb traces what this meant for men and women growing sense of individuality in this highly original book.

    Working between poststructuralism and historical materialism, he considers both the playfulness of allegory (its openness to multiple interpretations and perspectives) and its disciplinary force (the use of rhetoric to naturalize hegemonies and suppress difference and dissent). Ultimately, he argues that both tendencies can be linked to the consolidation of power within ruling class institutions and the persecution of demonized others, notably women and sexual minorities. The book examines a number of centrally canonical works, including the verse romance Eneas, Alan of Lille's De planctu Naturae, The Romance of the Rose, and the Querelle de la Rose.

    The reassessment of the island’s medieval legacy explored here highlights the island’s position as a hub of English, Scottish, Irish and Norwegian power politics as well as it considers the complex nexus of interrelationships—linguistic, economic, and political—that linked the various peoples of the British Isles and Scandinavia.The reassessment of the medieval legacy of Man highlights the island's position as a cockpit of English, Scottish, Irish and Norwegian power-politics, exploring the multi-cultural traditions of Man, and reassessing the role it was to play throughout the medieval period as a focal point in a complex nexus of inter-relationships (linguistic, economic, ecclesiastical, political, military and so forth) which linked the various peoples of the British Isles and Scandinavia. By bringing together the fruits of the labours of several scholars of international repute, some of whom are resident on the island, the comprehensive analysis provided in this volume marks a significant advance in the current level of understanding Manx history in the Middle Ages, forming a body of knowledge that will be of benefit both to Manx people and to the wider readership beyond its shores. Because of the specific requirements of documentary research in the medieval period, most of the work has been carried out by authorities in the field as an extension of their existing interests.

    This 2007 book was the first full-length study of two medieval Greek visionary journeys to heaven and hell: the Apocalypse of the Theotokos and the Apocalypse of Anastasia. Composed anonymously sometime between the ninth and eleventh centuries, both enjoyed a lively circulation in the Byzantine Empire and far beyond. Functioning on the fringes of the official Church, they transmit both traditional and novel theological ideas, and shed light on the reception of Church doctrine and imperial governance by ordinary Byzantine Christians. Though their heroines tour the Other World, their true concern is this world, and the reinforcement of social, moral, and ritual norms within local communities. Providing an original translation of both texts, the book probes the tales as manifestations of non-elite religious and moral culture in the medieval Orthodox Church.

    It became one of the most influential books of European culture through the whole medieval period. This Latin 'Roget' is traditionally used as a reference work, accessed through an elaborate index system. In this book Professor Henderson, the most challenging critic writing on Latin literature and Roman culture, presents a full reading of all twenty books of the Etymologiae, showing how the material is sequenced so that its reader is treated to a thoroughgoing education in the world as it was apprehended in Jewish, Graeco-Roman and Christian culture. All Latin, including etymologies, is translated.

    By situating their subjects within a broad continuum of historical and critical issues, the authors inquire into such questions as the shifting politics of toleration and intoleration; the role played by anti-Judaic legends in the formation of Christian cults; the role of positive evaluations of Hebrew, Jewish learning and Christian hopes for Jewish conversion; and the transformation of religious anti-Judaism into its modern racial and nationalistic counterparts. The book will be of special interest to art historians, cultural historians, students of Christian theology and Jewish history, and to educated general readers. This book is also available in paperback."

    Until now, historians have focussed on the political and financial significance of the English medieval parliament; this book offers an important re-evaluation placing the emphasis on parliament as a crucial element in the provision of royal government and justice. It looks at the nature of medieval petitioning, how requests were written and how and why petitioners sought redress specifically in parliament. It also sheds new light on the concept of royal grace and its practical application to parliamentary petitions that required the king's personal intervention.The book traces the development of private petitioning over a period of almost two hundred years, from a point when parliament was essentially an instrument of royal administration, to one where it was self-consciously dispatching petitions as the highest court of the land. Gwilym Dodd considers not only the detail of the petitionary process, but also broader questions about the government of late medieval England. His conclusions contribute to our understanding of the nature of medieval monarchy, and its ability (or willingness) to address local difficulties, as well as the nature of local society, and the problems that faced individuals and communities in medieval society.

    His elegantly written study focuses on Anglo-Saxon representations of  place as revealed in a wide variety of texts in Latin and Old English, as well as in diagrams of holy sites and a single map of the known world found in British Library, Cotton Tiberius B v.  The scholar’s investigations are supplemented and aided by insights gleaned from his many trips to physical sites.   The Anglo-Saxons possessed a remarkable body of geographical knowledge in written rather than cartographic form, Howe demonstrates. To understand fully their cultural geography, he considers Anglo-Saxon writings about the places they actually inhabited and those they imagined. He finds in Anglo-Saxon geographic images a persistent sense of being far from the center of the world, and he discusses how these migratory peoples narrowed that distance and developed ways to define themselves.

    Also included are a complete vocabulary, detailed linguistic notes, and a thorough introduction dealing with the language of the play, the hagiographic background of the St Kea material and the origins of other parts in the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth. The theme of the play is the contention between St Kea, patron of Kea parish in Cornwall, and Teudar, a local tyrant. This is combined with a long section dealing with the dispute over tribute payments between King Arthur and the Emperor Lucius Hiberius; Queen Guinevere’s adultery with Arthur’s nephew Modred; the latter’s invitation to Cheldric and his Saxon hordes to come to Britain to assist him in his conflict with his uncle; and Arthur’s battle with Modred.

    This enables the modern reader to develop and adapt their own theories and practices, rather than have them laid out by someone else. Trying to glean odd kernels of Heathen truth from academic writers who have not much interest in Heathenry, from a scattering of books and journals that do not invite easy access is not for the faint hearted. Although the author frequently uses academic methods and arguments, he is an individual trying to make sense of a spiritual path that he was drawn to a couple of decades ago. The process has not been easy. Few books have been written about historic Heathen belief systems and even fewer have presented fresh material bar some notable and honourable exceptions. Even the terminology has had to evolve, and the term Heathen itself has only become the preferred description by many adherents more recently. The interpretation of archaic writings is a skilled one, and I do not unfortunately claim to be an Old Norse or Old English scholar. Inevitably, one then relies upon the often contradictory translations of others. Wherever possible I have tried to compare more than one source of translation, and have given a flavour of a few relevant words in this book whilst not having any expectation that the reader knows any more than my own limited knowledge of these stirring languages. Trying to subjectively observe a movement from within, whilst being a part of it oneself is a delicate path to tread, but in this book Pete does an admirable job, separating them from the historical data being presented. This work attempts to show that there were several different sub-paths within the one particular group of religious beliefs labelled as Heathen, and that they are still all separately available today.

    The book contains studies of the most frequent types of prosecuted crime such as violence, theft and insult, along with the rarely prosecuted sorcery and sex crimes. Drawing on a diverse and innovative range of sources, including legislation, legal opinions, prosecutions, chronicles and works of fiction, Dean demonstrates how knowledge of the history of criminal justice can illuminate our wider understanding of the Middle Ages. Issues and instruments of criminal justice reflected the structure and operation of state power; they were an essential element in the evolution of cities and they provided raw material for fictions. Furthermore, the study of judicial records provides insight into a wide range of social situations, from domestic violence to the oppression of ethnic minorities.

    Cannibal Narratives attempts to explain their presence. It explores the relationship between the literary trope of cannibalism and the emergence of national identity in medieval England. If England suffered three centuries of invasion - beginning with the Vikings and continuing through Danish and Norman conquests of the island - it also developed a unique and uniquely literary response to these circumstances. This book reads the representations cannibalism so common in English medieval literature through cannibalism's metaphoric associations with incorporation, consumption, and violent disruption of the boundaries between self and other. The result uncovers the ways in which these representations articulate a discourse of cannibalism as a privileged mode for thinking about English cultural, and ultimately national, identity in the face of the social crisis.