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 first part of the book, a careful study of the disposition of swords found in peat bogs, in graves, lakes and rivers, yields information on religious and social practices. The second is concerned with literary sources, especially Beowulf.

    Yet fifty years later the first museums of natural history had appeared in Italy, dedicated to the marvels of nature. Italian patricians, their curiosity fueled by new voyages of exploration and the humanist rediscovery of nature, created vast collections as a means of knowing the world and used this knowledge to their greater glory.Drawing on extensive archives of visitors' books, letters, travel journals, memoirs, and pleas for patronage, Paula Findlen reconstructs the lost social world of Renaissance and Baroque museums. She follows the new study of natural history as it moved out of the universities and into sixteenth- and seventeenth-century scientific societies, religious orders, and princely courts. Findlen argues convincingly that natural history as a discipline blurred the border between the ancients and the moderns, between collecting in order to recover ancient wisdom and the development of new textual and experimental scholarship. Her vivid account reveals how the scientific revolution grew from the constant mediation between the old forms of knowledge and the new.

    Medieval gastronomy turns out to have been superb—a wonderful mélange of flavor, aroma, and color. Expertly reconstructed from fourteenth- and fifteenth-century sources and carefully adapted to suit the modern kitchen, these recipes present a veritable feast. The Medieval Kitchen vividly depicts the context and tradition of authentic medieval cookery."This book is a delight. It is not often that one has the privilege of working from a text this detailed and easy to use. It is living history, able to be practiced by novice and master alike, practical history which can be carried out in our own homes by those of us living in modern times."—Wanda Oram Miles, The Medieval Review"The Medieval Kitchen, like other classic cookbooks, makes compulsive reading as well as providing a practical collection of recipes."—Heather O'Donoghue, Times Literary Supplement

    This source book traces, through contemporary writings, the calamitous impact of the Black Death in Europe, with a particular emphasis on its spread across England from 1348 to 1349. Rosemary Horrox surveys contemporary attempts to explain the plague, which was universally regarded as an expression of divine vengeance for the sins of humankind. Moralists all had their particular targets for criticism. However, this emphasis on divine chastisement did not preclude attempts to explain the plague in medical or scientific terms. Also, there was a widespread belief that human agencies had been involved, and such scapegoats as foreigners, the poor and Jews were all accused of poisoning wells. The final section of the book charts the social and psychological impact of the plague, and its effect on the late-medieval economy.

    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.

    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.

    Filled with full-color, cut-away illustrations and informative text, each volume looks at a single structure and the everyday life of the people who built them, lived in them, visited them, prayed in them, and enjoyed them.

    A theory that the Bayeaux tapestry originated in Bayeaux itself.

    Its heroine is a beautiful young woman whose success in combat causes her to be regarded as Languedoc's Joan of Arc. By the author of Holofernes and Ratgame.

    In this iconoclastic study, the author sets out to reverse some of the romantic myths which have accrued about the medieval cathedral, in particular that the cathedral was a separate entity, self-sufficient, sublime and apart. Here the cathedral is shown to be a dynamic, evolving and unpredictable force in the development of the medieval city. Taking France as the main focus, but including material on England, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bohemia, the author describes the growth of diocesan authority and the consequent experiments in the layout of cathedral plans. Full use is made of recent archaeological research to show how architectural, social, financial and religious considerations combined to form a structure that was above all a practical, functioning concern, a 'city within a city'.

    Some were ambitious mothers; others, unhappy wives; some were nuns or scholars; one became the wife of a Turkish sultan and the stepmother of a famous son; another the champion of the Greek refugees in Venice after the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. Their stories demonstrate the enterprise of some Byzantine women in the male-dominated society of their time.

    Detailed mazes accurately reflect the era and locations shown. Includes an erasable crayon and eraser, so kids can work through the mazes again and again.

    Using examples of illuminated manuscripts from the Pierpont Morgan Library as illustrations, Wilson describes how a book was crafted in the Middle Ages...Magnificent...The volume is as elegant and special as its subject.-Boxed review/Booklist A glorious book, both fascinating and gorgeously presented.-Pointer/Kirkus Reviews

    Shocking in appearance, behavior, and speech, these social misfits were revered by the public, yet denounced by cultural elites. /God's Unruly Friends/ is the first in-depth and comprehensive survey of this enigmatic type of piety, tracing the history of the different dervish groups that roamed the lands. As the definitive appraisal of this neglected topic, /God's Unruly Friends/ will fascinate both scholars of religion and those who seek to challenge and broaden their conception of Islam.

    Bursting with facts, serious and comic, the book describes the lives and work of more than fifty major innovators, with delightful illustrated references to hundreds more. A 'timeline' provides a glimpse into the lives and times of each of the inventors. Spanning a period of thousands of years - from the unknown man or woman who invented the wheel, to the research teams at work today on space technology or on Virtual Reality - Gillian Clements' book is a celebration of the ingenuity of people throughout history.Includes separate timelines on each spread and a glossary explaining all of the terms used in the book with diagrams and easy to follow language.

    Ralph-Johannes Lilie sets out to explore the policies and principles which shaped contacts between the Eastern Empire, the Crusader States, and the nations of Western Europewhen the Crusaders came. Originally published to much acclaim in German, Byzantium and the Crusader States has been revised by the author for the English edition and presented in a lucid and scholarly translation.

    192 pages, illustrations (many colour).