Thomas Asbridge—a renowned historian who writes with “maximum vividness” (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker)—covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this  big, ambitious, readable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history. From Richard the Lionheart to the mighty Saladin, from the emperors of Byzantium to the Knights Templar, Asbridge’s book is a magnificent epic of Holy War between the Christian and Islamic worlds, full of adventure, intrigue, and sweeping grandeur.

    While the guests are brutally murdered by an inhuman enemy, the hero discovers in terror the target may be his love interest, the beautiful Adrianna de Valois, young daughter of the dark chief of Police. Panicked and desperate, Arthur is forced to make an ellusive pact with the most powerful survivers: the viscount of Vincennes, his friend, also a logician an intrigue expert; the beautiful and imoral italian countess Giulianna Sellini, a supposed poisoner and a necromancer; Huguet de Castlenove, an ex-priest, now a dangerous killer and swordsman manipulated by his mysterious lover; the handsome, cruel and violent master of the land, Duke of Chalais; and many other, including the man who is feared by them all - Albert de Guy, from the Holy Inquisition.But who is the mysterious assaillant? A vampire? A werewolf? A serial killer? A mad incubus? Or... maybe all of them?Violence, savagery, beauty, love and passion, logic and mystery - an inquiry in the dark.

    Loyal servant. Forgotten hero. A penniless young knight with few prospects, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II's formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor to the heir to the throne, the volatile and fickle Prince Henry. But being a royal favorite brings its share of danger and jealousy as well as fame and reward.A writer of uncommon historical integrity and accuracy, Elizabeth Chadwick resurrects the true story of one of England's greatest forgotten heroes in a captivating blend of fact and fiction. The Greatest Knight restores William Marshal to his rightful place at the pinnacle of the Middle Ages, reflecting through him the triumphs, scandals, and power struggles that haven't changed in eight hundred years.The Scarlet LionA page-turning novel of honor, intrigue, treachery, and love, continuing the story of England's greatest knight of the Middle Ages, William Marshal.By 1197 William Marshal's prowess with a sword and loyalty with his heart have been rewarded by the hand in marriage of Isabelle de Clare-heiress to great estates-and their brood is growing. But their contentment and security is shattered when King Richard dies. Forced down a precarious path by the royal injustices of the vindictive King John, the Marshals teeter on a razor-thin line of honor that threatens to tear apart the very heart of their family.For the King's Favor (U.S.)A Time of Singing (U.K.)When Roger Bigod arrives at King Henry II's court to settle a bitter inheritance dispute, he becomes enchanted with Ida de Tosney, young mistress to the powerful king. A victim of Henry's seduction and the mother of his son, Ida sees in Roger a chance to begin a new life. But Ida pays an agonizing price when she leaves the king, and as Roger's importance grows and he gains an earldom, their marriage comes under increasing strain. Based on the true story of a royal mistress and the young lord she chose to marry, For the King's Favor is Elizabeth Chadwick at her best.

    It doesn't claim to give comprehensive coverage but instead takes certain surviving examples as landmarks on a fascinating journey through the history of swords. Each is selected because it can be linked to a specific individual, thus telling their story too and giving a human interest. So the journey starts with the sword of Tutankhamun and ends with the swords of J E B Stuart and George Custer. Along the way we take in Henry V, Cromwell and Uesugi Kenshin, and there is the most detailed discussion you'll find anywhere of all of George Washington's swords. The chapters on these specific swords and swordsmen are alternated with more general chapters on the changing technical developments and fashions in swords and their use.The reader's guide on this historical tour is Mike Loades. Mike has been handling swords most of his life, as a fight arranger, stuntman and historical weapons expert for TV and stage. He considers the sword as a functional weapon, work of art, fashion statement and cultural icon. As much as his profound knowledge of the subject, it is his lifelong passion for swords that comes through on every page. His fascinating text is supported by a lavish wealth of images, many previously unpublished and taken specifically for this book.

    Brother Theophane was soon transferred from the scribe’s room and assigned to make the ink that the brothers used. With his natural curiosity, Theophane discovered that inks could be made from other plants besides the wood bark. Berries and leaves produced other beautiful colors. And soon, the books the monks made were illuminated with colors and drawings.C.M. Millen’s charming story of a young monk who defied the discipline of the monastery and found his own way to express the beauty of the world will inspire young readers to explore their own world and find their own voices.Andrea Wisnewski’s illustrations, inspired by the illuminated letters that the medieval monks created in books like the Book of Kells, bring to life the colors and beauty that surrounded Brother Theophane amidst the plain world of the monastery.

    It traces the history and development of the cult of relics, from its beginnings in late Roman funerary practices to its rise in both the Byzantine East and the West.From tomb to altar. The religion of relics in late antiquity and Byzantium / Derek Krueger --Relics and their veneration / Arnold Angenendt --Catalogue 1-35 --Gathering the saints. Sacred things and holy bodies : collecting relics from late antiquity to the early Renaissance / Holger A. Klein --"Non est in toto sanctior orbe locus" : collecting relics in early medieval Rome / Guido Cornini --Catalogue 36-54 --Ritual and performance. Relics, liturgical space, and the theology of the church / Éric Palazzo --From altar to amulet : relics, portability, and devotion / James Robinson --Catalogue 55-76 --Matter of faith. The stuff of heaven : materials and craftsmanship in medieval reliquaries / Martina Bagnoli --"A brilliant resurrection" : enamel shrines for relics in Limoges and Cologne, 1100-1230 / Barbara Drake Boehm --The spectacle of the charismatic body : patrons, artists, and body-part reliquaries / Cynthia Hahn --Catalogue 77-124 --Beyond the Middle Ages. The afterlife of the reliquary / Alexander Nagel --Catalogue 125-139.

    His contributions to the fields of logic, natural science, psychology, metaphysics, theology, and even medicine were vast. His work was to have asignificant impact on Thomas Aquinas, among others, who explicitly and frequently drew upon the ideas of his Muslim predecessor. Avicenna also affected the thinking of the great Islamic theologian al-Ghazali, who asserted that if one could show the incoherence of Avicenna's thought, then one wouldhave demonstrated the incoherence of philosophy in general. But Avicenna's influence is not confined to the medieval period. His logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics are still taught in the Islamic world as living philosophy, and many contemporary Catholic and evangelical Christianphilosophers continue to encounter his ideas through Aquinas's work. Using a small handful of novel insights, Avicenna not only was able to address a host of issues that had troubled earlier philosophers in both the ancient Hellenistic and medieval Islamic worlds, but also fundamentally changed thedirection of philosophy, in the Islamic East as well as in Jewish and Christian milieus.Despite Avicenna's important place in the history of ideas, there has been no single volume that both recognizes the complete range of his intellectual activity and provides a rigorous analysis of his philosophical thinking. This book fills that need. In Avicenna Jon McGinnis provides a generalintroduction to the thinker's intellectual system and offers a careful philosophical analysis of major aspects of his work in clear prose that will be accessible to students as well as to specialists in Islamic studies, philosophy, and the history of science.

    Previous understanding of the topic, well-rooted in the ideas of its time, regarded the English as adherents of two consecutive religions: Paganism governed the settlers of the 4th-6th century, but was superseded in the 7th-10th century by Christianity. Of the two, Christianity, a religion of the book, documented itself thoroughly, while in failing to do so Paganism laid itself open to centuries of abuse, conjecture or mindless admiration. In developing new objectives, the papers here demonstrate that beliefs varied from place to place and were expressed in material culture. Through archaeology, therefore, these beliefs can be rediscovered. Aware of the fact that even the best archaeology provides no open access to the mind, the contributors record, and study, signals of belief rather than what was believed. The premise of this volume is that paganism was not a religion with supraregional rules and institutions, but a loose term for a variety of local intellectual world views. The same courtesy is extended to Christianity. Both religions are treated as sources on which local people - the true agents of Anglo-Saxon England - eclectically drew. A range of material culture and locations across Northern Europe are explored, looking at signals of belief from the landscape, water cults, burial rites, the hall and animals in life and art. Each author looks across the sea to Scandinavia, as well as to the woods and fields, mires and mounds of Old England, resulting in a new perspective on the intellectual preoccupations and anxieties of a crucial age.

    Conventionally viewed as worthless, incapable of sustained policy, and significant only for his sporadic displays of ill-directed energy or a stubborn adherence to greedy and ambitious favorites, he has been presented as fit only to be deposed and replaced by someone more worthy of the throne.This definitive biography, the fruit of a lifetime’s study, does not present Edward II as a heroic or successful king: his deposition after a turbulent reign of nearly twenty years is proof enough that it went terribly wrong. But Seymour Phillips’ scrutiny of the multitude of available sources shows that a richer picture emerges, in line with the complexity of events and of the man himself. If Edward II was not a successful king, he was not fundamentally different in many ways from most English monarchs. The biography strikes a deft balance, taking full account of the problems the king faced in England, Scotland, and Ireland and in his relations with France. It also tackles the contentious issue of whether Edward II did not die in 1327, murdered under barbaric circumstances, but lived on as a captive in England and then a wanderer on the Continent. Eight hundred years on, a king’s life is properly examined.

    You bravely face dangerous battles, equipped only with your armor, sword, and superior fighting skills. Will you: Travel from France to the holy city of Jerusalem as part of the Crusades? Serve at the side of English King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War? Battle for your way of life in Germany during the Peasants' War?

    

    This is the first book in English for over fifty years to survey this most elusive and fascinating period in medieval history. It is also the first book in any language to combine the expertise of two authors who are specialists in the written, archaeological and visual evidence from this period, a combination of particular importance to the iconoclasm debate. The authors have worked together to provide a comprehensive overview of the visual, written and other materials that together help clarify the complex issues of iconoclasm in Byzantium. In doing so they challenge many traditional assumptions about iconoclasm and set the period firmly in its broader political, cultural and social-economic context.

    The authors discuss the origins of the various styles, and there is a detailed section setting out production techniques, materials, and the role and social status of craftsmen. There then follows the meat of the book, a well illustrated survey/typology of artefact types with notes on their decoration. A correspondingly full chapter sets out the latest thinking on iconography, looking motif by motif at their meaning, as well as the more general symbolism of decorative styles.

    In 1216, taking advantage of the turmoil created in England by King John’s inept rule, Prince Louis of France invaded England and allied with English rebels. The prize was the crown of England. Within months Louis had seized control of one-third of the country, including London. This is the first book to cover the bloody events of the invasion, one of the most dramatic but most overlooked episodes of English history. The text vividly describes the campaigns, sieges, battles and atrocities of the invasion and its colourful leaders – Louis the Lion, King John, William Marshal, and the mercenaries Fawkes de Béauté and Eustace the Monk – to offer the first detailed military analysis of this epic struggle for England.

    It reviles her doctrines, mocks her moral teachings and invents lies about her history. In every age, but especially in our modern day, historians and political powers have distorted the facts about her past (or just made up novel falsehoods from scratch) to make the Church, and the civilization it fostered, seem corrupt, backward, or simply evil. In Seven Lies about Catholic History, Diane Moczar (Islam at the Gates) tackles the most infamous and prevalent historical myths about the Church popular legends that you encounter everywhere from textbooks to T.V. and reveals the real truth about them. She explains how they got started and why they're still around, and best of all, she gives you the facts and the arguments you need to set the record straight about The Inquisition: how it was not a bloodthirsty institution but a merciful (and necessary) one, Galileo's trial: why moderns invented a myth around it to make science appear incompatible with the Catholic faith (it's not), The Reformation: why the 16th-century Church was not totally corrupt (as even some Catholics wrongly believe), and how the reformers made things worse for everybody and other lies that the world uses to attack and discredit the Faith. Written in a brisk style that's fun and easy to read, Seven Lies about Catholic History provides the lessons that every Catholic needs in order to defend and explain not just apologize for the Church's rich and complex history.

    Highlights from her collection appeared in three large-format volumes that quickly became collector's items. A half-century later, Harvard University Press and the Du Bois Institute are proud to publish a complete set of ten sumptuous books, including new editions of the original volumes and two additional ones."From the Demonic Threat to the Incarnation of Sainthood," written largely by noted French scholar Jean Devisse, has established itself as a classic in the field of medieval art. It surveys as never before the presence of black people, mainly mythical, in art from the early Christian era to the fourteenth century. The extraordinary transformation of Saint Maurice into a black African saint, the subject of many noble and deeply touching images, is a highlight of this volume. The new introduction by Paul Kaplan provides a fresh perspective on the image of the black in medieval European art and contextualizes the classic essays on the subject.

    This text provides an exceptionally important narrative of the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath, covering the period 1096-1105 and focusing in particular on the careers of Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred.

    Aided by diagrams Yorke explains construction techniques, including the infill, fittings and decorative panneling. He also includes some suggestions of representative buildings to visit.

    It reduced the population of central Europe by around a quarter and left thousands of towns and villages in ruins. This uniquely comprehensive collection of translated documents covers all aspects of the war in the words and images of those who directly experienced it, from the key political and military decision-makers, through the middling ranks of officers and envoys to the masses of ordinary soldiers and civilians, laity and clergy, women and men. Most of the material appears in English for the first time, including a variety of previously unpublished archival sources, all reproduced in their full original length. The wide range of sources covered includes: • state documents• treatises• diplomatic and private correspondence• diaries • financial records• artistic evidence Thematically organised, the material is supported by an authoritative introduction, a guide to further reading and a full chronology, as well as extensive annotations explaining terms and points of detail. The rich source material and essential context that this book provides make it an invaluable resource for students and anyone interested in European and military history.

    Look inside a castle to learn more about life in medieval Europe.

    First published in 1945 and thoroughly revised in 1971, this classic work by one of the history of medicine's most eminent scholars now returns to print in a new softcover edition.

    The great cathedral of Notre Dame was halfway through its construction and walls were being built to enclose the new, larger limits of the city. Pope Innocent III ordered all French churches closed to punish King Philip Augustus for his remarriage; the king himself negotiated an unprecedented truce with the English; and the students of Paris threatened a general strike, punctuated with incidents of violence, to protest infringements of their rights.John W. Baldwin brilliantly resurrects this key moment in Parisian history using documents only from 1190 to 1210—a narrow focus made possible by the availability of collections of the Capetian monarchy and the medieval scholastic thinkers. This unique approach results in a vivid snapshot of the city at the turn of the thirteenth century.Paris, 1200 introduces the reader to the city itself and its inhabitants. Three "faces" exemplify these inhabitants: that of the celebrated scholar Pierre the Chanter, of King Philip Augustus, and of the more deeply hidden visages of women. The book examines the city's primary institutions: the royal government, the Church, and its celebrated schools that evolved into the university at Paris. Finally, it offers an account of the delights and pleasures, as well as the fears and sorrows, of Parisian life in this period.

    However, the military history of this period is usually written from either medieval or early-modern, and either Western or Eastern European, perspectives. These chronological and geographical limits have produced substantial confusion about how the conduct of war changed. The essays in this book provide a comprehensive overview of land and sea warfare across Europe throughout this period of momentous political, religious, technological, intellectual and military change. Written by leading experts in their fields, they not only summarise existing scholarship, but also present new findings and new ideas, casting new light on the art of war, the rise of the state, and European expansion.

    The warfare of the late Anglo-Saxon period had momentous consequences for the development of the English state following Alfred the Great's reign. This book provides a comprehensive guide, with extracts in translation from the principal sources for our knowledge, accompanied by the most important interpretations by scholars through the ages, and new introductions by the present author. It looks at every aspect of the topic, from land and sea forces to logistics and campaigning, from fortifications and the battlefield to the final peacemaking. In so doing, it highlights the significance of warfare and its organisation for the late Anglo-Saxon state, and the multitude of ways in which it was recorded and remembered. Dr Ryan Lavelle is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Winchester.

    Over the centuries the story of this against-the-odds English victory has, along with Crecy and Agincourt, become part of the legend of medieval warfare. And yet in recent times this classic battle has received less attention than the other celebrated battles of the period. The time is ripe for a reassessment, and this is the aim of Christian Teutsch's thought-provoking new account.REVIEWS ..".an interesting new account of the battle of Poitiers..."History of War"

    Some of the people in this book are far less well-known that they ought to be, thanks to the prejudices and bigotry of many commentators. I hope that even ardent historians will find surprises here and that when you have finished reading about my 100 heroes you will know, and understand, a great deal more about England, English history and the people who made England great. These are men and women who, in one way or another, honoured themselves and their country and made the world a better place for the rest of us. These men and women were unique and irreplaceable. They all made huge contributions to life on earth. These men and women were all giants. They were giants of their time and they are giants of our time. We should be grateful for their lives, celebrate their work and be proud that they were English.' - Vernon Coleman `Brilliant, enjoyable ,fasinating, stirring, moving; brought tears to my eyes. Even though I consider myself to be Real English and proud of it, I am ashamed to admit that there is so much in Vernon's book that I didn't even know or was aware of. It has been a fascinating and educational experience; learning, digesting and appreciating. Should be placed in every school, college and university.' - BT Vernon Coleman is the author of over 100 books which have sold over two million hardback and paperback copies in the UK and been translated into 25 languages. For a full list of available books please see his author page on Amazon. `Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books.' - The Good Book Guide

    Mac Conglinne wins the patronage of Cathal mac Finguine, the king of Munster, after rescuing him from a "demon of gluttony" by reciting a fantastic, food-laden vision of alternate worlds. An accomplished and original eleventh-century satiric narrative poem, Aislinge Meic Conglinne is now available for the first time as a stand-alone translation.Preston-Matto offers scholars and students an ideal teaching text, matching every meter of every verse in her translation. The volume includes an introduction that places the romance in its rich historical and literary context, and extensive notes that illuminate the wealth of references found in the text. Illustrating Aislinge Meic Conglinne’s significant influence and its participation in the intellectual movements and debates of its time, Preston-Matto’s translation makes an invaluable contribution to medieval and Irish studies.