The Trial of the Templars


Malcolm Barber - 1978
    During that time the original small band grew into a formidable army, backed by an extensive network of preceptories in the Latin West. In October 1307, the members of this seemingly invulnerable and respected Order were arrested on the orders of Philip IV, King of France and charged with serious heresies, including the denial of Christ, homosexuality and idol worship. The ensuing proceedings lasted for almost five years and culminated in the suppression of the Order. The motivations of the participants and the long-term repercussions of the trial have been the subject of intense and unresolved controversy, which still has resonances in our own time. In this new edition of his classic account, Malcolm Barber discusses the trial in the context of new work on the crusades, heresy, the papacy and the French monarchy.

Satanism and Witchcraft: The Classic Study of Medieval Superstition


Jules Michelet - 1862
    and the witches, hobgoblins and wizards of whom the masses lived in mortal fear.Michelet draws flaming word pictures of the witch hunts, the Black Masses, the reign of Satan, and the weird rites of the damned. Here is the age of unbridled pleasure and sensuality, of luxury beyond imagination and squalor beyond endurance. Here is the time when a girl might be accused of witchcraft merely if she were young and pretty and did not survive the test of immersion in water or boiling oil. Here is the day of beatings, floggings, tortures and summary decapitations.Encyclopedia Britannica called the book, "The most important work on medieval superstition yet written." It is indeed one of the great works on the Age of Darkness.

The Big Picture: Getting Perspective on What's Really Important in Life


Ben Carson - 1999
    Ben Carson is known as the originator of ground-breaking surgical procedures, a doctor who turn impossible hopes into joyous realities. He is known as well as a compassionate humanitarian who reaches beyond corporate boardrooms to touch the lives of inner-city kids. What drives him? The Big Picture. A vision of something truly worth living for, something that calls forth the best of his amazing talents, energy, and focus. In The Big Picture, Dr. Carson shares with you the overarching philosophy that has shaped his life, causing him to rise from failure to far-reaching influence. This book is not about HOW to succeed—it’s about WHY to succeed. It’s about broadening your perspectives. It’s about finding a vision for your own life that can reframe your priorities, energize your efforts, and inspire you to change the world around you.

The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century


Paul Collins - 2013
    Charlemagne's empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture's birth, of the emergence of our civilization into the light of day.The Birth of the West tells the story of a transformation from chaos to order, exploring the alien landscape of Europe in transition. It is a fascinatingnarrative that thoroughly renovates older conceptions of feudalism and what medieval life was actually like. The result is a wholly new vision of how civilization sprang from the unlikeliest of origins, and proof that our tenth-century ancestors are not as remote as we might think.

Massacre at Montségur: A History of the Albigensian Crusade


Zoé Oldenbourg - 1959
    The new enemy: Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, one of the greatest princes in Christendom, premier baron of all the territories in southern France where the langue d'oc was spoken. Thus began the Albigensian Crusade, named after the town of Albi. It culminated in 1244 at the mountain fortress of Montségur with the massacre of the Cathars, or "pure ones" - a faith more ancient than Catholicism. At stake was not only the growth of this rival religion right in the heart of the Catholic Church's territory, but also the very survival of the Languedoc itself as an autonomous and independent region of France.

The Riverside Chaucer


Geoffrey Chaucer - 1986
    The most authentic edition of Chaucer's Complete Works available.- The fruit of years of scholarship by an international team of experts- A new foreword by Christopher Cannon introduces students to recent developments in Chaucer Studies- A detailed introduction covers Chaucer's life, works, language, and verse- Includes on-the-page glosses, explanatory notes, textual notes, bibliography, and a glossary

The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays


J.R.R. Tolkien - 1983
    Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953.Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy-Stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien’s approach to the whole genre.The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique ‘academic’ lecture on his invention (calling it A Secret Vice) and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.

Frabato the Magician


Franz Bardon - 1982
    Set in Dresden in the early 1930's it chronicles Frabato's magical battles with the members of a powerful and dangerous black lodge. His escape from Germany during the final desperate days of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of his spiritual mission culminating with his classic books on Hermetic magic.More than an occult novel, Frabato the Magician is itself a work of magic which illuminates Bardon's other books as well as providing a revealing look into the dark occult forces which lay behind the rise of the Third Reich. Threaded throughout the true tale, and written between the lines, are many valuable and practical esoteric lessons.

How To Control Your Anger Before It Controls You


Albert Ellis - 1997
    Albert Ellis and Dr. Raymond Chip Tafrate present here their proven approach to helping people deal effectively with emotional problems and show you how to use their techniques to systematically understand the roots and nature of your anger. Using easy-to-master instructions and exercises, readers can learn to live unhysterically in an often difficult and unfair world. REBT will reduce angry reactions and help to challenge and eliminate the anger that can frustrate success and happiness at home, at work, anywhere.

Medieval Europe: A Short History


Judith M. Bennett - 1964
    This tenth edition includes coverage of Byzantium and Islam, a revised map program, an essay program on medieval myths, and more.

Dostoevsky


Nikolai A. Berdyaev - 1923
    Berdyaev's aim in this book is to examine Dostoevsky's spiritual side, to explore in all its depth the way in which Dostoevsky perceived the universe and to reconstruct out of these elements his entire world-view. Dostoevsky shows us new worlds, worlds in motion, by which alone human destinies can be made intelligible; and these worlds and these destinies can only be grasped by a spiritual analysis. Berdyaev provides such an analysis.

Medieval Women: A Social History of Women in England 450-1500


Henrietta Leyser - 1995
    The intellectual and spiritual worlds of women are also explored.Based on an abundance of research from the last twenty-five years, Medieval Women describes the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages.

Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople


Geoffroi de Villehardouin
    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 to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen


Richard M. Wunderli - 1992
    lively and intellectually stimulating... " --Speculum"Wunderli... has lucidly reconstructed a controversial conflict in 15th-century south-central Germany.... this engaging narrative takes off from Hans Behem--the peasant who claimed to see the Virgin and gained followers until crushed by the established church--to explore larger forces at work in Germany on the eve of the Reformation... Wunderli also attempts to sort out the violent conflict that ensued and Hans's subsequent trial. His scrupulousness and sensitivity make for a small but valuable book." --Publishers Weekly"Fascinating and well written, this is highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries." --Library Journal"Richard Wunderli... deftly tells the story in Peasant Fires, finding in it a foreshadowing of peasant uprisings in the 16th century." --New York Times Book Review..". a stimulating read... an engaging synthesis." --Central European HistoryIn 1476, an illiterate German street musician had a vision of the Virgin Mary and began to preach a radical social message that attracted thousands of followers--and antagonized the church. The drummer was burned at the stake. This swiftly moving narrative of his rise and fall paints a vivid portrait of 15th-century German society as it raises important questions about the craft of history."A gem of a book.... It has a plot, good guys and bad buys, it opens up a 'strange' world, and it is exceptionally well written." --Thomas W. Robisheaux

The Yellow Cross: The Story of the Last Cathars' Rebellion Against the Inquisition, 1290-1329


René Weis - 2000
    The Cathars, whose religion was based on the Gospels but contradicted the tenets set forth by Rome, found themselves the focus of ruthless repression. In systematic waves of brutal persecution, thousands of Cathars were captured, summarily tried, and burned at the stake as heretics. Yet so ardent was their faith that during the years 1290 to 1329, the Cathars rose up one last time. René Weis tells the dramatic and moving story of these thirty years, offering a rich medieval tale of faith, adventure, sex, and courage. Having spent years exploring a rich trove of untouched information, including trial records and interrogation transcripts, Weis creates a remarkably detailed portrait of the last great gasp of the movement and the day-to-day life of the individual Cathars in their villages. This is an exceptionally vivid re-creation of a fascinating, and otherwise lost, world.