Baigent and Leigh tell the whole extraordinary story, taking it on into the nineteenth century and showing how after the Doctrine of Papal Infallibility in 1870 the Vatican attempted to establish new authorities that were an intellectual equivalent of the Inquisition. The Inquisition offers a fascinating narrative account of one of the most influential and horrifying movements in the history of western Europe.

    Successive popes accorded to Christian warriors willing to participate in the peninsular wars against Islam the same crusading benefits offered to those going to the Holy Land. Joseph F. O'Callaghan clearly demonstrates that any study of the history of the crusades must take a broader view of the Mediterranean to include medieval Spain.Following a chronological overview of crusading in the Iberian peninsula from the late eleventh to the middle of the thirteenth century, O'Callaghan proceeds to the study of warfare, military finance, and the liturgy of reconquest and crusading. He concludes his book with a consideration of the later stages of reconquest and crusade up to and including the fall of Granada in 1492, while noting that the spiritual benefits of crusading bulls were still offered to the Spanish until the Second Vatican Council of 1963.Although the conflict described in this book occurred more than eight hundred years ago, recent events remind the world that the intensity of belief, rhetoric, and action that gave birth to crusade, holy war, and jihad remains a powerful force in the twenty-first century.

    This book is a narrative of the journey that shook the author to her core. Shedding layers of self-recrimination and self- judgement she carried through her life, she found herself broken wide open. Over the 500 mile trail Jennifer released tears of grief, anger, and finally learned to embrace those sides of herself that were banished out of shame, fear, and social conditioning. This book is a brutally honest tale of one woman's dogged tenacity to break through the barrier of her own self-abandonment in which she spent decades conforming and bending to the will of others, and finally her triumphant deliverance into unconditional self-love. The physical and personal challenge for the author turned out to be a gut-wrenching, self-exploration towards finding herself. Along the trails of the famed Camino de Santiago of Spain, Jennifer sheds her false self, layer by layer, and at the end of her walk, embraces the authentic beautiful woman she longed for. Old wretched pain and wounds rise to the surface as she purges and heals, step by painful step. The book offers a scenic portrayal of the beautiful landscapes, hotels and inns, churches and cathedrals, local purveyors, and cuisines native to the culture, woven poetically through the author's observant eye for colorful imagery, delectable aromas, and architectural design. Filled with positive affirmations, mantras, prayers, and meditations on "A Course in Miracles," this day by day journey is a spiritual roadmap to walking the Camino. Inspired by her cathartic pilgrimage, the author now arranges tours to assist and guide others to explore, heal, and commune along the trails of the Camino along with other sacred journeys. This book is for you if You have ever struggled with self-image Are curious about The Camino de Santiago You are curious about or a student of "A Course in Miracles" Want to shed layers of false beliefs about yourself Like reading an open-hearted, honest spiritual memoir. If you are interested check out the "look inside" feature And check out winnjourneys.com for more information

    But Rownt has problems of his own: a gang of child-thieves is terrorizing the quiet neighborhood in which he lives, and his neighbors want protection. Then the Fox, head of London’s criminal underworld, becomes involved, and a deadly situation becomes deadlier when one of the Fox’s men stabs the wrong boy. In a world where violence and theft seem everyday occurrences, Rownt searches for justice among A Parcel of Rogues.

    Everything a busy traveler needs is easy to access: a neighborhood overview, city walks and tours, sights, handy food and accommodations charts, an appendix packed with information on trip planning and practicalities, and a fold-out city map.Rick Steves Pocket Barcelona includes the following walks and tours:• Ramblas Ramble• Barri Gotic and Cathedral Tour• Picasso Museum Tour• Eixample Walk• Sagrada Familia Tour

    This seventh edition has been revised and expanded and six new authors have been selected. Every image from the previous edition has been enhanced/refreshed using modern imaging technology.

    They moved to start a new life breeding alpacas. Lorna started an online blog to keep track of her day to day life. Nearly six years down the line and Lorna has decided to make the first year of their new life available for everyone to read. Lorna's new life is full of ups and heartbreaking downs, but through it all she is determined not to let this new life get the better of her.

    Her parents are exasperated at the way in which she flits from one thing to another. A chance encounter helping Dulcie, an elderly lady who has had a fall in the street, leads to Gemma becoming housekeeper to Dulcie and her friend, Rupert.Following a lottery win, Dulcie and Rupert rent a Spanish villa for six months and Gemma goes with them for a working holiday. It’s all one long adventure for the three of them, filled with fun days out, nights in the best restaurants and plenty of laughter.Dario, the local taxi driver becomes fond of Gemma. Likewise, she thinks a lot of him too, but he harbours a secret.Jamie, Dulcie’s grandson, pops over to Spain to check on his grandmother. but she’s not his only reason for visiting.Craig, an old friend of Gemma’s, is also an acquaintance of Dulcie and Rupert. When he visits from England, Gemma’s life becomes a little uncomfortable.How can ONE SUMMER IN SPAIN change everyone’s life? Will it be for the good, and how do their lives pan out after the six month holiday is over?

    In 1870 the whole astonishing cache, containing some 150,000 letters and great numbers of business documents, came to light. The Marchesa Origo has drawn on this material to paint, in detail, a picture of Italian domestic life on the eve of the Renaissance.

      There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: it is a myth.   In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden features of this medieval culture by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed.   This supposed beacon of peaceful coexistence began, of course, with the Islamic Caliphate’s conquest of Spain. Far from a land of tolerance, Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life, and by the marginalization of Christians and other groups—all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities.   As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its “multiculturalism” and “diversity,” Fernández-Morera sets the record straight—showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless.

    Violence in the Middle Ages, however, functioned differently, according to David Nirenberg. In this provocative book, he focuses on specific attacks against minorities in fourteenth-century France and the Crown of Aragon (Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia). He argues that these attacks--ranging from massacres to verbal assaults against Jews, Muslims, lepers, and prostitutes--were often perpetrated not by irrational masses laboring under inherited ideologies and prejudices, but by groups that manipulated and reshaped the available discourses on minorities. Nirenberg shows that their use of violence expressed complex beliefs about topics as diverse as divine history, kinship, sex, money, and disease, and that their actions were frequently contested by competing groups within their own society.Nirenberg's readings of archival and literary sources demonstrates how violence set the terms and limits of coexistence for medieval minorities. The particular and contingent nature of this coexistence is underscored by the book's juxtapositions--some systematic (for example, that of the Crown of Aragon with France, Jew with Muslim, medieval with modern), and some suggestive (such as African ritual rebellion with Catalan riots). Throughout, the book questions the applicability of dichotomies like tolerance versus intolerance to the Middle Ages, and suggests the limitations of those analyses that look for the origins of modern European persecutory violence in the medieval past.

    Probably composed between 1372 and 1389, the poem survives in three distinct versions. It is known to modern readers largely through the middle of the three, the so-called B-text. Now, George Economou's verse translation of the poet's third version makes available for the first time in modern English the final revision of a work that many have regarded as the greatest Christian poem in our language.Langland's remarkable powers of invention and his passionate involvement with the spiritual, social, and political crises of his time lay claim to our attention, and demand serious comparison with Dante's Divine Comedy. Economou's translation preserves the intensity of the poet's verse and the narrative energy of his alliterative long line, the immediacy of the original's story of the quest for salvation, and the individuality of its language and wordplay.

    All he knew was the pain and suffering he had caused…and the pain he now felt from the fateful fall from the tree limb that now lay splintered beneath him. As certain death was about to befall him, he was granted a chance of redemption. Somehow, he was deemed worthy of a second chance but it would come with a price. The price would plunge him into a world between the living and the dead, where isolation was his only companion. Isolation and time….Those were things he would have an abundance of to ponder the misdeeds he had wrought throughout his life. Old hatreds of the past prevented Derek from opening the path of redemption. Love would be the only thing to save his soul from the endless years spent not quite a man; not quite a ghost. His punishment was severe and an ancient curse prevented him from satisfying his human needs in every sense. He knew want; he knew loneliness. Only in the Tower, protected by the Guardians of the past, could he claim his humanity. The tower held the key to unlock Derek Campbell from the prison of his soul and of his heart. Kiera Callum was running from a failed relationship and a career with a sadistic and abusive boss. The Highlands of Scotland seemed like just the balm to soothe her battered spirit. She never dreamed that taking the menial job as a tour guide would afford her to actually live in the main quarters of Castle Campbell. She also could not imagine that the Keep came complete with a 700 year old spirit. It seemed Kiera ran from many things in her life when the going got tougher. One of those things was her ability to sense the spirits of those who had gone before. She had denied that gift her entire life because it marked her as a freak. Only now there was nowhere to run. Kiera had to finally face everything she had run from in order to help the trapped soul of a medieval man whose presence was the most vital thing she had ever encountered. She would have to learn to trust in the things that could not be explained. Things are not always as they appear… Could love end his torment? Would Kiera be able to open her heart enough to release him from the prison of isolation? Would her love be strong enough to let him go? Celtic Spirit spans six and half centuries where the past and present collide. Love can bridge time and space. Love is eternal.

    Not even the Conversos, those who had converted to the Catholic faith, were safe. Inquisitors sought out heretics and encouraged informers to report anyone who might not be a "pure" Catholic. Those accused were then questioned and tortured. Many confessed to anything that would stop theirtorture. Those declared "guilty" could be burned at the stake. In this atmosphere of uncertainty and terror, fourteen-year- old Maria finds herself alone and homeless. The Church assistsMaria by offering her the opportunity to work for the Delgados, a wealthy Converso family. But the church also asks something ofher in return . . .Secrets in the House of Delgado confronts issues of faith and bigotry, while wrestling with questions of loyalty, betrayal,and the secrets that may lie in every human heart.

    The year is 947 AD, a time when southern Spain is under the rule of the Moors. The ruler, Caliph al Rahman III is rich, powerful and cultured. His lands are, at long last, at peace and the capital, Córdoba, is considered to be not only the most beautiful city in the civilised world but also the seat of learning and culture. Against this background we meet the artisan Qasim - he and his family have moved to Madinat al Zahra to make their fortune as potters. Qasim is a good husband and father. He works hard, says his prayers and keeps out of trouble. But Qasim has a secret; his past is not what it seems. When a stranger arrives asking questions about him, he is worried that his secret will be discovered and everything he has worked for will be destroyed. He has to take action.