Interpreting Transformations of People and Landscapes in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages : Archaeological Approaches and Issues by
In this volume of papers European archaeologists discuss and interpret the complex evolution of landscapes, both urban and rural, across Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (c. AD 300-700). The geographical coverage extends from Italy to the Mediterranean West, through to the Rhine frontier, and onto Hadrian's Wall. At the core are questions of impacts due to the socio-political, religious, military and economic transformations affecting provinces, territories and kingdoms across turbulent centuries
King Alfred of England by
This book is a brief review of the life of King Alfred, but with very detailed events. The author was able to passionately convey those events, and the atmosphere of that time.
Legends of Charlemagne: Or Romance of the Middle Ages by
Travel back in time with this collection of fables and legends set in medieval France. Famed folklorist Thomas Bulfinch brings together a carefully curated compendium of stories that are sure to delight. A bevy of damsels in distress and courageous knights populate these pages in tales that veer from action-adventure to romance and back again.
The Middle Ages by
Across the millennium from 500 to 1500, the author describes a dynamic confluence of political, social, religious, economic, and scientific developments that draws a guiding thread through the era: the growth of a culture of reason.
The Restoration of Rome: Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders by
The author shows in dazzling biographical portraits, each of the three greatest immediate contenders for imperial power: Theodoric, Justinian, and Charlemagne--operated with a different power base but was astonishingly successful in his own way. This book offers a captivating narrative of the death of an era and the birth of the Catholic Church.
The Crusader States by
This book is devoted to the crusader states, that developed around the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and survived until Richard the Lionheart's departure in 1192. Focusing on Jerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli, and Edessa, the author reconstructs the crusaders' process of establishing and protecting their settlements, and the struggle of inhabitants to adapt to life alongside their conquerors. The book has colorful accounts of major military campaigns, and the book goes much deeper, exploring in detail the culture of the crusader states: the complex indigenous inheritance, the architecture, the political, legal, and economic institutions, the ecclesiastical framework through which the crusaders perceived the world, and the origins of the Knights Templar.
The Crusades : The Fight for the Holy Land by
With this book, \discover the key figures of the Crusades, including Richard the Lionheart and Saint Louis, analyze the impact of the Crusades on both Western and Eastern cultures, and how the cultural exchange led to the Renaissance .
Genghis Khan by
This book on Genghis Khan starts from being as the son of a minor chieftain in Mongolia to becoming the ruler of arguably the largest empire in history. His name itself caused so much terror in the minds of the countries he invaded, that most of them just gave him the keys to their kingdoms hoping that he won’t kill them all.
Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages by
Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages is a history like no other: it is a history of the imagination, presented between two celebrated groups of the period. One group consists of heroes: Charlemagne, El Cid, King Arthur, Orlando, Pope Joan, Melusine, Merlin the Wizard, and also the fox and the unicorn. The other is the miraculous, represented here by three forms of power that dominated medieval society: the cathedral, the castle, and the cloister. Roaming between the boundaries of the natural and the supernatural, between earth and the heavens, the medieval universe is illustrated by a shared iconography, covering a vast geographical span. This imaginative history is also a continuing story, which presents the heroes and marvels of the Middle Ages as the times defined them: venerated, then bequeathed to future centuries where they have continued to live and transform through remembrance of the past, adaptation to the present, and openness to the future.
History of William the Conqueror by
This is a classic historical book about medieval life, in the time of William the Conqueror, and discusses how he over took England, how the weather influenced his occupation, and how he ruled England.
The Holy Land in the Middle Ages by
This book presents texts written by medieval Christian, Muslim and Jewish travelers to the Holy Land. This material offers important texts documenting these centuries of peaceful co-existence. . But the following accounts offer a different narrative: of devotion that goes beyond religious labels, of a mixture of peoples and faiths that left room for curiosity and for a practical tolerance of the other. As the following pages reveal, the narrators of these works were less interested in issues of religious contention, territorial domination or cultural hegemony and more in the history, legends, art and architecture, the sounds, smells and tastes, the peoples, products and goods, and in the topography and sacred geography of the Holy Land.
King John: And the Road to Magna Carta by
From a renowned medieval historian comes a new biography of King John, the infamous English king whose reign led to the establishment of the Magna Carta and the birth of constitutional democracy In this authoritative biography, the author describes how it was that a king famous for his misrule gave rise to Magna Carta, the blueprint for good governance.
Medieval Art in the Christian West by
This book discusses medieval art after the fall of Rome, with information on the Romanesque period and Gothic Art Styles. The book gives a full understanding of each style of art and the time period of that art work in the middle ages and afterword.
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by
In a this multigenerational narrative, the author traces the rise and rule of the seven most critical women in the wars: from Marguerite of Anjou, wife of the Lancastrian Henry VI, who steered the kingdom in her insane husband stead, to Cecily Neville, matriarch of the rival Yorkist clan, whose son Edward IV murdered his own brother to maintain power; to Margaret Beaufort, who gave up her own claim to the throne in favor of her son, a man who would become the first of a new line of Tudor kings. This book is a tale of hopeful births alongside bloody deaths, of romance as well as brutal pragmatism. It is a story of how women, and the power that women could wield, helped to end the Wars of the Roses, paving the way for the Tudor age, and the creation of modern England.
Canterbury Tales by
This is new translation of The Canterbury Tales into modern verse. It makes one of the greatest works of English literature accessible to all readers while preserving the wit and vivacity of Chaucer's original text.
How to Attack a Castle and How to Defend It by
Through colorful illustrations and accounts of actual sieges in every chapter, you'll discover how armies from medieval times up to the English Civil War attacked and besieged British castles and how changing weaponry shaped the defenses we see the remains of today. As castle design developed, attackers had to change their tactics and introduce new siege methods to bring the walls down. The weapons, siege engines and mining techniques used are described in detail here, alongside diagrams showing how they worked and details of the defensive structures erected to counter them.
Mapping Narrations - Narrating Maps: Concepts of the World in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period by
This volume offers the author's central articles on the medieval and early modern history of cartography for the first time in English translation. A first group of essays gives an overview of medieval cartography and illustrates the methods of cartographers. Another analyzes world maps and travel accounts in relation to mapped spaces. A third examines land surveying, cartographical practices of exploration, and the production of Portolan atlases.
Prisoners of War in the Hundred Years War: Ransom Culture in the Late Middle Ages by
This book tests customs, laws and theory against the individual experiences of captors and prisoners during the Hundred Years War, to evoke their world in all its complexity.
The Rise of the Ottoman Empire : Studies in the History of Turkey, Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries by
This book discuses how the Ottoman Empire Rose and took control of Turkey by defeating the Byzantine Empire and and ultimately leading to the fall of Constantinople.
A Short History of the Hundred Years War by
This book discusses how The Hundred Years War was fought out on the widest of stages . The author shows that it involved large and charismatic individuals: Edward III, claimant to the French throne, his son Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince, wily architect of the first French victories, Bertrand du Guesclin; chivalric hero Jean Boucicaut, inspirational leader Henry V, unlikely winner at Agincourt (1415), who so nearly succeeded in becoming King of France; and the martyred Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc, thought to be divinely inspired. The author explains the wider politics in a masterful account of the War as a whole: from English victory at Sluys (1340) to the turn of the tide and French revival as the invader was driven back across the Channel.
A Short History of the Wars of the Roses by
The author places the violent events of the Wars of the Roses (c. 1455-1487) in the wider context of fifteenth-century kingship and the development of English political culture.
101 Amazing Facts about William Shakespeare by
This book consist of 101 facts about William Shakespeare.
Copernicus : The Discovery of the Heliocentric Revolution by
in this book you learn about how Copernicus discovered the Heliocentric Revolution and changed our understanding of the universe You discover more about his life and education in Poland and Italy, and you analyze the impact his discovery had at the time and in the future and how it triggered the Copernican Revolution.
The Italian Renaissance State by
The authors address the contentious problem of the apparent weakness of the Italian Renaissance political system. By repositioning the Renaissance as a political, rather than simply an artistic and cultural phenomenon, they identify the period as a pivotal moment in the history of the state, in which political languages, practices and tools, together with political and governmental institutions, became vital to the evolution of a modern European political identity.
Leonardo's Paradox: Word and Image in the Making of Renaissance Culture by
In this book, the author argues that the comparison between word and image fueled Leonardo's thought. The paradoxes at the heart of Leonardo's ideas and practice also defined some of Renaissance culture's central assumptions about culture and nature: that there is a look to script, that painting offered a path out of culture and back to nature, that the meaning of images emerged in comparison with words, and that the difference between image-making and writing also amounted to a difference in the experience of time.
Leonardo Da Vinci: Artist, Painter of the Renaissance by
This book discusses Leonardo Da Vinci's as an artist and and a painter in the Renaissance.
The Life and Times of William Shakespeare by
In this book, Shakespeare's life is surveyed and the social context in which he created his greatest drama and poetry is examined.
Michelangelo by
This book discusses the life and times of Michelangelo, form his art work, the people he worked for, and the times around him.
Renaissance Art by
This book discusses Renaissance period and the art involved around it. The book depicts the ideal and the actual, the sacred and the profane. The period provided a frame of reference which influenced European art over the next four centuries. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Giorgione, Mantegna, Raphael, Dürer and Bruegel are among the artists who made considerable contributions to the art of the Renaissance.
Renaissance Paintings by
This book discusses Renaissance paintings and art work, and talks about how the Renaissance offered to the history of art great names such as Botticelli, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci, whose glorious masterpieces still today hang on the walls of museums the world over.
