Medieval History

In a well-illustrated study of ‘the lost memory of Castile’, the authors explore the dynamic intermingling of Arabic, Hebrew and Latin elements in medieval Castilian visual and literary culture. The book includes a chronology, genealogies and an extensive bibliographic essay on sources and readings.

With topics including medieval Jewish models of marriage, the many loves of Philip Augustus of France, women talking about marriage in the poetry of William Dunbar and Hans Sachs, and the dilemma of widows with inherited property in medieval London, this collection of twelve essays approaches the subject of medieval marriage from the perspectives of literature, history, art history, law, religion and economics, and ranges geographically from Iceland to the Levant.

The medieval German legend of St Oswald differs significantly from Bede’s version, with the introduction of ahistorical elements and a bridal-quest narrative. This study traces the continental story’s development, revealing the significance of the Icelandic Oswald’s Saga, the full text of which is included.

By preaching in the open and visiting lay people at home, mendicant friars took religion outside church buildings. Yet, despite their dedication to apostolic poverty, the friars were criticized for their churches’ considerable size. In her study of the ‘social lives of buildings’, Bruzelius describes how friars’ activities shaped the interior and exterior spaces of medieval cities; in particular explaining how individual donors’ requests for intercessory prayers and burial rights led to the episodic expansion and decoration of the friars’ convents.

Separating fact from fiction, Nicholson traces the history of the Knights of the Order of the Temple of Solomon from their origins in 12th-century Jerusalem during the Crusades, to the trial and dissolution of the Order in 1312.

Elizabeth Rees explores a key period in early Christianity in northern Britain. From St Columba’s Abbey on Iona to Aidan’s monastery on Lindisfarne, she describes hundreds of notable sites, many of which can still be visited, using maps and photographs to gain insights into the period. With the aid of archaeological finds, ancient inscriptions and texts, she tells the story of both well-known saints and lesser known individuals and describes the landscape they inhabited.

‘Although there were many women in the medieval era who did the extraordinary, who stood out in a world dominated by men, they are not easy to find.’ This study scours the sources to uncover the achievements of famous women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Margaret of Scotland, and the less-familiar stories of women in convents, pawns in political marriages, mistresses, warriors and captive women like Ingeborg of Denmark, crowned queen of France yet imprisoned by her husband for 20 years.

At the accession of Henry II in 1154 the Plantagenets ruled over a realm that stretched from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees. When Richard III died in 1485 only Calais was left on the European mainland, but the Plantagenets had consolidated and secured royal control within Britain. In this lucid account of their 300-year reign Wilson chronicles the turbulent and often blood-soaked world of kings such as Richard the Lionheart, King John and Henry V, the hero of Agincourt.

More than five centuries after his death Richard III remains a compelling but divisive figure, the subject of myth and counter-myth. In this biography Horspool ‘aims at neutrality’, focusing on contemporary accounts while also examining how competing narratives have created the ‘composite figure who is at once so familiar and so alien’. He ends with reflections on the enduring fascination with Richard and describes events surrounding the recent rediscovery and reburial of his body.

Daniel Hobbins looks beyond the ecclesiastical career of Jean Gerson (1363–1429) to present the French theologian as representative of his wider cultural era and an author active at a time when written culture was rapidly expanding.

The central and later Middle Ages were a critical formative period for the Italian peninsula, which lay at the centre of trading networks stretching from Britain to Byzantium. This volume’s 120 newly translated sources range in date from c.1000 to the early 15th century. They illustrate the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of medieval Italy, highlighting both its continuities with the Latin West and the ways in which it was exceptional, such as its new communal forms of government.

Hebrew prophets and Israelites appeared in early Christian art, but only after 1000 CE did the Jew emerge as a recognizable figure, soon to become a poisonous symbol. Sara Lipton argues that the visual stereotypes were neither an inevitable result of Christian theology nor simple reflections of prejudice. She traces complex relationships between medieval Christians’ religious ideas, social experience and changing artistic practices, and shows how representations of Jews transformed over time from benign figures of ancient wisdom to vicious caricatures.

Re-examining one of the key events in English history, this book takes a new look at the evidence. It asks what really happened on that October day in 1066, where and why – and how King Harold really died. Comparing the various written accounts of the battle, it challenges our notions of historical fact, and shows how the understanding of events is altered by subsequent generations to suit their own ends.

After examining the origins of castle building in northern France, Dan Spencer’s military history focuses on the role of castles in warfare in England and Wales, from their introduction by the Normans in the 11th century to the death of Henry VIII in 1547. The book covers all the major conflicts, including the conquest of Wales, war with Scotland, 1295–1337, the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses, ending with the early Tudors’ fortifications against invasion.

Travelling hundreds of miles to trade and fight, the Vikings were undoubtedly great seafarers. But were they noble heathens or oafish pirates? How much do archaeological discoveries agree with what we read in the sagas? What happened to the Vikings as Christianity spread? This concise study addresses these questions by focusing on the lives of some of the most famous Vikings.

The kings of Anglo-Saxon England were reluctant to allow a woman to sit beside them on the throne; when Elfrida shared her husband Edgar's coronation at Bath in 973, she broke the mould. A powerful queen, she ruthlessly disposed of rivals in pursuit of the crown for her son, Ethelred the Unready. In this first biography of Elfrida, Norton asks whether she really was the black-hearted woman who murdered King Edward the Martyr, her stepson, to make way for Ethelred.

In this vivid narrative history Kostick retells the events that unfolded following the arrival of a Christian army at Jerusalem in June 1099. He also sets this siege and the brutal sack of the city against the wider background of the First Crusade, following the crusaders on their march towards Jerusalem, highlighting tensions and factions among their ranks and assessing both the immediate aftermath and the longer-term legacy for the Crusade's leaders.

For much of the 14th and 15th centuries, England was almost continuously at war with its neighbours, and enjoyed an unprecedented degree of military supremacy. Peter Reid's extensive account is not simply a catalogue of battles, but combines analysis of strategy and weaponry with a dramatic telling of how and why the wars, from Bannockburn to the Wars of the Roses, came about, and how they were fought.

From his birth in Bordeaux in 1367 and early years in Aquitaine, to his deposition by Henry of Lancaster in 1399 and his death, a few months later, in Pontefract Castle, this biography of Richard II is intended as a portrait of an individual rather than an account of his reign. It is, nevertheless, a very complete study that reassesses Richard’s reputation as a crazed and vicious ruler, and depicts a complex and conflicted man thrust into a role that demanded greatness.

Described by Lord Denning as ‘the greatest constitutional document of all times’, Magna Carta is widely seen as a guarantor of individual rights and freedom from tyranny. But how is a charter forced on a medieval king by his barons relevant today? This comprehensive, accessible and richly illustrated volume explains its origins, how it has been interpreted through the centuries, and the inspiration it provides to those wishing to build democratic societies across the world.

Boyhood friend of Richard III and one of the wealthiest barons in England, Francis Lovell remained loyal to the Yorkist cause even after his king’s death at Bosworth. Drawing on primary sources, this history offers a portrait of the man his enemies called Richard’s ‘dogge’, uncovers his role in the attempted assassination of Henry VII and Lambert Simnel’s rebellion, and unravels the mystery of his disappearance after the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487.

The Plantagenet dynasty ruled medieval England during a period of immense socio-political change when the role of queen consorts was redefined. Indeed, as this book reveals, royal women played a significant role in the maintenance of the Plantagenets’ political power. Corvi focuses on ten influential figures from the period 1236–1485, such as the ‘She-Wolf’ Isabella of France, who deposed her husband Edward II, and Margaret of Anjou, who was often in control of government during Henry VI’s bouts of madness.

Arguing that the Normans’ imposition of a feudal system significantly reduced women’s rights and status, Telford uses a range of evidence from legal records to chart the struggles of ordinary women against the hypocritical sexual politics of medieval England. She considers such subjects as the pressure on young women to marry and bear children, the difficulty of legally ending an unhappy marriage, the special challenges faced by widows and the law’s attitudes to prostitution. Foreword by John Ashdown-Hill.

Arranged thematically, this historical survey begins by tracing the growth of dynasties and empires, from the Carolingians to the Ottomans. Further sections cover warfare and conquest (in particular the Crusades and the Hundred Years’ War), as well as daily life under the feudal system and developments in religion and culture. Also featured are photographs of medieval maps, artworks and significant documents such as Magna Carta and Joan of Arc’s final letter. Includes material previously published in The Middle Ages.