Showing titles in Medieval

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked a number of significant historical turning points. It saw the end of the last vestige of the Roman Empire, which had been founded more than 1,400 years before, and marked the beginning of a period of dominance for the growing Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, this moment marked the end of the Middle Ages in Europe and the beginning of the Renaissance, as the fall of Constantinople was directly linked to both these events.

Looking into the past, the Crusades seem incomprehensible. What combination of religious fervor, hatred of people of different faiths, and gall led Europeans of AD 1100 to make their way thousands of miles to conquer the Holy Land? Why did they continue for 200 years? How did the Crusades change the world? The intriguing story is peppered with colorful characters. Over the centuries crusaders saw - and participated in - the evolution of warfare and the transformation of society from feudal fiefdoms to nations and empires.

The remarkable story of Margaret Paston, whose letters form the most extensive collection of personal writings by a medieval English woman.

The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, was the worst pandemic in history. The Black Death was almost always fatal, and it took hundreds of years for populations to bounce back. It claimed millions of lives and set the stage for pandemic responses that are still in use today. This audiobook offers a compelling and comprehensive examination of this period and talks about what we’ve learned from such a horrific disease.

The Middle Ages witnessed almost constant warfare in Europe, so mercenaries were a constant on the battlefield, but the 15th century also saw the rise of mercenary usage by the increasingly wealthy aristocracy. One of the finest groups of mercenaries were the Landsknechts from central and northern Europe. The term means “servant of the country”, and they mostly served the Holy Roman Empire, first under Emperor Maximilian I (r. 1508-1519) and then under his successors.

The Byzantine Empire existed for over a thousand years, with a history spanning from the division of the Roman Empire in 395 until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It was formed from the previous Eastern Roman Empire, and during its long existence, the Byzantine inhabitants were very proud to call themselves Romans. However, many things changed during the long lifespan of the Byzantine Empire, starting with a Hellenization in the sixth century.

Although many have heard of the Crusades and some of the more famous orders like the Templars, few know about the Livonian Crusade or the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. This organization was one of many Catholic military orders that sprung up during the Middle Ages in response to the papacy’s call for holy war, and the Livonian Crusade is the term used to group together dozens of military actions undertaken by German knights in Eastern Europe. The order would go on to become one of the most influential of religious knighthoods by incorporating into the Teutonic Knights.

Intrigue. Disease. Adventure. War. Invention. Famine. This is the story of how humankind emerged from the Dark Ages prepared for the coming age of enlightenment. There is a good reason why many fantasy epics are based on events that took place in the Middle Ages. For nearly a thousand years, people battled nature, disease, and each other to survive. Visionaries laid the foundations that today’s world is built upon and their inventions and innovations gave rise to literacy, education, medicine, engineering and more. Explorers opened trade to foreign lands and flooded Europe with luxuries including silk, tea, and gold. Nearly half a million people died of the black plague. The feudal system failed, and aristocratic power dwindled. In Medieval History - Including: The Holy Roman Empire, Vikings, the Crusades, and "Columbus" Reaching the New World you’ll get a quick trip through the turbulent Middle Ages that is sure to inspire deeper study.

In this indispensable volume, one of America's ranking scholars combines a life's work of research and teaching with the art of lively narration. Both authoritative and beautifully told, The Middle Ages is the full story of the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance - a time that saw the rise of kings and emperors, the flowering of knighthood, the development of Europe, the increasing power of the Catholic Church, and the advent of the middle class.

Arguably one of the most provocative, puzzling, and misunderstood organizations of medieval times, the legendary Knights Templar have always been shrouded in a veil of mystery, while inspiring popular culture from Indiana Jones to Dan Brown. The order of the Knights Templar was founded by Hugh de Payens, a French nobleman from the Champagne region, along with eight of his companions, in Jerusalem around 1119. They originally consisted of a group of knights who protected Christian pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land.

The idea of a powerful woman in the Middle Ages seems like an oxymoron. Females in this time are imagined to be damsels in distress, trapped in a high tower, and waiting for knights to rescue them, all while wearing traffic-cones for a hat. After rescue, their lives improved little. Their career choices were to be either docile queens, housewives, or be burned at the stake for witchcraft. But what if this image of medieval women is a complete fiction? It turns out that it is. Powerful female rulers fill the Middle Ages.

De sidste 50 år har budt på sande gennembrud i kortlægningen og forståelsen af Skandinavien i vikingetiden. Arkæologer og historikere har analyseret alt fra gamle stolpehuller til tusind år gamle vindruekerner i arbejdet med at finde frem til sandheden om vikingernes verden. Møjsommeligt og nidkært arbejde er strengt nødvendigt, fordi vikingerne ikke selv nedskrev datidens begivenheder. Historien kendes kun fra munkenes overdrevne rædselsberetninger og sagaernes heltekvad.

Middelalderen har fået sit navn, fordi man i ældre tider anså perioden for at være en kulturel nedgangstid, der lå mellem romerrigets blomstrende kultur og renæssancen. Men betegnelsen "den mørke middelalder" er alt andet end retvisende. Det var ikke kun en periode præget af stridigheder mellem kirken og kongemagten, men også en periode hvor arkitektur, digterkunst og poesi trivedes som aldrig før. I "Middelalderen i Danmark" fortæller Niels-Knud Liebgott om livet, kunsten og litteraturen i middelalderens Danmark fra Harald Blåtand i 900-tallet indførte kristendommen og 550 år frem i tiden.

Are you intrigued by the monumental path Christianity carved through history? This masterful narrative weaves through 1,600 years of history, from Christianity’s origins in the 1st century AD to the transformative Counter-Reformation in 1700.

They called it justice. It was fear in disguise. For centuries, people across Europe and the New World believed witches walked among them — casting curses, flying at night, and serving dark forces. But behind the flames and confessions was something older, deeper, and far more human: fear. The Witch Trials explores how ordinary people — driven by faith, panic, and suspicion — turned on their neighbors in one of history’s most haunting chapters. From ancient magic and medieval superstition to the infamous Salem hysteria, this book reveals how belief became law… and how thousands paid the price.

Die Kreuzfahrer, die zurück in ihre Heimatdörfer humpelten und vertrocknete Palmblätter aus dem Heiligen Land auf die Altäre der Kirchen legten, hatten 1099 gesiegt: Jerusalem war in christlicher Hand. Was zählte der gemeinsame Glaube, wenn es um Gold und Macht ging?

This isn’t a biography. It’s a deep-dive into the man who fused warlord power with priestly authority and accidentally programmed Western civilization. Through brutal conquest and divine branding, he became more than king—he became the template. Popes would crown in his shadow. Emperors would copy his crown. Napoleon would steal his vibe. And every modern system of power would inherit his logic. This is the story of how one man merged Church and State into a single executable file—and why we’re still running his code.

Com vaig arribar a ser rei és una crònica historicoliterària única i excepcional. Són les memòries del rei Jaume I el Conqueridor narrades per ell mateix, amb la fluïdesa de l'oralitat i un estil fresc i vívid que interpel·la oients i lectors. El llibre recull aquests episodis i els primers anys de vida, en què el monarca pren consciència del seu lloc en el món, i es perfila la figura que esdevindrà llegendària.

Descubre los Orígenes Antiguos de la Cerveza: Viaja a través de la historia para conocer cómo, hace miles de años, las primeras civilizaciones como los sumerios y los egipcios crearon esta bebida fundamental. Conoce las técnicas primitivas que dieron vida a la cerveza tal como la conocemos hoy.

Jewish Life in Medieval Spain is a detailed exploration of the Jewish experience in medieval Spain from the dawn of Sephardic society in the ninth century to the expulsion of 1492. An important contribution of the book is the integration of the rise and fall of Jewish life in Muslim al-Andalus into the history of the Jews in medieval Christian Spain. It traces the collapse of Jewish life in Muslim Spain, the emigration of Andalusi Jewry to the lands of Christian Iberia, and the difficult confluence of these two distinct Jewish subcultures.