Medieval Ages

1444. Three princes. Two clashing empires. One deadly game few survive. Vlad Dracula is shattered. After a daring escape sets him free, his kindness gets him recaptured, and he fears he ran out of chances. When his brother Radu saves his head, but the sultan’s mercy throws him back in jail, Vlad vows to get even or die. Can Vlad best Radu and clear his honor in the sultan’s blood? Or will his enemies break his spirit in a fate worse than death? Throne of Blood is the second installment in the Curse of the Dracula Brothers sweeping saga, where dark medieval history meets Romanian ...

The parish, the lowest level of hierarchy in the medieval church, was the shared responsibility of the laity and the clergy. Most Christians were baptized, went to confession, were married, and were buried in the parish church or churchyard; in addition, business, legal settlements, sociability, and entertainment brought people to the church, uniting secular and sacred concerns.

The Three Edwards, third in Thomas B. Costain's survey of Britain under the Plantagenets, covers the years between 1272 and 1377 when three Edwards ruled England. Edward I brought England out of the Middle Ages. Edward II had a tragic reign but gave his country Edward III, who ruled gloriously, if violently.

Here, National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages - from the fifth to the 15th centuries - beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and cities, from the peasants to the bourgeoisie to the nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

The wulfriths. It all began with a woman. A battle. A crown. The conqueror. The conquered. Medieval England - forever changed by the Battle of Hastings. And the rise of the formidable Wulfriths. Having lost all - the woman he loved, great friendship, and lands - Sir Guy wants only to end the insurrection plaguing England. But being the conqueror’s man puts him at odds with his conscience when a disastrous siege against the resistance yields only one thing of value - his capture of a Saxon rebel known as the virgin widow.

Brunhild was a Visigothic princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law, Fredegund, started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet - in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport - these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms for decades, changing the face of Europe. The two queens commanded armies, developed taxation policies, established infrastructure and negotiated with emperors and popes.

While the Moors have always been associated with Spain due to their lengthy stay on the Iberian Peninsula, the most famous battle they were involved in was actually fought in modern France. While the Franks were consolidating a kingdom there, Muslim forces were pushing out of North Africa and into the Iberian Peninsula in the early eighth century, and by the dawn of the 730s, the Umayyad dynasty had expanded its territory from the Atlantic to the Pyrenees, a series of seasonally snow-capped mountains in Europe that forms a border between the nations of Spain and France.

Leaving the safety of her nunnery walls behind, Dame Frevisse is drawn into an unholy web of treachery and deceit. Waylaid on the King's Highway by a band of outlaws, Frevisse is shocked to discover that their leader is her long-lost cousin Nicholas. When he pleads with her to help him obtain a pardon for his crimes, she finds herself trapped between the harsh edicts of the law and the mercy of her vows. But even as she struggles to restore his fortunes, Frevisse must fight to save his soul...and his life.

The thought of trading her subservient role in her father’s home for that of being the dutiful wife of someone she had never met caused her to shudder with revulsion. No, she thought to herself, what I crave is the opportunity to adventure across the sea, to behold strange and wondrous sights far beyond the city walls of Lubeck. To do that even once would almost be worth submitting herself to a loveless marriage based solely on familial advantage. But not quite, she admitted to herself. For if there was one thing of which Christina Kohl was certain, it was that she wanted her independence...

The Carolingian Dynasty, which carved out a major empire in Europe from 750-887, ushered in an important period in the Early Middle Ages. The Carolingians were in their time seen as the successors of Ancient Rome in the West, and while they sought to reestablish the glory of antiquity, they’re remembered today for effectively founding the states that would become France and Germany.

She summoned a monster to destroy her enemies. Now she’s the one chained to the altar. Aeloria Betrayed by the coven and cast out with scars still healing, I wanted revenge. The ritual was supposed to bind a demon to my will, a weapon to grind Elarion and the others to ash. But what came through the flames wasn’t just power—it was Kraven. Towering, horned, and far too sentient. The bond didn’t make him mine. It made me his. My body betrays me every time he draws near, and the heat only deepens. I told myself this was about control. Now I’m soaked in ritual blood and shame, and ...

Who were the Cathars, and why was the Catholic Church so committed to getting rid of them? The Cathars: The History and Legacy of the Gnostic Christian Sect During the Middle Ages examines the origins of the cult, their fascinating belief system, their gradual development over the years, and the events that contributed to their epic downfall.

Chevalier Maël D’Argent lost more than his striking looks when he aided the Duke of Normandy in taking the English throne from King Harold. As much by his own actions at the Battle of Hastings as those of the enemy, he lost his sire and his honor in breaking faith with his family. Believing himself unworthy of forgiveness, his ruined face the least due him, Maël now serves a ruthless man bent on subduing Saxons resistant to Norman rule.

AD 1315. Ireland and England are ravaged by bitter war. Rotting in an English prison, condemned as a heretic, Irish Knight Templar Richard Savage is given one chance of reprieve. But there is a catch. He must return to Ireland as a traitor, and work as a spy there for the king of England.

Medieval feudalism is one of those subjects which most of us are familiar with, and yet have difficulty describing. Was is a political, military, economic, or social system? And how did it develop? All these questions are answered in this superb book. Carl Stephenson has done a magnificent job of paring away all extraneous subjects and focusing on just the key elements. This short book, a masterpiece of brevity, succinctly sums up medieval feudalism better than anything ever written.

Prince Rafe leans over me, holding himself up on one elbow as he gazes at my face. I feel his eyes wandering over every surface from my brow to my eyes, down my nose, to my lips and chin, and then returning to hold my gaze for a second. The small smile at the corner of his mouth makes me think he likes what he sees. His hand is cool when it brushes a loose curl from my cheek, but I don’t jerk away from him. I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. It seems like a lot of powerful people want me—dead or alive. And yet...

For years, Lady Susanna de Balliol has borne the blame for betrayal - well-earned, though not as believed by the man she can never forget. Now her nephew must prove his legitimacy or lose his claim to his father's lands. When Susanna is forced to flee with the boy following an attempt on his life, will the one man who knows the truth of her nephew's birth grant them sanctuary within his walls? More, will he aid the woman whom he believes cost him the love of his life?

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle Ages gives listeners the beginning, middle, and end of the era, starting with the fall of the Roman Empire in the year 550 and ending with the Renaissance in 1500, and covers some uncomfortable similarities between the so-called "Dark Ages" and today's "modern world".

A battle. A crown. The conqueror. The conquered. Medieval England - forever changed by the Battle of Hastings. And the rise of the formidable Wulfriths. After aiding the English resistance who once more fail to reclaim their country from the invaders, Lady Marguerite returns home to Scotland in the aftermath of William the Conqueror’s harrying of the North - and does not come alone. Accompanying the Sparrow of King Malcolm’s Court is a warrior mistakenly believed her enemy, the price for which may be his irreparable loss of sight.

In the realm of Eldoria, an ancient land where magic permeates every crevice and the very air thrums with arcane energy, a legendary artifact lies shattered - the Ancient Crystal of Eldoria. This relic, capable of uniting or shattering the realms themselves, has been shrouded in mystery for centuries, its true power all but forgotten. Amidst the rolling hills and frozen peaks of this mythical domain, a young girl named Isolde Frostbane is about to embark on a journey that will shape her destiny forever. Born into a humble village, her life is shattered when a marauding band of mercenaries ...