Medieval England

Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it. Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer's Middle English, Old English—the language of Beowulf—defies comprehension by untrained modern readers. Used throughout much of Britain more than a thousand years ago, it is rich with words that haven't changed (like word), others that are unrecognizable (such as neorxnawang, or paradise), and some that are mystifying even in translation ( gafol-fisc, or tax-fish).

Juliane Fitzroy is the illegitimate daughter of Henry I--one of his twenty-two bastards. When her father weds her to a young Norman lord, Eustace de Breteuil, she thinks she has done well in life for the daughter of a Saxon concubine. But Eustace wants a castle he cannot have. He starts hostilities with its castellan, Ralph Harenc, egged on by the dubious Amaury de Montfort. To keep the peace, King Henry orders a hostage exchange between Eustace and Ralph. Juliane's pretty young daughters for Ralph's son. In a drunken rage, fuelled on by Amaury, Eustace breaks the truce and blinds Harenc's ...

Anne is killed, vengeance is exacted, and arrows fly, when William and his company of archers conduct cutting-out expeditions to take French and Moorish prizes and search for the priceless religious relics that were seized amidst the fighting and taken from Constantinople while it was being sacked by the crusaders. It is another of Martin Archer's exciting and action-packed novels in his epic "The Company of Archers" saga about a serf who rose to become the captain of what was left of a company of crusading English archers—and what happens to him and his men after he leads the survivors ...

A princess desperate to win back the prince who broke her heart follows him to his kingdom's prestigious military academy—and in doing so, falls in love, saves the realm, and continues to look fabulous in this delightful debut fantasy.

When shipwrecked Viking Iver awakens on a beach, he is astonished to find that he has been well cared for by Audra, who is the first woman ever to show him kindness. He never expects to lose his heart to the gentle-spirited Englishwoman, but as he soon learns, life is full of pleasant surprises. Taken by a Viking is a steamy M/F, first time, short story.

In Volume 4, Hume closes his account of ‘England Under the House of Tudor' begun in Volume 3, and devotes it entirely to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was not really expected that she would survive to accede to the monarchy; and it was certainly unexpected that she would rule for so long (1558-1603) while steadfastly declining to take a husband. All in all, her reign was a remarkable achievement. Elizabeth had so much to contend with over the years. From the start, she had to oversee the reinstatement of the Protestant religion after the tumultuous reign of her sister, Mary.

Thomas B. Costain's four-volume history of the Plantagenets begins with The Conquering Family and the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, closing with the reign of John in 1216. The troubled period after the Norman Conquest, when the foundations of government were hammered out between monarch and people, comes to life through Costain's storytelling skill and historical imagination.

After losing track of the woman that he loved, Richard searched the English countryside. A series of events thwarted his search, but he persisted. As a young boy, Richard had been adopted by poor, medieval, peasant farmers, but he learned early that he disliked farming. He felt that he had more important work to do and he knew that he had to get off the farm. Most important to him though was his love for a beautiful girl. When they married the future looked bright for the young couple. However, the challenges of medieval life presented them a twist of fate that neither could have expected. ...

Some of the greatest heroes and villains in British history were thrown together in these turbulent times: Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule at home marked the high point of the medieval monarchy; Edward IV, who was handed his crown by the scheming soldier Warwick the Kingmaker, before their alliance collapsed into a fight to the death; and the last Plantagenet, Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the Princes in the Tower.

Spanning the end of the Regency, Ackroyd takes listeners from the accession of the profligate George IV, whose government was steered by Lord Liverpool, whose face was set against reform, to the "Sailor King" William IV, whose reign saw the modernization of the political system and the abolition of slavery. But it was the accession of Queen Victoria, at only 18 years old, that sparked an era of enormous innovation. Technological progress - from steam railways to the first telegram - swept the nation, and the finest inventions were showcased at the first Great Exhibition in 1851.

Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is a remarkable examination of 12 illuminated manuscripts from the medieval period. Noted authority Christopher de Hamel invites the listener into intimate conversations with these texts to explore what they tell us about nearly a thousand years of medieval history - and sometimes about the modern world too. In so doing, de Hamel introduces us to kings, queens, saints, scribes, artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, and collectors.

The adventures of an intelligence agent in Yorkist England. Alianore tells the true story of Richard III - but don't look here for a conventional historical novel.

He ruled by the sword—She by her caresses His sword for love- Out of the grandeur and pageantry of 14th-Century England, a master storyteller weaves this powerful tale of a lonely titan and the woman who loved him. Men spoke in awe of The Black Prince, the greatest swordsman of his day women whispered in wonder of the man who could claim the thrones of England and France, but who would trade both for one forbidden night in the arms of a raven-haired goddess. Love Has A Wild Cry The Black Prince lay staring vacantly upward at the tent pole. "Broth,” the gypsy whispered. "Take it away; I ...

At dawn on Easter morning 1343, a marauding band of French raiders arrives by boat to ambush the coastal village of Hookton. To brave young Thomas, the only survivor, the horror of the attack is epitomized by the casual savagery of a particular black-clad knight. Thomas vows to avenge the murder of his townsmen and recapture a holy treasure that the black knight stole from the church.

Constance of York, no longer in the Queen's household, is more interested in her marriage than politics. But soon the pull of King Richard's court, and her ambition and that of her husband, Thomas Despenser, prevail. There are many scores to settle as the King takes his revenge on the Lords Appellant.

Taking a train full of currency or capturing a Spanish treasure ship is nothing compared to the greatest theft in history—when the captain of a company of English archers and his men stole the entire treasury and religious relics of the world’s greatest and richest empire and escaped to Cornwall with chests and chests of gold coins and priceless relics. This is part of the exciting and action-packed story of how it happened and, in particular, what happened afterward to affect the people involved.

Gyrth son of Godwin finds his nuptials interrupted by news that King Edward intends to rid his country of Earl Godwin and his clan once and for all. He creates a situation Godwin cannot win, and the whole family are dispossessed and thrown out of the country. Godwin has a plan for revenge, but before he can put it into action the kidnapping of the daughter of the Count of Flanders puts everything in jeopardy. Only with the help of a wild girl from the Airish lands can the brothers fight to regain what is truly theirs. The story is based around the events of 1051, when Edward of England and ...

Shetland Hall's white stone walls were sanctuary to many lost. The night the flaxen-haired beauty breached them and collapsed on the middle of his bridge, Lord Bayne Halcombe made a vow to find out who had left the woman so badly bruised and a promise to himself that he would never give her up. Ceslie Arewyn had one quest, save her younger brother from a certain death. When their dark-haired savior, Bayne, comes to her aid and offers his protection, she’s forced to make a vital decision. Should she forgo her own promises and stay with the man she’s come to love? Or should she continue ...

Paul grows up in a typical village in England toward the end of the reign of Henry III. He plays in the medieval mud; he helps his doting mother to make and sell string; he befriends a basilisk. But when he is finally orphaned, Paul begins to wonder about the world outside Dundonnedon. Once he leaves home to find his fortune, Paul quickly learns that it takes more than he has to survive in ye big, olde world. He falls in with a traveling troupe of actors keeping a secret... meets a musical trio of meandering wastrels... waits tables at a family-friendly tavern in the angriest town in the ...

Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of an English peer, is forced to flee from Oxford for his part in the university riots of 1273. Inspired by Friar Bacon, he determines to travel to China. With his friend Tristam, he fights his way to the heart of the fabulous Mongol Empire and returns famous, to find that he must choose between the first love he thought lost and the exotic flower that he found in the East.