Medieval England

In 871, three of England’s four kingdoms were overrun by Vikings, the ruthless, all-conquering Scandinavian raiders who terrorized early medieval Europe. With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out his lungs, the prospects that faced the kingdom of Wessex were bleak. Worse still, the Saxons were now led by a young man barely out of his teens who was more interested in God than fighting.

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.

Starting AD 400 (around the time of their invasion of England) and running through to the 1100s (the 'Aftermath'), historian Geoffrey Hindley shows the Anglo-Saxons as formative in the history not only of England but also of Europe. The society inspired by the warrior world of the Old English poem Beowulf saw England become the world's first nation state and Europe's first country to conduct affairs in its own language, and Bede and Boniface of Wessex establish the dating convention we still use today.

Wed on the king's command, she finds an Unexpected Passion! Upon her father's death, Lady Gillian Marlowe is ordered by King Edward I to wed Royce Langley, the Earl of Montchester. Worried she is being offered up as little more than a sacrifice in a political game, Gillian is surprised to find herself intrigued by her arrogant and infuriating husband. Tasked with ridding the border along Wales of rebels who seek to unseat the king, Royce finds subterfuge and secrets everywhere, even with his beautiful wife. Though he only agreed to the marriage because of the king's order, he finds himself ...

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.

Adored by her parents and pampered by the court, the infant Princess Mary’s life changes suddenly and drastically when her father’s eye is taken by the enigmatic Anne Boleyn. Mary stands firm against her father’s determination to destroy both her mother’s reputation and the Catholic church. It is a battle that will last throughout both her father’s and her brother’s reign, until she is almost broken by persecution.

The riveting history of a beautiful queen, a shocking murder, a papal trial - and a reign as triumphant as any in the Middle Ages. On March 15, 1348, 22-year-old Joanna I, queen of Naples, stood trial for the murder of her husband before the pope and his court in Avignon. Determined to defend herself, Joanna won her acquittal against overwhelming odds. Victorious, she returned to Naples and ruled over one of Europe's most prestigious courts for the next three decades - until she herself was killed.

When she refuses to accompany her family to London for the new king's coronation—and to accept an unwelcome offer of marriage—Isolde FitzHugh knows she's merely putting off the inevitable. But for now the eldest daughter of a Welsh patriot and an English nobleman revels in her temporary freedom. In the village, she spies a bearded, dark-haired stranger and feels an unexpected surge of desire. But the man who seduces her in the dead of night is no wandering minstrel. He is her family's most treacherous foe.

1326 was one of the most dramatic years in English history. The queen of England, Isabella of France, invaded the country with an army of mercenaries to destroy her husband's powerful and detested lover, Hugh Despenser the Younger, and brought down her husband, King Edward II, in the process.

This is a story of the days of chivalry in England and of young Myles Falworth, son of a lord unjustly disgraced for treason, who was forced to make his fortune as best he might in the days when men seemed made of iron. How he entered the service of a powerful lord, rose to knighthood, defeated his father's old enemy in thrilling combat, and at last won the friendship of the king is told against a background of the dangerous times of the 14th century that makes them live again.

England’s greatest royal dynasty, the Plantagenets, ruled over England through eight generations of kings. Their remarkable reign saw England emerge from the Dark Ages to become a highly organised kingdom that spanned a vast expanse of Europe. Plantagenet rule saw the establishment of laws and creation of artworks, monuments and tombs which survive to this day, and continue to speak of their sophistication, brutality and secrets. Dan Jones brings you a new vision of this battle-scarred history.

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.

The Battle of Hastings and its aftermath nearly wiped out the leading families of Anglo-Saxon England—so what happened to the children this conflict left behind? Conquered offers a fresh take on the Norman Conquest by exploring the lives of those children, who found themselves uprooted by the dramatic events of 1066. Among them were the children of Harold Godwineson and his brothers, survivors of a family shattered by violence who were led by their courageous grandmother Gytha to start again elsewhere.

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 ...

England in the Age of Chivalry … and Awful Diseases covers the events, personages, and ideas most commonly known as “medieval.” This includes Geoffrey Chaucer, the peasants revolt, the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Great Famine of 1315, the Black Death, and the 100 Years War. Central to this time is King Edward III, who started the 100 Years War and defined the concept of chivalry, including England’s order of the garter. His legacy continues to shape our view of England’s history and is crucial in understanding the development of Europe.

‘Twas THE KNIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS… Pull up a chair by the fire, throw a cozy crochet blanket over your lap, pour some tea and catch up with all of your favorite characters from the series as they celebrate the holiday.

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.

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.

The Plantagenets reigned over England longer than any other family - from Henry II to Richard III. Four kings were murdered, two came close to being deposed, and the last - and most notorious, Richard III - was killed in a battle by rebels. Shakespeare wrote plays about six of them, further entrenching them in the national myth. Based on major contemporary sources and recent research, acclaimed historian Desmond Seward provides the first accessible overview of the whole extraordinary dynasty.

When young nun Joanna Calverley dies of a fever in the town of Beverley in the summer of 1365, she is buried quickly for fear of the plague. But a year later, Archbishop Thoresby learns of a woman who has arrived in York claiming to be the resurrected nun, talking of relic-trading and miracles. And death seems to ride in her wake. The archbishop sends Owen Archer to retrace the woman's journey, an investigation that leads him across the north. Along the way he encounters Geoffrey Chaucer, a spy for the king of England.