Medieval England

In Search of the Dark Ages is an unrivalled exploration of the origins of English identity, and the best-selling book that established Michael Wood as one of Britain's leading historians. Now, on the book's 40th anniversary, this fully revised and expanded edition illuminates further the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest.

The fifteenth century was a turbulent age: the Hundred Years War between England and France, and the Wars of the Roses dominated the lives of people both inside and out of the royal courts. Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Wydeville and Anne Neville were the queens who stood by England's sovereigns, caught up in wars that changed the course of their lives, and the course of history. They were also formidable women who defied the limitations of their times, often living out the brutal consequences of their determination.

Templars created an international network of military, financial and legal power that stretched from one end of Christendom to the other. They had influence, they had wealth and they always had enemies. Every struggle, no matter how insignificant could have an impact on their secretive agenda. A savage Border war in the desolate badlands between England and Wales was no exception but this struggle relies as much on the savagery of the law court as much as the battlefield. Two young men are drawn into the center of this power struggle. One, Drysdale, son of a famous knight is born to fight.,...

A young pretender raises an army to take the throne. Learning of his father’s death, the adolescent, dashing and charismatic and descended from the old kings of the North, vows to avenge him. He is supported in this war by his mother, who has spirited away her two younger sons to safety. Against them is the queen, passionate, proud, and strong-willed and with more of the masculine virtues of the time than most men. She too is battling for the inheritance of her young son, not yet fully grown but already a sadist who takes delight in watching executions.

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 another of Martin Archer's exciting and sometimes witty stories from the medieval days when Britain was just beginning to become the world's greatest military and commercial power. It is the story of what really happened in those early days as Britain began its rise to greatness despite having to cope with climate change because the world was getting colder. It also offers some insights as to why some members of today's royal family periodically have red hair. It is the summer of 1336. Ten years earlier in 1326 Queen Isabella's supporters defeated King Edward II and his lover Hugh ...

The Captain's Men is the eleventh book in Martin Archer's action-packed story of a serf who rises to become the captain of a company of crusading English archers and what happens after he leads the company's survivors back to crude and brutal medieval England. Arrows fly, the Church is greedy, the barons move against Cornwall, and the archers fight when King John offers his barons the powers they seek in exchange for the priceless gold and silver religious relics the archers took from Constantinople when it was falling to the crusaders.

Uncover the secret annals of untold history in these eighteen medieval manuscripts. Each tortured scribe will bring you face to face with ancient horrors lurking in cursed castles, wild woodlands, haunted hamlets, and mysterious monasteries. Including a lineup of authors both established and emerging, HOWL Society Press presents the first-ever anthology of historical horror from the medieval period, fittingly introduced by the writer who arguably started it all: Christopher Buehlman, author of the medieval horror epic Between Two Fires.

The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire and the Reformation was a long and hugely transformative period - one not easily chronicled within a single book. Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book, and he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation.

The Tudor dynasty died out because there was no heir of Elizabeth I's body to succeed her. Henry VIII, despite his six marriages, had produced no legitimate son who would live into old age. Three of the reigning Tudors (Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I) died without heirs apparent, the most tragic case being that of Mary Tudor, who went through two recorded cases of phantom pregnancy. If it were not for physical frailty and the lack of reproductive health among the Tudors, the course of history might have been different.

The Battle of Hastings has been lost and the iron fist of William the Bastard has begun to squeeze the life out of England, but there is one who still stands against the foreign invasion - Hereward, the winter warrior. 1067. Following the devastating destruction of the Battle of Hastings, William the Bastard and his men have descended on England. Villages are torched; men, women and children are put to the sword as the Norman king attempts to impose his cruel will upon this unruly nation.

Henry II had all the gifts of the gods. He was charismatic, clever, learned, empathetic, a brilliant tactician, with great physical strength and an astonishing self-belief. Henry was the creator of the Plantagenet dynasty of kings, who ruled through eight generations in command of vast lands in Britain and Europe. Virtually unbeaten in battle, and engaged in a ceaseless round of conquest and diplomacy, Henry forged an empire that matched Charlemagne's.

He is one of the most reviled English kings in history. He drove his kingdom to the brink of civil war a dozen times in less than twenty years. He allowed his male lovers to rule the kingdom. He led a great army to the most ignominious military defeat in English history. He was Edward II, and this book tells his story. Kathryn Warner strips away the myths which have been created about him over the centuries, and provides a far more accurate and vivid picture of him than has previously been seen.

To escape an unthinkable arrangement, Rowe Beasly accompanies her mother to the dark and gloomy Castle Ravendale, a fortress beset by a long history of tragedies. One night while exploring, she meets the heir, the last remaining descendant to the great family of Rothdales. A disfigured lord who steals her heart from the moment they meet. But trying to get him to come into the light will test her strength and things she holds most dear. Emotionally scarred by the weight of his family's curse, Adaire Rothdale, lives his life in darkness away from the world. His hopes and dreams curdling each ...

The tale of William the Conqueror is written down by numerous contemporaries with various perspectives. It's a tale that would inspire some, while fascinate and even terrify others. It’s a tale of a man from a seemingly small land rising to rule one of the most powerful, stable kingdoms in all of Europe at the time - a kingdom that would sow the seeds of an empire that would sprout many centuries later.

A most chivalrous knight~ Ordered by his liege lord to escort an aging warrior’s spinster daughter to a convent until she can be wed, gallant knight Bolt Garandson finds delivering her is not so easy. The brazen lady spells trouble and is not what she seems. The Lady of Caindale has plans of her own and is willing to do anything to thwart her arrival at the convent. Even if it means compromising herself. *Full novel*

In a world where ambition and betrayal rule, can love survive the fight for power? Alys of Lochlainn dreams of freedom: freedom to choose her own path, her own love, and her own future. But when the fearsome Earl of Hampton forces her into a betrothal to a man destined for the English throne, she finds herself caught in a dangerous web of political intrigue and royal ambition. Determined to resist, Alys’s fiery spirit leads her to defy the earl’s plans—until one impulsive kiss changes everything. Recklessly drawn into his arms, she risks her heart and her reputation to become his ...

As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.

The Venetians attempt to prevent the Latin Empire's gold from reaching Rome to buy the prayers needed before God will allow the Holy Father to recognize the widowed Empress as her son's regent.

The Angevin Empire has been claimed by a new king. Richard, the elder surviving legitimate son of King Henry II of England, is universally accepted as his father’s successor. However, Richard is not as interested in remaining in Europe to rule his inherited lands as in acquiring the money and means to travel to the middle east, where he intends to prosecute a war against those who threaten the Christians there. His younger brother John, still distressed at the death of the old king, wants desperately to find the opportunity to pay the new king back for the bitter conflict Richard had ...