Medieval Ages

Joan of Arc was born in a small French village during the worst period of the Hundred Years' War. For generations, France had been besieged by the British. At age 11, Joan began to see religious visions telling her to join forces with the King of France. By the time she was a teenager, she was leading troops into battle in the name of her country. Though she was captured and executed for her beliefs, Joan of Arc became a Catholic saint and has since captured the world's imagination.

Born of scandal, Sir Dougray of the family D’Argent defies his illegitimacy by championing the oppressed, until the prospect of winning the hand of a lady persuades him to join the Duke of Normandy in conquering Saxon-ruled England. When an injury sustained at the Battle of Hastings causes the woman he loves to reject him, an embittered Dougray turns his efforts to uprooting Saxons resistant to their new king.

Sir Guarin D’Argent knew the danger of allowing a woman to turn him from his purpose, and yet he answered her cry across a bloody battlefield. Now he finds himself the lady’s captive among vengeful Saxons, weeks becoming months while his liege, Duke William of Normandy, subdues his new English subjects. Biding his time, Guarin plots an escape dependent on captivating his captor, a formidable quest with one more a warrior than a lady. But when his compassion is roused by the suffering of her people under Norman rule, the question of escape is jeopardized.

In this ground-breaking work, Norman Cantor explains how our current notion of the Middle Ages—with its vivid images of wars, tournaments, plagues, saints and kings, knights and ladies—was born in the 20th century. The medieval world was not simply excavated through systematic research. It had to be conceptually created: it had to be invented, and this is the story of that invention.

King Arthur is probably the most famous and certainly the most legendary medieval king. From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to have discovered the "facts" about, or to unlock the secret or truth behind, the "once and future king". Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs.

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.

In the 21st century, most people associate the idea of the possession of a person or place by a malevolent supernatural entity with the medieval world, and particularly with the Catholic Church, but the truth is considerably stranger. Virtually every human culture that has ever existed has talked about both possession and exorcism, a rite or ritual used to free a person or place from possession.

Much has been written about Western intervention during the breakup of Yugoslavia, and whether it made matters worse, prevented worse atrocities, or was simply ineffective. In early 1992, however, what was clear was that Europe was hopelessly divided over the best course of action to take towards Yugoslavia, and after several years of fighting, the Bosnian War was one of the most violent conflagrations in Europe since the end of World War II.

The Teutonic Knights were established to help the sick and injured in the Holy Land in a similar vein to the Knights Hospitaller. Once they were battle-tested in war, however, they were commissioned to be full-fledged fearsome warriors, fighting for the cause of Christendom. This audiobook follows the meteoric rise, climactic fall, and many years of rebirth undergone by the Teutonic Knights. From Jerusalem to the modern-day charitable organizations headed by the order, this audiobook covers the complete history of the Teutonic Knights in full.

La peste ! Le fléau de Dieu qui tue tous les hommes, les purs comme les âmes noires, les doux comme les fourbes, les saints comme les traîtres. Sans distinction de richesse ou de classe. La peste ! Quand elle s'abat sur le royaume de France, en 1347, personne ne veut y croire. Mais lorsqu'elle gagne Paris, elle bouleverse les âmes et les consciences, révèle le véritable tempérament de ceux qu'elle effraie ou... qui en jouent. Les pires instincts se réveillent. Et les ordres établis vacillent.

The Moors are well-known for their presence on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages and for the conflicts they fought in Europe, but the term Moor is a historical rather than an ethnic name. It is an invention of European Christians for the Islamic inhabitants of Maghreb (North Africa), Andalusia (Spain), Sicily, and Malta, and it was sometimes used to designate all Muslims.

Dive into a world where knights, intrigue, and the quest for knowledge collide! From the architectural wonders of Gothic literature to the heart-pounding raids of Vikings and the devastating plagues, this audiobook covers every angle. Each chapter unfolds like a tapestry, rich with facts that define one of history's most captivating epochs.

Like the shinobi, more commonly known as the ninja, the assassin is yet another fabled figure with ancient roots that remains astonishingly relevant to this day. Assassins in the context of contemporary pop culture often conjure up images of brooding, silver-tongued individuals in peak physique, equipped with impeccable style, flawless marksmanship, and exemplary hand-to-hand combat skills.

During the time of the Crusades, an unlikely trio - a Christian princess, her affianced prince, and a Muslim assassin - embarks on a quest to the court of the most fearsome warrior the world has ever known, Genghis Khan. A rousing tale of adventure and romance about three young people who must grapple with fundamental issues of loyalty, friendship, faith, honor, and courage against the backdrop of conflicts that still resonate today.

The Pastons were members of the English gentry, a group of roughly 1,000 households sandwiched between the ruling nobility and the peasants and a rough analog for the contemporary “middle class.” Their existence was fairly typical, except for the fact that it was recorded in an extraordinary collection of nearly 1,000 letters that have survived to this day. Through these letters, which cover the years from 1421 to 1484 and the lives of three generations of Pastons, historians Frances and Joseph Gies provide a rare window into the day-to-day life of this family.

Many Christians today tend to view the story of medieval faith as a cautionary tale. Too often, they dismiss the Middle Ages as a period of corruption and decay in the church. They seem to assume that the church apostatized from true Christianity after it gained cultural influence in the time of Constantine, and that the faith was only later recovered by the 16th-century Reformers or even the 18th-century revivalists. As a result, the riches and wisdom of the medieval period have remained largely inaccessible to modern Protestants.

Between the 12th and 15th centuries in Europe, not all women fit the stereotype of passive housewife and mother. Many led bold and dynamic lives. In this collection of historical portraits, Maria Teresa Brolis tells the fascinating tales of fashion icons, art clients, businesswomen, saints, healers, lovers, and pilgrims - both famous and little known - who challenge conventional understandings of the medieval female experience. Drawing on evidence from literary works and archival documents, Brolis pieces together an intricate overview of 16 women's lives.

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you were born into another time period? What about the Middle Ages? Would you have been lucky and lived as a knight, a lord or lady, or even a king or queen? Or would you have been like the majority of peasants and lived a tough life of hard labor? Did everyone live in castles? What did people do for work? And for fun? Did knights really fight dragons? You’ll find out the answers to these questions and so much more in this incredible audiobook on medieval Europe.

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.

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?