Medieval English

Bound home after two years away, Gavan MacNabb comes across a lass and her deerhound in a moonlit circle of standing stones. Little does he know that the garland of bluebells she weaves and the spell she sings will change the course of his life. Marsali Murray doesn't really believe the old wives' tale that making a chain of bluebells by the standing stones under a waxing moon will bring true love, but she's desperate to try anything to escape the boring, everlasting sameness of her life. Anything except marrying a man her father chooses for her.

1236. Beautiful Ailenor of Provence, cultured and intelligent, is only 13 when she marries Henry III. Aware of the desperate importance of providing heirs to secure the throne from those who would snatch it away, she is ruthless in her dealings with Henry's barons. As conflict escalates between them, Ailenor's shrewd and clever Savoyard uncles come to support her, but her growing political power is threatened when Henry's half-siblings also arrive at court. Henry and Ailenor become embroiled in an unpopular war to protect Gascony, the last English territory on the continent.

A reckless warrior, Kieran Broderick was half-Irish, yet bound to fight for the English crown. So when King Henry decreed that he take an Irish wife to quell rebellion there, he had little choice. Newly dubbed the earl of Kildare, Kieran travels to Langmore Castle, seat of the lawless O'Shea family, to choose a bride. When he picks Maeve, a fetching lass who seems sweetly submissive, he soon learns she's a fiery, clever woman. When she refuses to allow him into her bed or her heart, he finds himself fighting the most daunting battle of his life.

Cleopatra is one of the most famous women in history - and thanks to Shakespeare, one of the most intriguing personalities in literature. Award-winning writer and beloved professor Harold Bloom delivers exhilarating clarity and invites us to look at this character as a flawed human who might be living in our world. He also explores his own personal relationship to the character: Just as we encounter one Anna Karenina or Jay Gatsby when we are in high school and college and another when we are adults, Bloom explains his shifting understanding of Cleopatra over the course of his own lifetime.

Late summer, 1270. Although the Simon de Montfort rebellion is over, the smell of death still hangs over the land. In the small priory of Tyndal, the monks and nuns of the Order of Fontevraud long for a return to routine. Their hopes are dashed, however, when the young and inexperienced Eleanor of Wynethorpe is appointed their new prioress. Only a day after her arrival, a brutally murdered monk is found in the cloister gardens, and Brother Thomas, a young priest with a troubled past, arrives to bring her a more personal grief.

In May 1315 it started to rain. It didn't stop anywhere in north Europe until August. Next came the four coldest winters in a millennium. Two separate animal epidemics killed nearly 80 percent of northern Europe's livestock. Wars between Scotland and England, France and Flanders, and two rival claimants to the Holy Roman Empire destroyed all remaining farmland. After seven years, the combination of lost harvests, warfare, and pestilence would claim six million lives - one eighth of Europe's total population.

Archibald is a risk-averse boy with quirks that earn him plenty of eye-rolls, especially from his older sister, Hailee. Things get worse when his parents move the family from London to his grandmother’s creepy manor in the English countryside. Now he has to deal with hairless dolls in the library, weird stone creatures on the roof, and a spooky forest at the edge of the backyard. But these turn out to be the least of Archibald's problems.

Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization, they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

In the city of Kortufan, spies, assassins, mercenaries, arms dealers, rebels, smugglers, and informants do dirty deals dirt cheap. The Poxy Dragon is a rough bar outside the worst part of the medieval Silk Road. It takes serious courage just to walk into the place, not only from its reputation, but because of the rough clientele, questionable food, awful beer, and abysmal hygiene. Lots of taverns in Kortufan are home to ruffians and illegal dealings, but the Poxy Dragon is the proving ground for heroes - with a cemetery out back for the ones who don't make the cut.

Following the fall of Rome, the sea is increasingly the stage upon which the human struggle of western civilization is played out. In a world of few roads and great disorder, the sea is the medium on which power is projected and wealth sought. Yet this confused period in the history of maritime warfare has rarely been studied; it is little known and even less understood. Charles Stanton uses an innovative and involving approach to describe this fascinating but neglected facet of European medieval history.

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known...of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul...of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame...and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.

Author Stewart Gordon has fashioned a fascinating and unique look at Asia from AD 700 to 1500, a time when Asia was the world, by describing the personal journeys of Asia's many travelers - the merchants who traded spices along the Silk Road, the apothecaries who exchanged medicine and knowledge from China to the Middle East, and the philosophers and holy men who crossed continents to explore and exchange ideas, books, science, and culture.

Something deadly is lurking in the swampy marshes of Moody Bog. For Kylie Strange, it just means more deaths she's responsible for since she's the one who accidentally unleashed a Pandora's box of horrors. She opened the Booke of the Hidden, and now she must do everything she can to close it for good, taking on every monster it releases with the help of the local coven. This time, the Booke has unleashed not one but two demons on the village. With her attention divided, Kylie and her coven of Wiccans are open to attack. But those aren't the only demons on Kylie's mind.

Annie MacPherson’s world was torn apart when her family’s castle was ravaged during the war. Determined to aid her countrymen, she braves the battlefield and finds Lieutenant Craig MacLean left for dead. Soon her heart belongs to the fierce warrior. As the English dragoons draw closer to Annie’s makeshift hospital, Craig knows they have to escape together if they’ll have any chance to survive. But when they come face-to-face with the enemy and Craig is imprisoned, Annie will have to risk everything she has to save the man she can’t live without.

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.

Weak in battle, powerless at court, and absent in the bedroom: the English crown has rarely sat less easily than on the head of Edward II. Inheriting the Plantagenet throne in a powerful position, Edward needs a wife to continue the dynasty - but the beautiful, charming Isabella fails to stir his heart like his close friend Piers Gaveston. Slighted and ignored, Isabella takes a new lover: the ambitious nobleman Roger Mortimer. Seduced by Mortimer's treachery, Isabella plots with him to murder her husband and take the throne.

When English troops threaten Lady Christiane MacGillean's beloved castle, she has no choice but to set it ablaze - and with it, the ancient treasure hidden there. Escaping into the Highland hills, she is quickly captured, taken south, and caged by the English king. Outraged by the lady's treatment, Sir Gavin Faulkener bargains for her life - and suddenly finds himself not only guardian of her castle, but wedded to her as well.

The first time Thomas MacGowan saw Elizabeth Douglas, he thought that she was a princess. To the son of the castle blacksmith, the daughter of the powerful lord of Douglas might as well have been. Despite their differences in rank, they become inseparable - until Thom confesses his love, and the humiliation of realizing that Elizabeth has never considered him a potential suitor drives him to battle. Elizabeth is devastated.

1115, Germany. Young Hildegard is sent to the Abbey of St. Disibod in the Rhineland as her parents' gift to the Church in accordance with a custom known as the tithe. Hildegard has a deep love of nature and a knowledge of herbal healing, and she hopes to purse medical studies at St. Disibod. But no sooner does she settle into her new life than she finds out that as a girl she will not be allowed to attend the monastic school or have access to the abbey's library; instead, she must stay at the women's convent.

Anger and disappointment burn within Fionna Allán following the Grail Quest. Her family still remain captives of a rival clann, and King Arthur Pendragon's kingdom continues to wither and die. Now Fionna's sworn enemy brings war to Arthur's shores with Morgan la Fay at his side - a battle Arthur and Caerleon can ill afford. Especially as one of Arthur's knights has gone rogue, leaving their group weak and devastated. With his kingship in question and his people suffering to the point of rebellion, Arthur and his knights are forced to seek help from the gods.