Medieval Lives

'Twas the night before Christmas. Ebenezer Scrooge was alone, when suddenly he heard a ghostly moan. A ghost it was, took him back to the past, then to the present and future days in hope that Scrooge would mend his ways.

Nobody played a more defining role in casting the popular image of medieval knights than Richard the Lionheart, one of the most famous English kings and crusaders. In many respects, it was ironic that Richard became one of the central characters of the Middle Ages, and his very popular legacy today belies centuries of controversy. Richard I Plantagenet (1157-1199), nicknamed "Coeur de Lion" (Lionheart), eventually became King of England, Grand Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Poitou, and Duke of Anjou, but as the third son in a large family, he did not expect to or even want to rule England.

Virgil's Georgics ranks as one of the most precious pastoral poems ever written, and it has served as a model for its type ever since. Georgics means "of or relating to agriculture or rural life" and it comes from the Greek word, "georgicus". Virgil's main theme in this, his second great work after The Eclogues, was the importance of peace both in the spiritual and physical sense.

Al-Andalus 998 AD. Galen and Alcuin have been taken prisoner by the Moors. Galen is a Moorish doctor’s latest project. Alcuin languishes in the dungeons, watching over the bishop, who is slowly being tortured to death for a treasure. Galen and Alcuin must learn how to survive in a strange new kingdom which is rapidly turning hostile towards Christians. Martyrdom, a life of slavery, or escape are their only options. But how can they escape when they have been separated?

Surrounded once again by harsh men with full knowledge of the shocking event that led to his banishment, Galen has only one person he can depend on. But Alcuin is being pulled away by family duty and a new obsession. Is it time for Galen to stop relying upon others and solve his own problems? Will Galen survive this dangerous new world and forge a safer future for himself and his friend?

Mary Stuart was born into a powerful royal dynasty that was at war with the rest of Europe and with itself. Mary’s ascent to the throne was disarmingly easy and she reached adulthood completely unprepared for the plots and betrayals she would be subject to. As the head of a resolutely unstable country, Mary struggled to maintain her grip on the precarious crown on her head and was removed from the throne by an armed rebellion.

More than eight centuries after his death, Saladin's life and reign represent the pinnacle of the Arab world's glory. Saladin is widely considered one of the greatest generals in history and one of the most famous leaders of the Middle Ages, but he remains a paradox, both in personal and in historical terms. A military genius, he first served other generals and was overshadowed later in life by his greatest rival, Richard I of England. He was far more admired by his Christian enemies, who extolled his chivalry, than some of his Muslim rivals.

Medieval Europe, 996 AD. Fifteen-year-old Galen survived a horrendous assault, only to be exiled by his family. Taken in by monks and grateful to be spared as a suspected sinner from the execution block, he ekes out a lonely existence of unrelenting pain. But he gains a chance to prove himself worthy when a famous young illustrator arrives at the abbey and selects him to help with an important manuscript.

Anglo-Saxon England, 997 AD. Sixteen-year-old scribe, Galen, and his friend Alcuin the illuminator, are running late. Galen's frailty has delayed their mission–to produce the most glorious book in honor of the king. They are crossing the treacherous marshes of eastern England when vikings attack.

“Action, drama, desire, revenge: Shadow Music includes all the necessary ingredients for romantics to plunge into the moors, mountains and magical myth of medieval Scotland.”—The Roanoke Times Prized for her exquisite beauty, Princess Gabrielle of St. Biel, the daughter of one of...

Anglo-Saxon England, AD 997. Brother Galen is anxious about leaving the haven of his abbey. Suddenly reconciled with his father after being disowned, he fears he will never again fit in with his estranged family. But when he’s commissioned to produce a manuscript for the king, the shy scribe has the chance to visit his relatives after three years of banishment.

Newbery Medal-winning author Avi completes the Crispin saga with this third installment of the riveting trilogy. In 14th-century England, Crispin has embarked on one adventure after another since discovering that he, once known only as “Asta’s son,” has a much grander future than he ever could have imagined. Encountering such trustworthy souls as Bear during the course of his travels, Crispin teeters on the brink of fulfilling his destiny in this stunning tale of the Middle Ages.

Like many historical figures, Harun al-Rashid’s biography has become part reality and part myth. A real individual and the fourth caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, Harun al-Rashid is best known to many individuals because of his role in famous literature like One Thousand and One Nights, not necessarily because of his policy decisions. This is unusual because Harun al-Rashid was perhaps the most influential of the Abbasid caliphs due to his role in bringing economic prosperity.

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.

The motherless child of an English priest living in ninth-century Mainz, Agnes is a wild and brilliant girl with a deep, visceral love of God. At eighteen, to avoid a future as a wife or nun, Agnes enlists the help of a lovesick Benedictine monk to disguise herself as a man and secure a place at the revered Fulda monastery. So begins the life of John the Englishman: a matchless scholar and scribe of Fulda, then a charismatic heretic in an Athens commune and, by her middle years, a celebrated teacher in Rome.

The Paper Crown is an epic historical saga that begins in 1490 Spain and spans four generations, following a Jewish merchant family's transformation into Catholic nobility and their evolution into powerful players in the Spanish colonial world. But what makes their story unique is how they turn instruments of oppression—noble titles, colonial documentation, Catholic ritual—into shields protecting the very traditions these systems sought to destroy.

One of the most important books on William Shakespeare, this superb biography is both authoritative and extremely readable. It is the first modern biography of Shakespeare since the Victorian Age to pay full attention to his life and times, to his works, and to the numerous and subtle connections among them.

This novel is a virtual time machine that takes the reader back to 11th century England - the time of Saxon domination before and after the disastrous Battle of Hastings in 1066. Step directly into the footsteps of Cuthwin of Alnwick. There are few “great men or women” in this historical novel, but instead the story of an ordinary man and his wife who work to survive.

This entertaining introduction to Shakespeare's work weaves biographical information with excerpts from 33 of his plays. Informative, well-researched commentary, written by two Royal Shakespeare Company actors, provides a glimpse of the man and little-known lore about his work.

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.