Medieval Memoirs

When William the Conqueror died in 1087, he left the throne of England to William Rufus . . . his second son. The result was an immediate war as Rufus's elder brother Robert fought to gain the crown he saw as rightfully his; this conflict marked the start of 400 years of bloody disputes as the English monarchy's line of hereditary succession was bent, twisted, and finally broken when the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, fell at Bosworth in 1485.

Born as the heir to the English Throne, the Black Prince was trained from a young age to be king. Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince, had other ideas. His love for chivalry, knighthood, and combat brought him on campaigns all over Europe. How did he become known as the Black Prince? What caused his stunning victories against the numerically superior French? How did the Black Prince almost get himself into financial ruin? Why was he the scourge of the French? In this book, we explore every detail of the action-packed life of Edward, the Black Prince.

Recent research has revealed that the richest person of all time lived in the 14th century in West Africa and went by many names, including Kankan Musa Keita, Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, and the Lion of Mali II, but today he is usually referred to as Mansa Musa. Adjusting his wealth to modern values, he was worth about an estimated $400 billion as the Sultan of ancient Mali, which controlled the trade routes across the Sahara Desert.

Genghis Khan is one of history's greatest and most famous conquerors. No man, before or since, has ever started with so little and gone on to achieve so much. From a noble family, but raised in poverty that drove him to the brink of starvation, Genghis Khan rose to control the second-largest empire the world has ever known. Genghis Khan was not a peaceful man, nor a particularly merciful one, but the image of him as a bloodthirsty barbarian is largely the result of hostile propaganda; he was far more complex.

Heróis da Igreja - Era Medieval reúne escritos de pessoas que viveram um período de formação extremamente crítico e conturbado da história da Igreja. Começando com o Concílio de Niceia e estendendo-se até as vésperas da Reforma, esses documentos exalam o profundo amor desses cristãos pelo povo de Deus e sua sincera fidelidade a Cristo.

Sei storie esemplari di donne del Medioevo e del loro rapporto con la maternità. C’è l’esperienza di Dhuoda (vissuta nel IX secolo), il cui figlio Guglielmo fu consegnato come ostaggio a Carlo il Calvo; c’è – due secoli dopo – la vicenda di Matilde di Canossa, donna potentissima ma delusa nelle sue aspettative di maternità. C’è l’esempio di Caterina da Siena, che pur non avendo figli agisce e scrive da "grande madre" italiana. C’è Christine de Pizan, impegnata nell’ultimo scorcio di Medioevo a destreggiarsi tra i figli e la carriera.

In 1384, a poor and illiterate peasant woman named Ermine moved to the city of Reims with her elderly husband. Her era was troubled by war, plague, and schism within the Catholic Church, and Ermine could easily have slipped unobserved through the cracks of history. After the loss of her husband, however, things took a remarkable but frightening turn. For the last 10 months of her life, Ermine was tormented by nightly visions of angels and demons.

Medeltidens historia har ofta blivit männens historia. Hur såg livet ut för Jeanne d’Arc, för »merciernas härskarinna« Ethelfled eller läkaren Trota av Salerno? Hur betraktades de av sina samtida? De senaste decennierna har forskningen gjort många upptäckter kring medeltidens gränsöverskridande kvinnor. I den här boken möter vi dels vanliga bondhustrur, dels ledare och konstnärer, läkare och predikanter, härförare, fotsoldater och andra kvinnor som valde en annorlunda väg.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Life and Legacy of Medieval Europe’s Most Famous Queen attempts to provide an unbiased look at Eleanor's life by exploring the achievements and trials of the duchess-queen and deconstructing the “black legends” and other compelling tales that continue to envelop her to this day. You will learn about Eleanor of Aquitaine like never before.

In the wake of the Roman Empire’s collapse, Italy found itself fractured. Among the Italians of the Middle Ages, the most famous - and controversial - man who sought to unify Italy was, somewhat fittingly, a Roman. Cola di Rienzo was a man whose life and actions have reverberated down the centuries, as his charismatic, yet unsuccessful dictatorship has spawned legends and comparisons with movements of later ages. His attempt to bring the greatness of Roman antiquity into the reality of the 14th century, the city’s lowest point, is inspiring on its face.