I have loved books where the main character goes from his/her own ordinary existence into another world, with inspiration from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, who was a tutor in English Literature. Since I love history, there’s nothing more fun for me than historical time travel, and I wonder how difficult it might be for a modern woman or man, well-versed in the history and literature of the time, to navigate the customs, etiquette, language, clothing, and politics in 1344.
This book is essential to understanding the feudal system, and how life revolved around the myriad castles dotted throughout the countryside of England and Wales.
They focus on one castle in particular, but the structure of the society around the castle was somewhat universal, with the lord and lady of the castle, to the workers in the castle, the village that was nearby that would take refuge inside the castle walls if necessary during battles.
I found this an essential book when I was researching my book, which features a castle named Wodesley. What would meals be like there, entertainment, daily life?
"Some particular books I found useful for A Game of Thrones and its sequels deserve mention...Life in a Medieval Castle and Life in a Medieval City, both by Joseph and Frances Gies." -George R.R. Martin, author of the series A Song of Ice and Fire Medieval history comes alive in Joseph and Frances Gies's Life in a Medieval Castle, used as a research resource by George R. R. Martin in creating the world of A Game of Thrones. Newly reissued for the first time in decades, Life in a Medieval Castle is the bestselling classic that has introduced countless readers…
I bought this book as a house gift before I even had the chance to read it. When I finally did, I was struck by the level of detail of the history of these four sisters.
Most importantly, this book could and should inspire a thousand pieces of fiction with its rich descriptions and characters. While the standard assumption that the rights of medieval women were limited to being decorative and useful pawns who would bear heirs, this was an eye-opening book in the breadth of these sisters’ reach throughout Europe.
Set against the backdrop of the turbulent thirteenth century, a time of chivalry and crusades, poetry, knights, and monarchs comes the story of the four beautiful daughters of the count of Provence whose brilliant marriages made them the queens of France, England, Germany, and Sicily. From a cultured childhood in Provence, each sister was propelled into a world marked by shifting alliances, intrigue, and subterfuge. Marguerite, the eldest, whose resolution and spirit would be tested by the cold splendor of the Palais du Roi in Paris; Eleanor, whose soaring political aspirations would provoke her kingdom to civil war; Sanchia, the…
Trapped in her enormous, devout Catholic family in 1963, Annie creates a hilarious campaign of lies when the pope dies and their family friend, Cardinal Stefanucci, is unexpectedly on the shortlist to be elected the first American pope.
Driven to elevate her family to the holiest of holy rollers in…
Are you fascinated by knights in shining armor? This is the illustrated book for you.
Yes, it’s a book essentially for kids, but I found it incredibly useful for my research on everything from jousting to armory, from swords to riding armed on horseback. It also has a useful timeline in the back that gives useful dates from Charlemagne’s use of mounted warriors to the use of squires, crusades, tournaments, and the end of the era in the 1600s.
Enter the world of chivalrous horseback warriors and learn what it takes to become a knight.
Eyewitness Knight follows the journey of a knight in making, from being a page or a squire at an early age undergoing rigorous training before making it to the ceremony of dubbing. With this book, you can learn what knights wore into battle, from heavy mail to plate armor and gauntlets. You will also enter a gallery of swords and other weapons that were an important part of a knight’s armory.
Ride along with these warriors on their horses that were used not only…
If you’re going to visit the Middle Ages, it’s hugely important to understand the scripts of the time. You might be able to pick out a word or two, but most of it looks as difficult to read as hieroglyphics.
This is a useful book outlining the development of different scripts, tools, material, illustrations, and production of these rare books. In my book, Ellie Hartford is a professor of English Literature before 1525, and one of her skill sets was paleography, which identifies the source of the script and aids in understanding its origins. This is nerdy stuff, but fun!
For readers who wish to trace the evolution of scripts in the West from antiquity to the early modern period, and who want to read the work of their scribes, this volume provides a wide-ranging collection of materials supported by 55 full-page illustrations from manuscripts. Brown provides a synopsis of each of the major phases of development, a bibliography at the beginning of each section, and comments on regional and chronological diffusion where appropriate. Each plate is accompanied by a facing page of commentary giving a brief description of the manuscript and its script, followed by a transcription of the…
A delightful and distinctive picture book biography about Dr. Virginia Apgar, who invented the standard, eponymous test for evaluating newborn health used worldwide thousands of times every day.
You might know about the Apgar Score. But do you know the brilliant, pioneering woman who invented it? Born at the turn…
Edward III’s founding of the Order of the Garter was what inspired me to write my book, but I knew little about him.
This true medieval king’s fifty-year-long reign was marked by controversy from the start, but he was also a romantic, a warrior (he instigated the 100 Year War against the French), steered England through the horrific amount of death from the plague in 1348, and was the patriarch to The Black Prince and John of Gaunt, and The War of the Roses came after his reign.
A landmark biography of the charismatic king beloved of fourteenth-century England
Edward III (1312-1377) was the most successful European ruler of his age. Reigning for over fifty years, he achieved spectacular military triumphs and overcame grave threats to his authority, from parliamentary revolt to the Black Death. Revered by his subjects as a chivalric dynamo, he initiated the Hundred Years' War and gloriously led his men into battle against the Scots and the French.
In this illuminating biography, W. Mark Ormrod takes a deeper look at Edward to reveal the man beneath the military muscle. What emerges is Edward's clear…
When John Stafford, an ex-boyfriend of Ellie Hartford, a professor of Middle English Literature, shows up drunk, hand-cuffed in ancient manacles late one night, she wonders what’s happened to him? Once recovered, John shows her his medieval treasure trove, which has a direct connection to the haunted labyrinth in Jane’s back garden. Ellie is then tricked to go back to the year 1344, to the reign of Edward III, and the founding of the Order of the Garter.
Ellie will do whatever it takes to get back to her children. With her knowledge of the medieval language and culture, she must navigate the intricate world of feudal England, with its tournaments, knights, chivalry, dancing, and feasts.
Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of…
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
