Authors of the Middle Ages is a series designed for research and reference. The aim is to combine, in one compact work, a biography of a medieval author with all the information needed for further research. The series is divided into two sub-series. The first, edited by M.C. Seymour, focuses on EnglishWriters of the Late Middle Ages and the second, edited by Patrick Geary, deals with Historical and Religious Writers of the Latin West. William Caxton was the first English printer and publis...

To say that the writings of St. Francis reflect his personality and his spirit is but another way of saying that they are at once formidably mystic and exquisitely human; that they combine great elevation of thought with much picturesqueness of expression.This twofold element, which found its development later on in the prose of mystics like St. Bonaventure and in the verse of poets like Jacopone da Todi, and which has ever been a marked characteristic of Franciscan ascetic literatu...

The House of Guise was one of the greatest princely families of the sixteenth century, or indeed of any age. Today they are best remembered through the tragic life of one family member, Mary Queen of Scots. But the story of her Guise uncles, aunts and cousins is if anything more gripping - and certainly of greater significance in the history of Europe. The Guise family rose to prominence as the greatest enemy of the House of Habsburg and had dreams of a great dynastic empire that included ...

A year after Richard III's death, a boy claiming to be a Yorkist prince appeared as if from nowhere, claiming to be Richard III's heir and the rightful King of England. In 1487, in a unique ceremony, this boy was crowned in Dublin Cathedral, despite the Tudor government insisting that his real name was Lambert Simnel and that he was a mere pretender to the throne.Now, in The Dublin King, author and historian John Ashdown-Hill questions that official view. ...

Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, mother of Elizabeth of York and the Princes in the Tower, and grandmother of Henry VIII, has been vilified and defended in turn. Was she a cunning enchantress, an ambitious advancer of her family’s fortunes, or a courageous and tragic figure who lost husbands, brothers and sons during this turbulent period? Discover the real story of the ‘White Queen’. Born into a family of Lancastrians, the exceptionally beautiful Elizabeth captured the heart of the...

A small free eBook by Swain Wodening and GardenStone.The names Helia, Heile, Helið and Helith are recorded in several medieval and later publications as names for a pagan deity who was venerated in the southwest of early Anglo-Saxon England. Strange enough, actual scholarly related literature does not mention those records. This publication gives a fair overview on what is known about this pagan god.Therefore this contribution, in which the two authors showed both their crav...

A BBC History magazine Book of the Year and an amazon.com Best Book of the MonthAs religion divided sixteenth-century Europe, an extraordinary group of women rose to power. They governed nations while kings fought in foreign lands. They ruled on behalf of nephews, brothers and sons. They negotiated peace between their warring nations. For decades, they ran Europe. Small wonder that it was in this century that the queen became the most powerful piece on the...

In the summer of 1483 two boys were taken into the Tower of London and were never seen again. They were no ordinary boys. One was the new King of England; the other was his brother, the Duke of York, and heir presumptive to the throne. Shortly afterwards, their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, took the throne as Richard III. Soon after, rumours began to spread that the princes had been murdered, and that their murderer was none other than King Richard himself. Since 1483 the dispute ove...

From quarrels, passion, treason to execution, discover one of the great overlooked love stories of history.King Charles I was a Protestant. Henrietta Maria, a 15-year-old French princess, was a Catholic. Arranged for political gain, their marriage was a dangerous experiment, yet against the odds they fell in love.However Henrietta's Catholicism fuelled rumours of improper influence over a supposedly helpless king. Unable to trust his Parliament, Charles's f...

This compelling new biography provides the most authoritative picture yet of King Stephen, whose reign (1135–1154), with its “nineteen long winters” of civil war, made his name synonymous with failed leadership. After years of work on the sources, Edmund King shows with rare clarity the strengths and weaknesses of the monarch. Keeping Stephen at the forefront of his account, the author also chronicles the activities of key family members and associates whose loyal support sustained Stephen...

Acclaimed author Annette Carson continues her Richard III studies by concentrating on his brief protectorate while he was still Duke of Gloucester. Until now traditionally misrepresented, his office as Lord Protector has been poorly understood owing to an over-reliance on foreign reporters ignorant of the precise significance of this very English institution. Of equal importance, and equally disregarded, is his concurrent office as Lord High Constable of England, vested with military and j...

While everyone knows the story of King Arthur, few will have heard of King Lucius, a figure who has been consigned to myth and largely forgotten in the annals of British history. Examining the primary sources as well as the archaeological evidence for this second century king, David Knight convincingly refutes the generally accepted view expounded at the beginning of the twentieth century that identifies Lucius as King Abgarus of Edessa. King Lucius of Britain rec...