Showing titles in Medieval

Originally published in the 16th century, this is the classic history of the lives, sufferings, and deaths of the early Christian martyrs. As interesting as fiction, it is written with both passion and tenderness, telling the dramatic story of some of the most thrilling periods in Christian history.

In 1087, William the Conqueror's corpse exploded at his own funeral. The monarchy survived. This should not have been possible. But over the next thousand years, the English crown would pass through the hands of kings who spoke no English, rulers who couldn't attend their own weddings, and at least one monarch whose final wish was to have his skeleton lead armies into Scotland. There would be deaths by lamprey, murders filed under "probably fine," and a king who talked continuously for fifty-eight hours during a mental breakdown.

The bulk of the audiobook will deal with what Vlad’s political career looked like, what wars he waged, and how his life eventually ended. But we’ll go one step beyond and cover some areas that historians don’t typically focus on. In addition to raw facts, we’ll also focus on what Vlad III’s character was, what drove him forward, and what his chief traits might have been.

Medieval queens were seen as mere dynastic trophies, yet many of the Plantagenet queens of the High Middle Ages dramatically broke away from the restrictions imposed on their sex, as Alison Weir shows in this gripping group biography of England's fourteenth-century consorts. Using personal...

Written in aid of the crucial restoration work to restore Paris’s great cathedral, Notre-Dame: A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals is a moving, short piece of non-fiction celebrating the stunning history of this beloved building, from Ken Follett, author of the multi-million copy...

A ruthless Viking warrior who named his most prized battle weapon after the Norse goddess of death, Olav Haraldsson and his mercenaries wrought terror and destruction from the Baltic to Galicia in the early eleventh century. Thousands were put to the sword, enslaved, or ransomed. In England, Canterbury was sacked, its archbishop murdered, and London Bridge pulled down. The loot amassed from years of plunder helped Olav win the throne of Norway, and a century after his death he was proclaimed "Eternal King" and has been a national hero there ever since.

The 12th-century Christian mystic Hildegard of Bingen has been described as "… a visionary, scientist, diplomat, and poet." Created by Dr. Nancy Fierro, CSJ, Hildegard of Bingen and Her Vision of the Feminine transports us through space and time to the medieval cloisters where Hildegard...

The Byzantine Empire survived as a self-contained political entity longer than any other in the history of Christianity. This history by Charles Oman is a catalog of good, bad, and indifferent emperors who either pushed Byzantine Civilization to new heights or savagely drove it to defeat and dissolution. It is a strange tale populated by some of the most interesting men and women who have ever lived.

Traces the journey of Otto Rahn, the occultist and one-time SS member who sought the Holy Grail and traveled widely throughout Europe as a researcher until his mysterious death in 1939 Explores the modern legacy of the officially heretical Christian sect known as the Cathars Follows...

What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium The Year 1000 is a vivid and surprising portrait of life in England a thousand years ago – no spinach, no sugar, but a world which already knew brain surgeons and property developers, and yes, even the occasional gossip columnist...

In The Culture of Knighthood and Medieval Romance, join scholar of medieval literature Larissa Tracy for a fascinating dive into the deeper context of narratives about knights and their world. Her Audible Original takes you through the evolution of knighthood and courtly literature, dispelling prevalent myths about chivalry and romance with an eye to revealing just how textured and complex these ideas actually were.

In this compelling new study, Paull Hill reveals what documentary records and the growing body of archaeological evidence can tell us about war and combat in the age of the great Anglo-Saxon kings. The violent centuries before the Norman Conquest come to life in this detailed account of how and why the Anglo-Saxons fought, how their warriors were armed and trained, how their armies were organized, and much more.

The remarkable story of Margaret Paston, whose letters form the most extensive collection of personal writings by a medieval English woman.

Major Peter Weaver's military career is remarkable for its breadth, from the Royal Tank Corps, to the infantry, but also as an engineer and on colonial and special operations. Hearing accounts of the rise of Hitler, he joined the Territorials. The outbreak of war saw him rapidly promoted...

Bloomsbury presents The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons, read by Nezar Alerazi. For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile...

""Traveling easily through a thousand years of history, The Bright Ages reminds us society never collapsed when the Roman Empire fell, nor did the modern world did wake civilization from a thousand year hibernation. Thoroughly enjoyable, thoughtful and accessible; a fresh look on an age full of...

Modern communications have driven motorways and pylons through the countryside, dwarfed us with TV and telephone masts, and drastically altered the way in which we move around, see, and understand Scotland. Recent politics and logistics have established borders and jurisdictions which now seem permanent and impervious. The Faded Map looks beyond these to remember a land that was once quiet and green. 

In the midst of the devastating Hundred Years’ War between France and England, Jean de Carrouges, a Norman knight, fresh from combat in Scotland finds his wife, Marguerite, accusing squire Jacques Le Gris of brutally raping her. A deadlocked court decrees a “trial by combat” that also leaves Marguerite’s fate in the balance. For if her husband loses the duel, she will be put to death as a false accuser. While enemy troops pillage the land, and rebellion and plague threaten the lives of all, Carrouges and Le Gris meet in full armor on a walled field in Paris.

Sex. The word makes some people giggle or blush, while others may draw back in discomfort. So, why do we find it so difficult to talk openly about sex? Much of our reticence in discussing and acknowledging the realities of sex comes, at least in part, from a unique time and place: medieval Europe. In the 12 episodes of Sex in the Middle Ages, Professor Jennifer McNabb and a panel of experts in medieval history and literature will take you back to the period between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance to explore the ideals and realities of sex and sexuality.

Step into the world that exists just beyond the realm of common knowledge, and emerge enlightened. If you are ready to embark on this thrilling journey, then listen to The History of Witchcraft now, and dive deep into the mystifying annals of witchcraft....