The Medieval Python

The articles in this volume, by scholars all pursuing careers in the United States, concern the theoretical approaches and methods of early medieval studies. Most of the issues examined span the perio

The medieval county of Quercy in Languedoc lay between the Dordogne and the Toulousain in south-west France; it played a significant role in the history of Catharism, of the Albigensian crusade launch

Throughout medieval Europe, for hundreds of years, monarchy was the way that politics worked in most countries. This meant power was in the hands of a family - a dynasty; that politics was family politics; and political life was shaped by the births, marriages and deaths of the ruling family. How did the dynastic system cope with female rule, or pretenders to the throne? How did dynasties use names, the numbering of rulers and the visual display of heraldry to express their identity? And why did some royal families survive and thrive, while others did not? Drawing on a rich and memorable body of sources, this engaging and original history of dynastic power in Latin Christendom and Byzantium explores the role played by family dynamics and family consciousness in the politics of the royal and imperial dynasties of Europe. From royal marriages and the birth of sons, to female sovereigns, mistresses and wicked uncles, Robert Bartlett makes enthralling sense of the complex web of internal

"Go on campaign in the Middle Ages and live through castle sieges and the fierce battles that changed history, including the Wars of the Roses and the Crusades. Castle defenses, life on campaign, medi

This richly illustrated volume provides the most complete catalogue to date of all known surviving seals from the city of London and its immediate hinterland for the period from the eve of the Norman

The liturgy, the public worship of the Catholic Church, was a crucial factor in forging the society of early medieval Rome. As the Roman Empire dissolved, a new world emerged as Christian bishops step

Exploring a time of profound change, this book details the intellectual ferment after the fall of the Han dynasty. Questions about "heaven" and the affairs of the world that had seemed resolved by Ha

The sixteen articles in this collection analyse the contribution made by overseas trade, and the wealth in coin which it created, to the development of the English economy and locate this in an Europe

An exploration of Chinese during a time of monumental change, the period after the fall of the Han dynasty. An exploration of Chinese during a time of monumental change, the period after the fall o

In contrast to the widespread view that the Middle Ages were a static, unchanging period in which attitudes to women were uniformly negative, D. H. Green argues that around 1200 the conventional relationship between men and women was subject to significant challenge through discussions in the vernacular literature of the period. Hitherto scholarly interest in gender relations in such literature has largely focused on French romance or on literature in English from a later period. By turning the focus on the rich material to be garnered from Germany - the romances Erec, Tristan and Parzival - Professor Green shows how some vernacular writers devised methods to debate and challenge the undoubted antifeminism of the day by presenting a Utopian model, supported by a revision of views by the Church, to contrast with contemporary practice.

The book of hours is said to have been the most popular book owned by the laity in the later Middle Ages. Women were often patrons or owners of such books, which were usually illustrated: indeed, the

For more than one thousand years Arab medicine held sway in the ancient world, from the shores of Spain in the West to China, India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in the East. This book explores the impact of

As one of the five pillars of Islam the pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj) is central to the life of all Muslims. A network of roads radiates from the Hijaz like a giant spider's web, connecting Mecca to

In making this selection of twelve essays spanning the period 1953–77 for this 1980 volume, Professor Pickering bore in mind that many of his recent readers are not students of German, but of comparative literature, art, history or theology, and translated three of the twelve for the occasion. He grouped them according to their 'approach' and introduced each with reference to his other writings. The essays in the volume concern medieval ideas of fate, fortune and history, and the persuasive influence of the Consolation of Philosophy of Boethius. One essay in the selection invites further discussion of 'the Western image of Byzantium'. Of more exclusive interest to students of German are an essay on Goethe's use of emblem-book motifs and images in his idyll Alexis und Dora, and reflections on the academic study of German.

Criss-crossing the line between history and social science, scholars in Japan and the US examine the early samurai and the imperial courts, lords and retainers, community vitality, religious oppositio

This volume deals with political, military, social, architectural, and literary aspects of fifteenth century England. The essays contained in the volume range across the century from some of the leadi

John Henderson examines the relationship between religion and society in late medieval Florence through the vehicle of the religious confraternity, one of the most ubiquitous and popular forms of lay

A great Belgian historian recounts the economic and social evolution of Western Europe from the end of the Roman Empire to the mid-fifteenth century. Translated by I. E. Clegg.

The essays reprinted in this 1980 book were first published at various times between 1951 and 1972. They deal largely with medieval German heroic and epic poetry, emphasising the way the basic language and imagery of that literature were rooted in a deep understanding and appreciation of the natural world. Professor Hatto presents these essays in the hope of enabling readers to recapture the significance of early poetry, the understanding of which is of increasing importance in an age where man is divorced from his natural setting.

The excavations conducted at St Giles Court in Camden revealed layers in the evolution of the area from medieval times to the present. This report provides an account of archaeological investigations

This ambitious book examines the encounter between Gaels and Europeans in Scotland in the central Middle Ages, offering insights into an important period in the formation of the Scots' national identi

This unique reference classifies the clothes and accessories of the 12th through the 15th centuries along social lines. Garments of every type, from the wardrobes of peasants and nobility, appear in

From the perspective of the Hispano-Romans, the Visigoths who invaded Spain in the mid-fifth century were heretical barbarians. But Leovigild’s military success and Reccared’s conversion

This ambitious book examines the encounter between Gaels and Europeans in Scotland in the central Middle Ages, offering new insights into an important period in the formation of the Scots' national id

"An important contribution to the late-medieval debate about the nature and value of romantic love, lovers' duties, the relative amorous merits of knights and clerics, and above all the differing obl

Taking the culturally resonant motif of the descent to the underworld as his guiding thread, David L. Pike traces the interplay between myth and history in medieval and modernist literature. Passage t

The followers of the martyred Bohemian priest Jan Hus (1371-1415) formed one of the greatest challenges to the medieval Latin Church. Branded as heretics, outlawed, then forced to fight for their fait

One of the myriad effects of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 was legal reform throughout Europe. In this thorough and fascinating study, the theory, and especially, the practice of law in medieval

Salih's book concerns the many types of medieval virginity, the creation and role of gender, and the definition of virgin in multiple contexts. These themes are pursued in the specific contexts of th

During the late Middle Ages the London ruling elite was increasingly influenced by the idea that a secret counter-society was operating in the city. Its members were suspected to be active mainly at night, to roam the city aimlessly and to be identifiable by three main characteristics: their latent, unmotivated and habitual penchant for violence, their sexual license and their disinclination to work. The rumours about this real and imagined 'milieu of the night' strongly influenced Londoners' perceptions of social relations within urban society. In wards, parishes, guilds and companies, people adapted their behaviour and gradually defined their own respectability in negative terms, in opposition to the new 'urban underworld'. The book sheds considerable new light on everyday life in late medieval London and its case study opens up wider debates about the relationship between morality and politics in Europe's cities in this period.

The coins of ancient and medieval Europe provide unique insights into the economic and political history of their period. In a time when few members of the population could read or write, the symbols

Food and diet are central to understanding daily life in the middle ages. In the last two decades, the potential for the study of diet in medieval England has changed markedly: historians have addres

Food and diet are central to understanding daily life in the middle ages. In the last two decades, the potential for the study of diet in medieval England has changed markedly: historians have address

This wide-ranging study explores the ideological framework of genre in Old French and Occitan literature by charting the relationship between ideology and gender in five key genres: the chansons de geste, courtly romance, the Occitan canso, hagiography, and the fabliaux. Simon Gaunt offers new readings of canonical Old French and medieval Occitan texts such as the Chanson de Roland, Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier de la charrette, and lyrics by Bernart de Ventadorn, and in addition he considers many less well-known works and less familiar genres such as hagiography and the fabliaux. Drawing on contemporary feminist theory, he examines how masculinity, as well as femininity, is constructed in medieval French and Occitan texts, and shows that gender is a crucial element in the formation of the ideologies that underpin medieval literary genres.

This book covers the whole range of technology, from the tools and skills of ordinary men and women to the instruments of astronomers and the equipage and weaponry of war. Changes in technology are ca

This volume seeks to explore the origins, context and content of the anchoritic and mystical texts produced in England during the Middle Ages and to examine the ways in which these texts may be studie

According to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit are supposed to be distinct from each other, and yet be one and the same God. As if that were not perplexing enough, there is also

The chronological and geographical focus of this volume is medieval northern Europe, from the 6th to the 15th centuries.

Explores the new literary and interpretive milieu that emerged in the years following the decline of China’s Han dynasty.

The foods people catch, cook, and eat often tell us a great deal about a society during a given time period. By examining both the tools and methods of the kitchen as well as the menus and mores of th