The Medieval Python

This 2003 book is an important full-length study of the Portuguese royal court in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It describes the fundamental importance of the court in defining the social position of kings, and shows how kings and nobles redefined one another, despite many celebrated political rivalries within the broader Iberian context. The book contains a detailed comparative analysis of the way royal courts were organized, and of the status, professional and gender groups inside the Portuguese court. The characteristics of the court society as a whole, however, were rooted mostly in the dynamics of hierarchy and interdependence - in the specific ways the different parts and the individuals were bonded to each other. These bonds are discussed in light of later medieval concepts and theories. The book also describes the constant displacement of this complex community within Portugal, and how life at court was shaped by ceremonial duties and common activities.

This collection of eleven distinguished essays explores the legal thought that grew out of the revival of Roman law and its subsequent contribution to the development of public law and early modern th

Soldiers returning from war have always exhibited signs of psychological and emotional distress. In this book, Bernard J. Verkamp argues that the contemporary response to such symptoms—psychiatric tre

This collection of essays explores the place, function, and meaning of women as characters, authors, constructs, and cultural symbols in a variety of epics from the Middle Ages, including those of Per

Scholars of literature explore how classical rhetorical theory was accommodated to the needs of a post-classical Christian culture, and the context in which this development took place. The obvious ve

Twelve essays, including introduction and conclusion, come from an exploratory workshop on resource allocation and consumption as it relates to military activity held November 2003 at the U. of Birmin

For a long time scholars have generally shared the belief that late medieval authors - particularly in England and especially Chaucer - wrote for private readers. This book challenges that view and cu

"This reader brings documents from throughout the medieval world into one collection. The book's chapters are organized according to nine areas allowing for comparative examination of different societ

Medieval Europe and the World: From Late Antiquity to Modernity, 400-1500 examines the development of western European social, political, economic, and cultural institutions during one of the most com

Mark Amodio's book focuses on the influence of the oral tradition on written vernacular verse produced in England from the fifth to the fifteenth century. His primary aim is to explore how a living tr

The long lost, original Latin text for Vita Griffini Filii Conani is shown with an English translation in this critical edition. The main focus of this volume is on the Welsh and Latin version of Peni

From the medieval chansonniers to contemporary rap renditions, this book traces the changing interpretation of troubadour and trouvere music, a repertoire of songs which have successfully maintained p

English translations of one year of documents penned by Holanie in the southern French town Montpellier demonstrate the work of notaries during the Middle Ages, public scribes who were responsible for

The Domesday Book contains a great many things, including the most comprehensive, varied, and monumental legal material to survive from England before the rise of the common law. This book argues that it can - and should - be read as a legal text. When the statistical information present in the great survey is stripped away, there is much material still left, almost all of which stems directly from inquest, testimony given by jurors impanelled in 1086, or from the sworn statements of lords and their men. This information, read in context, can provide a picture of what the law looked like, the ways in which it was changing, and the means whereby the inquest was a central event in the formation of English law. The volume provides translations (with Latin legal terminology included parenthetically) for all of Domesday Book's legal references, each numbered and organised by county, fee, and folio.

This volume explores key aspects of the transmission of learning and the transformation of thought from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period. The topics dealt with include metaphysics as a

Messianic Hopes and Mystical Visions tells the story of the Nurbakhshiya, an Islamic messianic movement that originated in fifteenth-century Iran and central Asia and survives to the present in Pakis

This is the first historical study of the whole body of late Viking runic inscription stones in Scandinavia. The 2300 inscriptions yield unexpected information on a wide range of topics, including th

The Arrow of Love examines visual encounters in medieval lyrics, exploring the ways in which poets employed contemporary optical theory both to revitalize classic topoi, such as Cupid's arrow, and to

When it came to non-gunpowder machine development, the medieval period was one of the most inventive in military history. During this era, the pre-existing military-technological traditions from the a

Going into considerable detail on matters he treats more sketchily in his books, Jordan examines such topics as problems discovered and solutions imposed during the communal administration in France f

Chang'an was the most important city in early imperial China, yet this is the first comprehensive study of the Sui-Tang capital in the English language. Following a background sketch of the earlier Ha

This study addresses the relationship between the veneration of Buddha relics and the appropriation of power in early medieval Japan. Focusing on the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, it analyzes the

Lavender vinegar, saffron wafers, chicken baked with prunes, pears stewed with cucumbers and figs . . . there is something wonderfully inviting about the unusual and exotic flavors that came to the me

Investigates how, in epics of the Crusade era, the daughters of the black devil Saracens turned out white, gentle, and often married to the European knight hero at the end of the tale. Especially loo

For the first time this book provides an examination of the impulses that went into the making of literary criticism in medieval Arab-Islamic culture. It traces the resulting characteristics of this a

This volume offers a survey and overview of world history, starting with the earliest-known human settlements and concluding in 1500--the early years of Europe's Renaissance,and in the Americas, the

While historians of Christianity have generally acknowledged some degree of Germanic influence in the development of early medieval Christianity, Russell goes further, arguing for a fundamental German

A richly illustrated, beautifully written examination of what it was like to live with plague at all levels of society. Platt offers a fascinating insight into the industry of death that pestilence b

Splendid pictorial documentation, carefully researched, of royal apparel, ecclesiastical dress and vestments, academic and legal garments, and civilian dress of all classes.

For more than a thousand years, from A.D. 500 to 1700, the medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay grew rich on the gold, salt, and slave trade that stretched across Africa. Scraping away hundr

In this classic work George Hourani deals with the history of the sea trade of the Arabs in the Indian Ocean from its obscure origins many centuries before Christ to the time of its full extension to

This is the first book to study the religious practices of lay people in the region that once formed the diocese of Salisbury. Andrew Brown explores the relationship between lay piety and geographical

As a major advance in the study of medieval piety the interrelationship between the veneration of relics and of the Eucharistic Host is presented here for the first time.Traced through Christian Antiq

Traces the emergence of a recognizably Medieval church in a diocese of northern Italy to demographic expansion, economic development, and political change, showing how an increasingly inclusive spirit

A survey of the intellectual life, political and social institutions, governance, and economic developments in western Europe between the breakup of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. Emphasizes th

Some of the liveliest and most fruitful debates in recent historical writing have been about the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Rodney Hilton’s vast and distinguished body of work on medieva

For history and biography lovers, the 15th-century life and travels of the extraordinary Margery Kempe, who left her family to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

First printed in the 12th century, here is the earliest treatise on the arts written by a practicing artist. Offering an essential understanding of pre-Renaissance art and technology, the Benedictine