Early Medieval

Embark on an enthralling journey through the heart of Medieval England in this captivating exploration of one of history's most dynamic periods. Delve into the lives of kings and queens, knights and peasants, as the story of England unfolds against the backdrop of feudalism, chivalry, and religious upheaval. Experience the turbulence of the Magna Carta, the devastation of the Black Death, and the intrigue of the Wars of the Roses, all of which shaped the destiny of England.

On Christmas Day in the year 800, a Frankish warlord knelt in a Roman church and stood up an emperor. The empire he claimed had been dead for three centuries. The idea he revived would outlive him by a thousand years. Charlemagne could barely write his own name. He spent most of his life on horseback, fighting a brutal thirty-year war against the Saxons that included the mass killing at Verden. He buried sons, watched a rearguard die at Roncesvalles, and ruled a sprawling realm with almost no bureaucracy, no standing capital, and no money economy worth the name. And yet, by the time he died...

Step beyond the myth of the Dark Ages and discover how Rome's spectacular fall sparked a dramatic medieval rebirth. Perfect for your daily commute or a focused evening of learning, this immersive narrative history transports you to an atmospheric era of kings, monks, and colliding empires...

Pick up almost any book on early and medieval world history and empire, and where do you find West Africa? On the periphery. This pioneering book tells a different story. Interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, Michael Gomez unveils a new vision of how categories of ethnicity, race, gender, and caste emerged in Africa and in global history. 

FAIRACRES PUBLICATIONS 135 St Dunstan lived in the tenth century, between 909 and 988. He developed the ancient church foundation at Glastonbury into the first Benedictine monastery in England, and later served as Archbishop of Canterbury for twenty-eight years. He was a scholar, artist and musician, as well as a contemplative spiritual father. Why is his life and work of interest today after one thousand years? His influence touched many areas of English life in a way that helped determine the foundations of medieval and early modern society. He was a very gifted and many-sided person, ...

The book provides a detailed chronological history of early Western Europe through the lives of the nobility, their marriages, wars, rebellions, and betrayals. The book has original source documentation embedded. This book was compiled from 20-plus years of research combined with an interest in the history of western civilization. By putting all the events in chronological order, I was able to show the impact of relationships between the various factions, and how these relations helped shape Western Europe.

The definitive history of the Ottoman Empire “Lucid, judicious and enjoyable.” (Times Literary Supplement) The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in world history. Its reach extended to three continents and it survived for more than six centuries, but its...

What would make a sixth-century Irish monk climb into a fragile leather boat and sail beyond the known world? Saint Brendan the Navigator became one of Christianity’s most captivating figures—a monastic founder, spiritual teacher, and legendary voyager whose search for the Promised Land of the Saints inspired generations of pilgrims, sailors, mapmakers, and explorers. Saint Brendan the Navigator for Beginners brings together the history, faith, adventure, and mystery behind his remarkable story in one clear and accessible guide. Inside, you will discover: Brendan’s early life, ...

This book evolves the history of early medieval England through the lives of the nobility, their marriages, wars, rebellions, and betrayals. The earliest consolidations of power are challenged by an influx of immigrants from the coastal areas of Europe. As the different cultures come together they are then challenged by the shifting power bases arising on the continent.

Maximus the Confessor for Beginners: Insights into Christology and the Human Will takes you into the life and teachings of one of Christianity’s most courageous and influential thinkers. This is not just another history lesson—it’s a journey into the mind of a man whose ideas on Christ’s nature and human freedom reshaped Christian doctrine for centuries. Why does Maximus matter today? Maximus wasn’t just a theologian. He was a spiritual warrior who stood firm in the face of torture and exile, all to defend the truth. His defense of Christ’s human and divine will is more than an ...

The History of Mental Health Treatment: From Ancient Practices to Modern Science BOOK 1: Ancient and Medieval Mental Health Treatment: How Early Civilizations, Religion, and Philosophy Shaped the First Approaches to Mental Illness explores the long and complex history of how human societies first attempted to understand psychological suffering. Long before psychiatry, therapy, or neuroscience existed, people across ancient and medieval cultures struggled to explain behaviors such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and emotional instability. This book traces how those early explanations...

The Hospitallers started out as caretakers of the Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem, but they soon emerged from their hospices and adopted a new military role that shaped the history of medieval Europe forever. This audiobook seeks to explore the curious rise of the Hospitallers from their humble origins to one of the most powerful institutions in medieval Europe.

Roots of the Apothecary is a historically grounded exploration of humanity’s earliest healing traditions and the apothecaries who shaped them—long before modern pharmacies, laboratories, and commercial medicine existed. This book traces the evolution of apothecaries from ancient civilizations through medieval Europe and into the foundations of modern pharmacy, revealing how centuries of plant knowledge informed the development of contemporary medicine. Through calm, narrative-driven storytelling, readers discover how apothecaries understood plants, balance, preparation, and observation ...

An evocative journey into early medieval Britain, where myth and wilderness intertwine – brought to life by Amy Jeffs’ original linocut art. Step into the wilderness of early medieval Britain with Wild, a captivating collection of myths, legends, and reimagined tales from the sixth to tenth...

Bloomsbury presents Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins. The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of modernity, it has come to symbolise the transformative rebirth of knowledge...

He has lived for two thousand years. He has finally decided to talk. In The Testimony of Cain, the world met a man who cannot die. Now Cain takes up his pen. Through a series of letters to the scholar who first told his story, Cain describes the lives he lived between the headlines of history — the centuries no testimony ever recorded. From the orange courtyards of Córdoba to a Paris bakery in the rain, from the Viking borderlands of Saxon England to the tax offices of Damascus and the smoke above a burning library, he writes of love affairs that should never have begun, debts that ...

Bloomsbury presents Conquered by Eleanor Parker, read by Kristin Atherton. "Outstanding." – The Sunday Times "Beautifully written." The Times "Superbly adroit." The Spectator "Excellent." BBC History Magazine The Battle of Hastings and its aftermath nearly wiped out the leading families of...

Ireland is burning. The Vikings are coming. 🔥 Finn’s father is dead. His name is in ruins. And someone wants him to stay that way. When a reckless rivalry with the king’s son spirals out of control, Finn is forced into a deadly mission against Viking raiders. It’s a chance to restore his honour—or lose everything that remains. But war is only the beginning. Haunted by his father’s mysterious death, Finn is pulled into a web of betrayal, shifting loyalties, and brutal conflict where no one can be trusted, and every mistake is paid for in blood. As Ireland fractures under Viking ...

The Birth of a Realm: Kings, Kingdoms, and the Making of England is a sweeping, immersive journey through more than fifteen centuries of British history—beginning in the fading light of Roman Britain, moving through the storm‑tossed world of the Heptarchy, and culminating in the ceremonial splendour and constitutional role of today’s modern monarchy under King Charles III. This richly detailed narrative traces how England emerged not through inevitability, but through conflict, adaptation, cultural fusion, and the enduring human search for order. From the collapse of Roman ...

Clovis was not born to rule a nation. He forged one. At the collapse of Roman authority in Gaul, power lay scattered among warlords, fading imperial officials, and rival kings. From this fractured world emerged Clovis, a Frankish ruler whose ruthless ambition, calculated conversion to Christianity, and mastery of violence reshaped Western Europe. This biography traces Clovis’s rise from tribal king to founder of the Frankish Kingdom. It examines his destruction of rival rulers, his defeat of Roman and Visigothic powers, and his decisive adoption of Catholic Christianity as a weapon of ...