French Medieval

Uncover the Epic Conflict That Forged Modern Europe The Hundred Years' War was a turning point that melted down old orders and built new nations. This was a period that forever reshaped warfare, power dynamics, and even our understanding of nationhood. Tired of dry, academic history? This book is your accessible guide to understanding this pivotal era. No jargon, just clarity and captivating insights. Here’s just a fraction of what you can expect inside: The spark that ignited a century of conflict: How a royal dispute escalated into Europe's longest war. The revolutionary longbow: ...

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.

She was born to be a queen… but never meant to be heard. Catherine of Valois was a princess of France, raised among power, war, and expectation. But when she is sent to England to marry King Henry V, her life becomes something else entirely— a silent role in a kingdom that does not belong to her. Widowed young and surrounded by a court that watches, controls, and decides her future, Catherine is expected to fade into history. She does not. Told through the eyes of her loyal maid, The French Rose reveals the woman history overlooked— her quiet strength, her hidden choices, and the ...

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 ...

Elen Burnard is determined to reclaim the land that was stolen from her family one hundred years ago by the Forrests of Rancoff Castle. When her sister is kidnapped by her adversary's brother, Lady Dunblane leads her men in heated pursuit—bringing home as her prize the Lord of Rancoff himself. Now all that remains is to barter Forrest Munro's life for her sister's safe return. But first she must overcome her unexpected emotions. Desire stirs Elen's virgin heart as she feels the heat of him.

The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire and the Reformation was a long and hugely transformative period - one not easily chronicled within a single book. Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book, and he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation.

Three enchanted tales from medieval Europe—where knights prove their valor, princes face ghostly reckonings, and ancient promises reach beyond the grave. In Othon the Archer, a young nobleman—falsely suspected of illegitimacy and cast out by his jealous father—plunges into the Rhine rather than accept monastic exile. Rescued by a company of archers, he must prove his worth through courage alone, hiding his noble birth as he battles supernatural forces in haunted castles, wins tournaments with his bow, and pursues the heart of Princess Helena. Set in the mist-shrouded forests and ...

Bloomsbury presents The Two Hundred Years War by Michael Livingston, read by Rupert Farley. A new and radically original account of the longest military conflict in European history, which challenges the conventional periodisation of the ‘Hundred Years War’ to consider a much longer period...

Uncover the Epic Saga that Forged Two Nations Two manuscripts in one book: The Hundred Years’ War: An Enthralling Guide to the Epic Struggle for Dominance Between England and France Joan of Arc: An Enthralling Guide to a Peasant Girl’s Rise in Medieval France and Her Timeless Legacy as a National Heroine The Hundred Years' War was a crucible that melted down old orders and built the very foundations of modern France and England. This definitive guide takes you deep into the heart of Europe’s longest war, revealing how a royal dispute reshaped warfare, power, and national identity ...

Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king's attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about. Then one of the king's favorites, Hugues de Precy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed.

‘Small, very talkative, ready enough to do evil, shrewd and jocular, extremely cruel and daring.’ Orderic Vitalis on Mabel de Belleme. Mabel is the daughter of William de Belleme, known as Talvas, the Hard Shield, for his fierceness in battle…and at home. When William murders Mabel’s mother, he is expelled from his castle into exile—but Mabel follows him loyally, despite what he has done. As the Belleme fortunes gradually return, Mabel is married to an upstanding young lord, Roger de Montgomery, a close friend of the new Duke of Normandy—William, who will one day become the ...

When Louis VI took the throne in 1108, the French monarchy was weak, fragmented, and often ignored. Powerful lords ruled like kings in their own lands, while the crown struggled to assert real authority beyond its core. Castles defied royal command. Roads were unsafe. Churches were threatened. Even neighbouring rulers tested the limits of a crown that had survived—but barely acted. Louis VI changed that. Through relentless campaigns, calculated alliances, and a powerful partnership with the Church, he forced the kingdom to reckon with royal authority once again. He crushed rebellious ...

In a world where honor and passion collide, red-haired Dangereuse de l'Isle Bouchard believes her marriage to Viscount Aimery is her greatest achievement. But everything changes when she encounters William, Duke of Aquitaine—his court a whirlwind of music and revelry. Drawn into a secret affair, Dangereuse finds herself abducted to Poitiers, living in a tower designed just for her. As tensions rise with William's vengeful family, she takes charge, orchestrating a marriage that will change history. Witness the rise of a granddaughter destined to become the fierce Eleanor of Aquitaine. Love...

King Richard is dead, and John is king, a ruler ever-ready for more money in his treasury whether it comes there honestly or not. When the Baron Eric mysteriously disappears, the moody Sir Basil, distant relative and heir, has taken over the castle - and would not be pleased if Eric should ever return. In an unguarded moment of genuine gratitude, Sir Basil invites young Martin to come to the castle as a page and squire. Martin is swiftly drawn into Rosamund's troubles and into a few of his own before the tale reaches its dramatic climax.

France, the mid-fourteenth century. The war with England has been running for a generation, and in the intervals between campaigns something worse has filled the countryside: the Free Companies, bands of mercenary soldiers with no master and no restraint, taking what they need from whoever cannot stop them. Into this world a man must make his way on the strength of what he can do, because what he was born to — the wrong side of his father's bloodline, the legal nowhere of the bastard son — gives him nothing. His name is Mauléon. He has his father's blood and none of his father's rights...

Bloomsbury presents Crécy by Michael Livingston, read by Rupert Farley. Like Crécy itself, this book is a triumph and the tale it tells gives an old story new life.’- Bernard Cornwell, bestselling author of The Last Kingdom series A groundbreaking new study of the battle of Crécy, in which...

Louis VII inherited the sacred crown of France, but not the power to command the kingdom in full. Raised as a second son and shaped by piety, Louis was thrust into kingship after the sudden death of his elder brother. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine seemed to promise a transformed French monarchy, binding the Capetian crown to one of the greatest duchies in Europe. Instead, the union collapsed, Aquitaine slipped from his hands, and Eleanor’s remarriage to Henry Plantagenet helped create the vast Angevin power that overshadowed France for a generation. Louis’s reign was marked by ...

Paris, 1891. The novelist Durtal is writing a biography of Gilles de Rais — Marshal of France, companion of Joan of Arc, and one of the most prolific child-murderers in the history of the medieval world. It is difficult material, and Durtal finds it difficult to work: contemporary Paris, with its smug materialism, its comfortable mediocrity, and its contempt for anything beyond the immediately visible, offers him nothing he needs. Then he learns that Satanism is not merely a chapter of medieval history. It is alive, organized, and active in the drawing rooms and back streets of the Third ...

Philip I of France ruled for nearly half a century. His reign should have strengthened the Capetian monarchy. Instead, it exposed its deepest weaknesses. Crowned young and inheriting a fragile kingdom, Philip presided over a France dominated by powerful regional princes, a reforming Church, and a monarchy that lacked the strength to impose itself fully across the realm. While the Capetian crown endured, it did not yet command. Authority remained thin, and unity remained incomplete. At the centre of his reign stood one defining failure. Philip’s scandalous relationship with Bertrada of ...

The year is 1796 and the soil of Piedmont and Tuscany runs with blood, another battle takes shape on the mysterious Adriatic Sea. Alan Lewrie and his 18-gun sloop, HMS Jester, part of a squadron of four British warships, sail into the thick of it. But with England's allies failing, Napoleon busy...