Italy Middle Ages

It is not an easy job to draw the border between the history of Italy and the history of Rome. In so many places, the two political and geographical entities collide. They wouldn’t be possible without each other, but they each have their own story. Rome’s history is only a small fragment of Italy’s history. Although it is just a city, Rome was the birthplace of the republic, a great empire, and notable philosophers, poets, and artists.

The international bestseller! A masterful gothic thriller set against the turbulence of medieval Italy. The Name of the Rose The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. But his delicate mission is...

Death in Florence illuminates one of the defining moments in Western history—the bloody and dramatic story of the battle for the soul of Renaissance Florence. By the end of the fifteenth century, Florence was well established as the home of the Renaissance. As generous patrons to the likes of...

The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling historian Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434...

What was supposed to be a twenty-two-night Mediterranean voyage just rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Six months after buying a roofless stone farmhouse in the Italian Apennines for one euro, retired Ohio actuary Bob Henderson had achieved what he considered operational equilibrium: eight pruned olive trees, a functioning four-burner stove, a dog who sleeps on his boot, and an imperious goat named Senator. Then Layla Mansour sat across from him at Gianni’s bar. Layla is a forty-five-year-old architectural conservator: cosmopolitan, polyglot, impossibly elegant, and widowed. When she invites...

Unravel the Evolution of Gender Roles in Italian Families As a sociologist, you understand the profound impact that family dynamics have on society. Yet, the intricate evolution of gender roles within Italian families, from the Middle Ages to today, remains a complex puzzle. Are you seeking a comprehensive analysis that delves into these transformations and their societal implications? Discover how traditional gender roles have shaped and been reshaped by historical events, cultural shifts, and social movements in Italy. Gain insights into the historical foundations of Italian family ...

The Moors are well-known for their presence on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages and for the conflicts they fought in Europe, but the term Moor is a historical rather than an ethnic name. It is an invention of European Christians for the Islamic inhabitants of Maghreb (North Africa), Andalusia (Spain), Sicily, and Malta, and it was sometimes used to designate all Muslims.

The Republic of Genoa: The History of the Italian City that Became Influential across the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages examines the highs and lows of Genoa La Superba (“The Proud”), including its humble origins in the first century CE, its felicitous rise after the fall of the Roman Empire, its golden age as a mercantile power during the “Genoese Century,” and its demise at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.

In 1494, there were five sovereign regional powers in Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples. In 1536, only one remained: Venice. These decades of conflict precipitated great anxiety among Western thinkers, and Italians responded to the fragmentation, forevermore, of Latin Christendom, the end of self-governance for Italians, and the beginning of the early modern era in a myriad of ways. They were always heavily influenced by the lived experience of warfare between large Christian armies on the peninsula.

The story of the countess Matilda and her Lands: The History, The Canossa (origins, family, estates), The People, Matilda of Canossa, Henry IV, Gregory VII, Henry V, The Castles, The Parish Churches, The Apennine Settlements, The Landscape, Matilda's Way, Arts and Crafts: L'ars canusina, Food and Wine.

It is hard to find an island on the map more central than Sicily. It has rarely been governed as an independent, unified state. Nonetheless, the island has always occupied a front-row seat to some of the most important events in history, and nowhere is this more obvious than during antiquity. Modern Sicily: The History and Legacy of the Mediterranean Island Since the Middle Ages looks at one of the world’s most important and contested territories. You will learn about Sicily like never before.

Between the 12th and 14th centuries, just as today, corruption for political and commercial power raged in the fledgling cities of Italy. In this period of splendor, the protagonists of four short tales are involved in a myriad of intrigues. The first story’s title is the original Latin name of the medieval town where the events take place, Grata Aura. A young woman secretly catches sight of a handsome young man who has come to her father to negotiate a marriage pact. It is love at first sight. However, she soon discovers he is not there on his own behalf, but that of his brother, an old ...

Milo Mischief is back! And this time, the Naughty Itch has gone international… When Troubleton’s most chaotic prankster is rewarded with a “civilised” family trip to Venice, disaster is practically guaranteed. Between exploding tortellini, rampaging gondolas, and a masked prankster leaving vegetable-themed clues, Milo finds himself in the middle of a centuries-old veggie conspiracy, and the fate of Venice may depend on his biggest prank yet. Armed with fart-powered relics, glitter gadgets, and his legendary inability to behave, Milo must outwit the mysterious Violetta Verde, reunite...

The audioguide tells the story, describes the architecture and reports interesting facts about Monreale Cathedral. The church was founded by the Norman King William II the Good and was dedicated to Virgin Mary. According to legend, in 1174, while hunting, the sovereign saw a woman pointing to the place where her father's treasures were hidden. Following their discovery William decided to build a church, in honor of the Virgin, which was completed in less than ten years, probably by architects and Byzantine theologians.

The Renaissance was an era of cultural development during the 14th to the 17th centuries. Beginning in Italy, the learning of the Renaissance soon spread all over Europe, with an emphasis on intellectual inquiry and Classical revival that marked a departure from the Middle Ages. While some Europeans pursued these ideals through art and learning, others explored the world across the oceans.

The audioguide tells the story, describes the architecture and presents interesting facts about the cathedral of Cefalù, recognized as a UNESCO heritage site. The imposing dimensions of the cathedral give us an idea of Ruggero's great political project. The fulcrum of the whole Duomo are the marvelous mosaics; they cover an area of 650 square meters. The audioguide has been made by professionals in the field of history and art.

Consigned to history, thanks to the famous defeat Emperor Otto II's troops suffered, at the hands of the Arabs, in 982 the city of Stilo, whose name derives from the Greek "stulos", has its origins in Caulonia, an ancient Greek colony. The audioguide tells the story, describes the architecture and reports interesting facts about the Cattolica di Stilo, a unique historic place in the city. It is believed its design and construction took place prior to 1071.

The audioguide tells the story, describes the architecture and reports interesting facts about the cathedral. The island of Torcello, populated since Roman times, sheltered the population from the mainland, during the Gothic invasion period. The basilica of Santa Maria Assunta was built in 639. The fulcro of the cathedral are the magnificent mosaics, executed by local and Byzantine workers.

The vocal beauty of this church has been heard through the centuries and also through the descriptions of the many travelers who visited these places, which represented one of the stages of the Grand Tour (an integral part of the aristocratic education in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries). Borgia, like Scolacium, was under Byzantine rule, in the tenth, eleventh and fifteenth centuries.

The audioguide tells the story, describes the architecture and reports interesting facts about the oratory. Rossano is one of the most important cities of Calabria, under Byzantine rule, and here one of the most significant monuments of that time has been preserved: the Oratorio di San Marco, founded between the tenth and the eleventh century. During the restoration, fragments of admirable sculptures and frescoes of the Byzantine period emerged: a Virgin Mary with Child, which was to be part of a much wider representation.