Medieval Europe Fiction

Sylvia Townsend Warner’s The Corner That Held Them is a historical novel like no other, one that immerses the listener in the dailiness of history, rather than history as the given sequence of events that, in time, it comes to seem. Time ebbs and flows and characters come and go in this novel, set in the era of the Black Death, about a Benedictine convent of no great note. The nuns do their chores, seek to maintain and improve the fabric of their house and chapel, and struggle with each other and with themselves.

In this major and wholly original contribution to military history, John Keegan reverses the usual convention of writing about war in terms of generals and nations in conflict, which tends to leave the common soldier as cipher. Instead, he focuses on what a set battle is like for the man in the thick of it.

The Holy Land is in turmoil and desperately awaits the arrival of Edward Longshanks and his relieving army of French and English Crusaders. This is a time of brutality, an age of chivalry. A time of strong men with stronger hearts, an era with no place for the weak. Yet a thousand miles away, a 14-year-old boy learns a disturbing secret that drives him on a Crusade of his own. A quest to avenge his family, save his brother, and in the process recover the holiest relic in the history of Christendom.

1305 A.D. Being descended from great, though disgraced family, can be a greater curse than most. As a direct descendent of Simon de Montfort, Lady Gray de Montfort Serroux has lived her life with the axe of shame hanging over her head. Because of this, her marriage matches were limited and she wed a dishonorable man who widowed her when he was murdered in a gambling game. Left with a young daughter to support, Gray and her daughter and her mother have been living in poverty.

1115, Germany. Young Hildegard is sent to the Abbey of St. Disibod in the Rhineland as her parents' gift to the Church in accordance with a custom known as the tithe. Hildegard has a deep love of nature and a knowledge of herbal healing, and she hopes to purse medical studies at St. Disibod. But no sooner does she settle into her new life than she finds out that as a girl she will not be allowed to attend the monastic school or have access to the abbey's library; instead, she must stay at the women's convent.

At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a must-listen narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury, and madness.

When Livy began his epic The History of Rome, he had no idea of the fame and fortune he would eventually attain. He would go on to become the most widely read writer in the Roman Empire and was eagerly sought out and feted like a modern celebrity. And his fame continued to grow after his death. His bombastic style, his intricate and complex sentence structure, and his flair for powerfully recreating the searing drama of historical incidents made him a favorite of teachers and pupils alike.

Transylvania, 1463. A land of fortress cities, whispered heresies, and shadows cast by Vlad Dracula (the man, not the vampire.) Kate Webber, a 28-year-old Saxon healer, has always lived between reverence and suspicion. Her gift with herbs and midwifery makes her indispensable - and dangerous - in Kronstadt (today Brașov) , a medieval city where fear rules and women are silenced. Her marriage to the powerful, secretive Magyar promised safety, but instead bound her voice. One bitter Advent night, Kate breaks her husband’s command and saves a dying mother and child. Her defiance sparks awe ...

Separate countries to rule. One heart to share. Will duty or love prevail? ◆ FIRST PLACE WINNER - 2022 CHAUCER Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction ◆ WINNER of the Highly Recommended award from The Historical Fiction Company ◆ Royalty ◆ Power ◆ Politics ◆ Love ◆ Struggle The year is 1508. Louis XII, King of France, wants to stamp France’s footprint upon Italy. Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, and ruler of neighboring realm Brittany, wants to produce a son and heir for Louis and to save the independence of Brittany from France. Louise of Savoy, the mother of the ...

Lancater and York is a riveting account of the Wars of the Roses, from beloved historian Alison Weir. The war between the houses of Lancaster and York was characterised by treachery, deceit, and bloody battles. Alison Weir's lucid and gripping account focuses on the human side of history. At the centre of the book stands Henry VI, the pious king whose mental instability led to political chaos, and his wife Margaret of Anjou, who took up her arms in her husband's cause and battled in a violent man's world.

The Song of Roland is acknowledged today as the first masterpiece of French vernacular literature and one of the world’s greatest epic poems. Written down around the year 1090, The Song of Roland finely crafted verses tell of the betrayal and defeat of Charlemagne’s beloved nephew at the Pass of Roncevaux in the Pyrenees and of the revenge subsequently sought on his behalf.

In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history, and literature to imagine her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined.

To dream of death is a curse."I WAS BORN with the ability to prophesize the future. The destinies I dream about are impossible to alter, despite my many attempts to do so...nightly visions forewarn me of good fortune, but also of despair, discord, and death--always death."Matilde of Ringelheim, a paragon of virtue and achievement, a legendary woman of passion, beloved 10th-century queen, and saint of the Germanic states, was one of the most influential and charitable women in European medieval history. Her story of love, family discord, betrayal, prophetic dreams, and political intrigue is ...

Beobrand is besieged in the action-packed instalment in the Bernicia Chronicles set in AD 647 Anglo-Saxon Britain. War hangs heavy in the hot summer air as Penda of Mercia and his allies march into the north. Caught unawares, the Bernician forces are besieged within the great fortress of Bebbanburg. It falls to Beobrand to mount the defence of the stronghold, but even while the battle rages, old and powerful enemies have mobilised against him, seeking vengeance for past events.

Mr. Henty weaves a story of the life and times of King Richard the Lion-hearted that is yet to be equaled. Cuthbert de Lance, the hero of the story, is of Norman blood on his father's side and Saxon by his mother. By providing timely aid to the Earl of Evesham, Cuthbert is rewarded by being allowed to go to the Crusade as his page. He gains a reputation for valor and prowess due to gallant deeds, and his resourcefulness not only helps King Richard but aids Cuthbert in many a 'hairbreadth escape'.

The year is 1143. Hildegard, already a well-known physician, has expanded her work to writing not just about medicine but on theological matters as well. Once again, the monks of St. Disibod are there to stop her, citing the biblical passages that admonish against "women teachers". Also, Abbot Kuno is aging, and it is only a matter of time before he is succeeded in the post by Prior Helenger, who wants nothing more than to see Hildegard permanently relegated to the convent's enclosure.

Over 400 years before Columbus "discovered" the New World, it is believed that someone else already had - Icelander Bjarni Herjolfsson. Over the years 985-986, Herjolfsson was attempting to reach Eirik the Red's colony on Greenland when he was blown off-course. He sighted a coastline covered with woods, and thus was the first to glimpse a piece of North America.

Year 536. The sun falters. Breath becomes a ration. Inspired by the real “dark year” of 536—when a veil of ash dimmed the skies across Europe and the Mediterranean. On a drowned stretch of late-Roman coast, a town learns to survive without miracles. Livia is no saint, no soldier—she’s a keeper of rooms, a woman who can persuade wood, stone, and air to behave. Every working costs her something small and exact. Every choice keeps breath moving from door to door. When a powerful consortium called Candle arrives with salvation for sale—collars to “measure mercy,” boxes to ...

In the aftermath of a violent rebellion Robin Hood and his men must fight for survival with an enemy deadlier than any they've faced before... 1322. England is in disarray and Sir Guy of Gisbourne, the king's own bounty hunter, stalks the greenwood, bringing bloody justice to the outlaws and rebels who hide there. When things begin to go horribly wrong self-pity, grief and despair threaten to overwhelm the young wolf's head who will need the support of his friends and family now more than ever.

Saint Augustine is one of the most influential figures in all of Christianity, yet his path to sainthood was by no means assured. Born in AD 354 to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine spent the first 30 years of his life struggling to understand the nature of God and his world. He learned about Christianity as a child but was never baptized, choosing instead to immerse himself in the study of rhetoric, Manicheanism, and then Neoplatonism - all the while indulging in a life of lust and greed.