Medieval Germany

An essential new history of Central Europe that “deftly unravels the strands of a long and complex past” (Wall Street Journal) Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the...

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.

The Holy Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years, far longer than ancient Rome. Yet this formidable dominion never inspired the awe of its predecessor. Voltaire quipped that it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. Yet as Peter H. Wilson shows, the Holy Roman Empire tells a millennial story of Europe better than the histories of individual nation-states.

England, 1582: Weil sie den geforderten Lohn für eine Heilung nicht erhält, gerät die Heilerin Ursula Kemp in einen Streit mit ihrer Nachbarin. Kurz darauf bricht die Krankheit erneut aus. Es folgt eine Anzeige, ein erzwungenes Geständnis und schließlich der Scheiterhaufen. Dies ist nur ein Beispiel von vielen für die systematische Verfolgung von Hexen. Doch wie konnte aus banalstem Nachbarschaftsneid und oder Existenzsorgen eine systematische Verfolgung werden, der in Europa zehntausende Unschuldige zum Opfer fielen?

A sweeping, definitive history of the dynamic, expansionist dynasty that forged the Middle Ages—and Europe—as we know it. “Historical scholarship, and historical storytelling, at its finest.” —Matthew Gabriele, coauthor of The Bright Ages and Oathbreakers Today, the Carolingians are...

The Werewolf of Bamberg is the fifth book in Hangman’s Daughter, the million-copy bestselling series. In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon travel to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: a murderer in...

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.

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 ...

The exemplary life of a noble soldier/statesman, a description of ancient Germany, and a discussion of oratory are the subjects of three short masterpieces by the brilliant Roman historian, Tacitus.

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.

Bohemia prospered in the 14th century, and the Holy Roman Empire passed to the Habsburgs in 1438. The Empire itself remained fragmented, and the real power lay with the individual principalities. Financial institutions such as the Hanseatic League held great economic and political power.

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.

An inside look at sexual practices in medieval England. Were medieval women slaves to their husband's desires, jealously secured in a chastity belt in his absence? Was sex a duty or could it be a pleasure? Did a woman have a say about her own female sexuality, body, and who did or didn’t get...

In 1370 the Kingdom of Denmark surrendered to an organization with no capital city, no army, no constitution, and no membership list — and handed it a share of the royal customs revenue and a veto over who could be the next king. Nobody could say how many members the winning side had. Not its enemies, who kept demanding a list and never got one. Not the historians, who have argued about it for a hundred and fifty years. Not the members themselves. The Hanseatic League — the network of German merchant towns that dominated the trade of northern Europe for four centuries — had no ...

The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne’s empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. To many historians, it was a prime example of the ignorance and uncertainty of the Dark Ages. Yet according to historian Paul Collins, the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture’s birth, of the emergence of our civilization into the light of day.

Here, from New York Times best-selling historian Francis Russell, is the dramatic story of Germany - from the rise of Charlemagne to the age of Martin Luther, from the 30 Years' War to the iron rule of Otto von Bismarck, and from the formation of the Weimar Republic to the fighting of two world wars.

The Booker Prize–winning author of The Sea re-creates the life of the Renaissance mathematical genius Johannes Kepler and his incredible drive to chart the orbits of the planets and the geometry of the universe. Johannes Kepler, born in 1571 in southern Germany, was one of the world’s...

It has been famously pointed out that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, but it was also not an empire in the sense people expect when hearing the term. In theory, the emperor was the highest prince in Christendom, and his dominion extended the length and breadth of Western Europe. The empire had been created by the papacy in 801 when Pope Leo III famously crowned the supposedly unwitting Charlemagne in Saint Peter’s Basilica, intending to recreate the Western Roman Empire. In truth, the imperial power did not extend beyond central Europe.

Charlemagne - carolus magnus - Karl der Große: Dieses Feature zeichnet das Bild eines der faszinierendsten Protagonisten der deutschen Geschichte und seiner Pläne für ein neues Rom. Die Produktion des WDR vermittelt einen vielschichtigen Blick auf den großen Herrscher zu der Zeit, als mit dem Bau der achteckigen Pfalzkapelle der Grundstein für das geplante Reichszentrum gelegt wurde. Zu Wort kommen dabei Biographen Karls des Großen, Kunsthistoriker, Karls Verbündete und Lehrer.

On the eastern edge of Otto I's empire, Lukas Von Mainz is sent to contain a rogue margrave and investigate a bishop whose conversions are leaving too many bodies behind. The margrave's unauthorized war could wreck a decade of diplomacy. The bishop's mission territory hides a campaign of conquest behind the language of salvation. When Lukas reaches the forests east of the Elbe, he finds a sacred grove, a mass grave, and the bishop's own hand in a ledger. Bringing the evidence west means crossing soldiers, churchmen, and the succession Otto is struggling to hold together. Staying silent ...