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In 2012 Annette Carson formed part of the team that discovered King Richard III's mortal remains, verified in 2013 by forensics including DNA matching. In response to the recent upsurge of interest, her 2009 paperback has been updated with details of the discovery plus new illustrations, and a larger typeface for easier readability. Carson's premise is that for centuries the vision of Richard III has been dominated by the fictional creations of Thomas More and Shakespeare. Many voices, some of t...

On his deathbed William the Conqueror divided his property between his three sons, Robert, William and Henry. One of them got England, one got Normandy and one GBP5,000 of silver. None of them was satisfied with what he received. It took much violence, treachery, sudden death and twenty years before one of them reigned supreme over all the Conqueror's lands. Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his 'Prophecies of Merlin', depicted them as two dragons and a lion with a mighty roar, but which would end up th...

__________________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A deep dive into one of the murkiest periods of our national history ... Splendid' DAN JONES, Sunday Times'Beautifully written, incredibly accessible and deeply researched' JAMES O'BRIEN'An absolute masterpiece' DAN SNOW'Illuminates England's weird and wonderful early history with erudition and wit' IAN HISLOP__________________Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Grand cities and luxurious villas were d...

Winner of the Saltire Society Scottish History Book of the Year 2019 Presiding over an age of relative peace and prosperity, Alexander III represented the zenith of Scottish medieval kingship. The events which followed his early and unexpected death plunged Scotland into turmoil, and into a period of warfare and internal decline which almost brought about the demise of the Scottish state. This study fills a serious gap in the historiography of medieval Scotland. For many decades, even centuri...

King Henry V saw his reign and military efforts in France as a holy crusade to reclaim the French throne for his ancestors. Almost everything he did was governed by a well-thought-out philosophy that united political power, religious devotion and military success. This book includes the most up-to-date research on Henry V's reign, with a focus on historiography. His role in English history, as well as his actions as a ruler and military commander, are discussed throughout the text. This approach...

In the fourth century, clerics began to distinguish themselves from members of the laity by virtue of their augmented claims to holiness. Because clerical celibacy was key to this distinction, religious authorities of all stripes—patristic authors, popes, theologians, canonists, monastic founders, and commentators—became progressively sensitive to sexual scandals that involved the clergy and developed sophisticated tactics for concealing or dispelling embarrassing lapses. According to Dyan Ellio...

In the summer of 1302 the famous Robin of Locksley, popularly known as Robin Hood, has gone back to his outlaw ways in Sherwood Forest where he battles against royal authority, culminating in the barborous massacre of royal tax collectors and the mysterious murder of Sir Eustace Vechey, one of the sheriffs of Nottingham.Corbett and his two faithful servants Ranulf and Maltote are sent to Nottingham where they find fresh mysteries: why are three arrows shot into the air above Nottingham Castle on...

The Arundell family of Lanherne, near Newquay, was one of the richest and most important in Cornwall in the late Middle Ages, having extensive property in most parts of the county as well as elsewhere (notably Devon and Dorset). Cornwall Record Office has recently acquired the family archive, and this provides the opportunity for publishing some of its rich contents. As a first offering, this volume contains rentals and surveys of the Arundell lands inCornwall from the fourteenth to the sixteent...

'Most contemporaries would have argued that it was a king's job to put in peril his soul for the good of his Church and of his people. But Henry was too determined to live a life of a saint'Henry III, the son of King John, was catapulted onto the throne aged just nine and reigned for fifty-six years, during which time his self-conscious piety often put him at odds with those around him. Yet as this sparkling account makes clear, he deserves to be better known: for the birth of Parliament,...

A powerful and passionate story of forbidden love set in Medieval England...Immersed in the colours and drama of medieval life, Paul Doherty's richly evocative novel, The Love Knot, combines fact and fiction to tell one of history's greatest but most secret love affairs. Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Jean Plaidy. Spring, 1297. Recently widowed Joanna of Acre, loving daughter of Edward I, is pleased at her father's unexpected visit. But Edward has heard a rumour of an inappropriate fri...

This fully illustrated book describes the extraordinary range of food which found its way on to the tables of medieval English society, its production and distribution. Although bread, ale, meat and fish were the staple diet, fish often came from as far away as Iceland, and as early as 1480 over 100,000 oranges were being imported to augment the diet. The book covers a wide range of medieval food, from hunting, fish breeding, brewing, baking, food hygiene and storage. The book concludes with an...

1066 in Perspective is a landmark publication offering an interdisciplinary assessment of the impact of the Norman Conquest in the 950 years since 1066. Drawing upon papers presented at the Tower of London on the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, contributors, all of whom are internationally renowned, examine 1066 from a wide range of perspectives: military, social, political, architectural, ecclesiastical, gender and art history.

SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 BY THE GUARDIAN, DAILY MAIL, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE 'A gripping, complex and sensational story, told with calm narrative command ... With insight and skill, Penn cuts through the thickets of history to find the heart of these heartless decades.' - Hilary Mantel'The Brothers York is savage, exciting, blisteringly good.' - Jessie Childs, author of God's Traitors'An epic orgy of colour and character.' - Leanda de Lisle, The Times...

One of the most important manuscripts surviving from thirteenth-century England, the corpus of documents known as the Hundred Rolls for Cambridge have been incomplete until the recent discovery of an additional roll. This invaluable volume replaces the previous inaccurate transcription by the record commission of 1818 and provides new translations and additional appendices. Shedding new light on important facets of business activity in thirteenth-century Cambridge, this volume makes a signific...

The history of the Normans began a long time before 1066. Originating from the 'Norsemen' they were one of the most successful warrior tribes of the Dark Ages that came to dominate Europe from the Baltic Sea to the island of Sicily and the borders of Eastern Europe. Beginning as Viking raiders in the eighth century, the Normans not only changed the landscape of Europe but were changed by their new conquests. As a military force they became unstoppable. As Conquerors, they established their own k...

The essays collected here demonstrate the rich vitality of scholarship in this area. This volume has a particular focus on the interrelations between the various parts of north-western Europe. After the opening piece on Lotharingia, there are detailed studies of the relationship between Ponthieu and its Norman neighbours, and between the Norman and Angevin duke-kings and the other French nobility, followed by an investigation of the world of demons and possession in Norman Italy, with additional...

This is one of only three surviving Chichester bishops' registers, and the last to be published. It gives a full and detailed picture of church life during the middle years of Henry VI's reign, and so presents a valuable corrective to the period as one dominated by political strife. Richard Praty was an Oxford-trained theologian, an expert on the treatment of heretics, and a conscientious resident diocesan who worked hard to uphold standards, to ordain clergy, and yet to fulfil his...

‘Impossible to summarise and delightfully absorbing, Hadley’s book is comfortably the most unexpected history book of the year’ Sunday Times A luminous journey through a thousand years of folklore and English history. Hollow Places begins with a Hertfordshire dragon-slayer named Piers Shonks but soon draws us into the company of outlaws and stonemasons, antiquaries and champions. Full of wonder and always surprising, the story t...

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle can be regarded as the most important work written in English in pre-Norman times: the beginnings of English prose are found in the annals, written in an age when Latin was the language of documentation. This book presents the text and a study of the Chronicle.

The eleven articles in this volume examine controversial subjects of central importance to medieval economic historians. Topics include the relative roles played by money and credit in financing the economy, whether credit could compensate for shortages of coin, and whether it could counteract the devastating mortality of the Black Death. Drawing on a detailed analysis of the Statute Merchant and Staple records, the articles chart the chronological and geographical changes in the economy from th...

An edition and accompanying translation of this late C13th anthology of early Middle English verse.  In addition to the original text and Modern English translations, the edition contains a substantial scholarly introduction, notes and a substantial bibliography. Oxford, Jesus College, MS 29 (II), a thirteenth-century manuscript, contains the longest surviving English verse sequence from the period between the Exeter Book and the Harley Lyrics. The sequence is varied in subject, with poems of r...