New Medieval Books: The Life of St. Othmar
This hagiographical work recounts the life of Othmar, the first abbot of the Abbey of St. Gall. It describes his leadership, his imprisonment and death, and the miracles later attributed to him.
New Medieval Books: Light on Darkness
For the uninitiated, the rituals, prayers, and music of the Catholic Church can seem difficult to understand. This book provides an accessible introduction to liturgy in Western Europe, showing what these rituals were meant to convey from the Middle Ages to the present day.
New Medieval Books: Basics of Bloomery Iron Smelting
In the ancient and medieval worlds, blacksmiths had to transform raw iron ore into workable metal. This book provides a practical guide to that process, focusing on the use of a furnace known as a bloomery.
New Medieval Books: African Landings
Egypt was one of the great crossroads of the medieval world. This book examines the many travellers who journeyed there and recorded their impressions of the country and its people.
New Medieval Books: Widow City
In late medieval Italy, women often outlived their husbands. This book examines writings from the period to explore the different ways widows mourned their spouses and how they chose to carry on with their lives afterwards.
New Medieval Books: Approaching Records of the Household and Wardrobe
The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.
New Medieval Books: Chronicle of Michael the Great
One of the most important accounts from the Near East in the 12th century is the Chronicle of Michael the Great. This book offers an English translation of the abridged Armenian version of that chronicle.
New Medieval Books: Othon de Grandson
Othon de Grandson was one of the leading household knights of Edward I of England. This biography traces Othon’s career, from his military service in Wales to his participation in crusading expeditions to the Near East and his later work as a diplomat in continental Europe.
New Medieval Books: Silence of the Gods
By the end of the Middle Ages, the last predominantly pagan regions of Europe were undergoing conversion to Christianity. This book traces that transition and explores how older pagan beliefs and practices continued to endure for centuries afterward.
New Medieval Books: Castles and Strongholds of Northumberland
Planning to visit the northeast corner of England and explore its many castles? This guide is your companion, now expanded to include over 500 entries.
New Medieval Books: The Lost Kingdom: The Rise and Fall of the Taifa of Albarracín (1012–1300)
This book attempts to recount the history of the small taifa state of Albarracín in Iberia. Unfortunately, it provides too few details to serve as a truly useful resource.
New Medieval Books: The Taifa Kingdoms
Iberia in the eleventh century fractured into dozens of rival states, triggering decades of warfare and political upheaval. Bringing together 23 papers, this volume offers the most comprehensive account of the taifa era and its wider impact.
New Encyclopedia Highlights Medieval Women’s Writing Around the World
A major new reference work is aiming to reshape how medieval literature is taught and studied, by putting women’s writing—across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia—at the centre of the story
New Medieval Books: Father Chaucer and the Apologists
One of the most hotly debated issues in medieval literary studies in recent years concerns Cecily Chaumpaigne, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the contested meaning of the phrase de raptu meo. This book traces how scholars have interpreted the case since the nineteenth century and shows how those debates have shaped—and sometimes reshaped—the study of Chaucer’s writings.
New Medieval Books: The Conqueror’s Gift
The Romans were deeply connected with peoples both within and beyond their empire. This book explores how those ties shifted between the first and seventh centuries AD—especially as Christianity spread—and how these changes reshaped the Empire.
New Medieval Books: The Medieval Moon
People across the medieval world looked up at the moon and found all kinds of meaning in it—scientific learning, literature, art, faith, and folklore. This book explores how the moon shaped society in all these ways, and why it mattered so much to people at the time.
New Medieval Books: Celtic Magic
The Celts, who had lived in northwestern Europe since antiquity, developed a distinctive religious and supernatural worldview. This book explores their beliefs and traces their continuing influence on medieval folklore and magical traditions.
New Medieval Books: Ipomedon
Want a medieval tale about a prince who goes incognito to meet a queen—only to be sent off on adventures, thrown into tournaments, and tested at every turn? Will this couple earn their happy-ever-after? Find out in this translation of a 12th-century romance.
New Medieval Books: The Rose, the Bastard and the Saint King
One of the lesser-known episodes of the Wars of the Roses was the 1471 attempt by supporters of Henry VI to strike at London and free their captive king. This book is the first full study of that failed siege—and it follows the story through to Henry’s final fate.
New Medieval Books: A Medieval Case for Islam’s Superiority
At the end of the eighth century, the Abbasid caliph sent a letter to the Byzantine emperor. This book presents a new edition and translation of that remarkable text—one of the earliest surviving defences of Islam—offering a rare insight into how its author explained Islamic belief and set out what he believed Christianity had misunderstood.
New Medieval Books: Blessed Mary and the Monks of England
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, has long stood at the centre of Christian theology and devotion. This book explores how English monks expressed their reverence for her—and how they held her up as a model for Christian life.
New Medieval Books: A Crusade Against the Turks as a Means of Reforming the Church
By the end of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church faced deep and widely recognised crises of authority and reform. This book explores how two hermits responded with a striking proposal: that the pope himself should lead a new crusade as a remedy for the Church’s troubles.
New Medieval Books: No Return
Usury—the practice of lending money at interest—became a major social flashpoint in western Europe during the Middle Ages. This book traces how resentment of usury fuelled hostility that, in many places, escalated into the expulsion of Jewish communities and other Christian moneylenders.
New Medieval Books: The Forsaken 14th Century
Covering every region of the world, this book introduces readers to the many states and cultures that existed through an era of sweeping change and major catastrophes.