This volume contains papers by germanists, historians, and art historians on visual and conceptual aspects of early modern city culture ranging from representations of the city to urban spatial and social practices. The essays focus on some of the culturally most vibrant cities in early modern Europe, with special emphasis on German-speaking countries. Topics include the dissemination and control of city images, carnivalizing performances of social/religious...

Here is an inside look at the history of medieval knights and their armor, jousting, heraldry, and crusades. The life of the knight is considered from battles and banquets to sieges and chivalry.

"Christianity and European-style monarchy--the cross and the scepter--were introduced to Scandinavia in the tenth century, a development that was to have profound implications for all of Europe. Cross and Scepter is a concise history of the Scandinavian kingdoms from the age of the Vikings to the Reformation, written by Scandinavia's leading medieval historian. Sverre Bagge shows how the rise of the three kingdoms not only changed the face of Scandinavia,...

In the brief golden years of the Edwardian era the McCosh sisters--Christabel, Ottilie, Rosie and Sophie--grow up in an idyllic household in the countryside south of London. On one side, their neighbors are the proper Pendennis family, recently arrived from Baltimore, whose close-in-age boys--Sidney, Albert and Ashbridge--shake their father's hand at breakfast and address him as "sir." On the other side is the Pitt family: a "resolutely French" mother,...

"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 the scope of a few hundred pages. 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. Tracking the entire sweep of the Middle Ages across Europe, Wickham focuses...

Inheriting France's richest province at the age of fifteen, duke's daughter Eleanor becomes vulnerable to fortune hunters and successfully plots to marry King Louis before considering a more powerful alliance with Henry II of England.

Saxon barbarians threaten to destroy medieval Wales. Lady Branwen becomes Wales' last hope to unite their divided kingdoms when her father betroths her to a powerful Welsh warlord, the Hammer King. But, the fledgling alliance is fraught with enemies from within and without as Branwen becomes the target of assassination attempts and courtly intrigue. A young woman in a world of fierce warriors, she seeks to assert her own authority and preserve Wales...

Richard III. A man. A king. A legend. He ruled England for only two years, but the legacy of Richard III remains both fascinating and divisive. From his childhood in the intensely loyal and close-knit York family to his rise as a thoughtful but troubled ruler, This Son of York is a passionate and deeply personal account of the life of Richard III. A man who loved his family and his country. A king who struggled to overcome the challenges...

"Somerset, 1911. The forces of war are building across Europe, but this pocket of England, where the rhythms of lives are dictated by the seasons and the land, remains untouched. Leo, a talented rider and son of the underkeeper to the head groundskeeper, grows up alongside the master's spirited daughter Charlotte"--