Medieval English

A hero of the crusades, Dominic le Sabre has returned in glory and in triumph to claim his reward: the beautiful Saxon bride awarded to him by the conqueror king. But Lady Margaret of the Blackthorne cannot yield to the bold Norman invader.

April 1294. With David returned from Ireland and Anna from Avalon, the time has come to confront the traitors who sought to assassinate David and take his throne. But before that can happen, David is tested yet again by his inability to account for everything or everyone in his life - and especially the magic that surrounds him.

Historians have only recently awakened to the importance of the family, the basic social unit throughout human history. This book traces the development of marriage and the family from the Middle Ages to the early modern era. It describes how the Roman and barbarian cultural streams merged under the influence of the Christian church to forge new concepts, customs, laws, and practices. Century by century, it follows the development—sometimes gradual, at other times revolutionary—of significant elements in the history of the family.

A Determined Highlander . . . Duncan MacConnoway, son of a powerful thane and used to getting his way in life, is desperate to wed the woman of his dreams. Her uncle, the wily Earl of Lochlann, demands that he fulfill three tasks that even Hercules would struggle to finish. Their love is all that lights his way through this dark labyrinth, that if only he can hang onto it long enough . . . The wise woman . . . Alina du Mas can see things that no one else believes, so she usually keeps her secrets to herself.

Plato's dialogue in the Symposium, which has as its topic the subject of love, explores the idea of love as a means of ascent to contemplation of the Divine. For Plato, generally, to love other human beings is to direct one's mind to love of Divinity. One proceeds from recognition of another's beauty to appreciation of Beauty as it exists apart from any individual, to consideration of Divinity, the source of Beauty, to love of Divinity.

Cainnech (Cain) MacPherson's hatred for the English was born when he was a lad of seven, the day they raided his village and killed his family. They took everything from him without mercy and tossed him onto the battlefield, where the memory of love faded to dust and left nothing in its wake but violence. Now, as Robert the Bruce's most formidable, most lethal warrior, he wreaks havoc on his enemy, taking land by force, without mercy. But when he raids a small castle in Northumberland, he faces his greatest opponent yet - a bold, beautiful Norman lass who will see him dead at any cost.

Ironcross Castle was called cursed by the Highlanders. Its most recent lairds had perished in accidents, falls, or fires. The newest owner, Gavin Kerr, did not fear death. It was feeling that he dreaded - the pain of betrayal and loss. Now, he arrived at the castle to hear of hauntings and cults and to be drawn to the portrait of beautiful Joanna MacInnes, who died here amid a furnace of flame. And looking at her, Gavin desired her, feeling an impossible longing to take her in his arms.

He was a legend on the battlefield, but Aric Neville, known throughout England as the White Lion, had had his fill of intrigue and bloodshed. So he threw down his sword and walked away, to live a solitary life, cultivating a reputation as a sorcerer. But his prized tranquility was shattered when the villagers brought him a bride. Gwenyth de Auburd was a raven-haired beauty too impudent to ignore and too tempting to resist.

Sir Robert of Offord dies mysteriously just after accusing his new wife of adultery and his son-by-marriage wants the shire's new Crowner to prove the knight was murdered. Instead, Sir Faucon de Ramis discovers that a bell owned by the dead man is missing. But who could have taken it - the daughter who loved it as a child, the knight who wants it as collateral, or the prior who wishes to restore it to its holy purpose of calling the angels? Follow Warwickshire's new Servant of the Crown as Sir Faucon embarks on his most unusual and convoluted hunt yet.

The thousand-year-old Imperium era is drawing to a close, and the threat of war and violence hangs over the land. With no magic or wealth, Lansius has to face this new reality on his own. Well, mostly. The squire Stefi is at his side as he leaves his new home to march with young Lord Arte against the invaders. When Lansius is separated from Stefi and their liege, he faces his greatest challenge yet: taking command of a ragtag group of misfits as they battle to save their people. And as he reluctantly climbs the ranks of power, others flock to his banner seeking glory or safety.

The first time Thomas MacGowan saw Elizabeth Douglas, he thought that she was a princess. To the son of the castle blacksmith, the daughter of the powerful lord of Douglas might as well have been. Despite their differences in rank, they become inseparable - until Thom confesses his love, and the humiliation of realizing that Elizabeth has never considered him a potential suitor drives him to battle. Elizabeth is devastated.

Defending Heaven brings together, for the first time in one volume, a complete history of the Jin, Song, and Ming dynasties' wars fought against the Mongols. Lasting nearly two centuries, these wars, fought to defend Chinese civilization against a brutal and unrelenting foe, pitted personal heroics against the inexorable Mongol war machine and involved every part of the Chinese state.

Set in treacherous sixteenth-century Scotland, Border Bride is the unforgettable story of a woman sworn to defy the knight she is forced to wed - only to discover a love she’ll do anything to claim. As Mary, Queen of Scots, languishes in the Tower of London as a prisoner of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, war tears Scotland apart. To save her beloved homeland, a proud Highland beauty named Mary Kate MacPherson must wage her own battle when she’s forced into wedlock with a knight, Sir Adam Douglas.

Forced into a betrothal to a man she hates, her only way out is to escape to a convent. Laird Alexander Grant is honor bound to rescue Maddie after seeing the bruises on her face. What he doesn't realize is that once he holds the beaten lass in his arms, his heart will never be the same. He vows revenge for the abuse she was forced to endure and yearns to make the sweet woman with an iron will his, but can he help her fight the demons in her mind left behind by her abusers' horrid treatment?

An unclaimed land in the Scottish isles is ruled by the male and female victors in a series of war games every five years. Named Chief and Lady of the land, they rule the vast holding and protect the people by divine right until the next game begins. After her brother's death, Ceana is named laird. The only way for her clan to survive the ravages of the Highlands is to join in the war games. Bastard son of a powerful earl, Macrath is placed in the games by his vengeful stepmother.

Critically acclaimed author Margaret Peterson Haddix continues her best-selling Missing series with Sent. Just as best friends Chip and Jonah discover they're actually children kidnapped from history, they get sent back to their proper time period. Now in the 15th century, Jonah realizes he's Edward V, the king of England, and Chip is his younger brother Richard, the Duke of York. Both boys know they need to find a way home fast, because they know their history - Edward and Richard were murdered.

From the best-selling author of The Templars, Dan Jones' epic new history tells nothing less than the story of how the world we know today came to be built. Across 16 chapters, blending Dan Jones' trademark gripping narrative style with authoritative analysis, Powers and Thrones shows how, at each stage in this story, successive Western powers thrived by attracting - or stealing - the most valuable resources, ideas and people from the rest of the world.

In the year 1311, in the highest tower of Cloud of Sparrows Castle, a beautiful woman watches as enemies gather below. As she calmly awaits her fate, she begins to write the secret history of the Okumichi clan...of the gift of prophecy they share and the extraordinary destiny that awaits them.

Sir William Strongstaff is dead, and the defender of England and its kings is no longer there to battle the French. His chosen knight, Sir Michael of Weedon, is removed as the new king’s bodyguard, and he is sent to France, where the king’s uncles are trying to finish the job begun by King Henry V. From the outset, Sir Michael and his men are beset by treachery and intrigue. The line between ally and enemy appears to be almost invisible. The struggle is not only for England’s crown, but also the French one!

The cunning Queen Rhin has conquered the west and High King Nathair has the cauldron, most powerful of the seven treasures. At his back stands the scheming Calidus and a warband of the Kadoshim, dread demons of the Otherworld. They plan to bring Asroth and his host of the Fallen into the world of flesh, but to do so they need the seven treasures. Nathair has been deceived but now he knows the truth. He has choices to make, choices that will determine the fate of the Banished Lands.