Medieval English

Historian Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the epic story of the Capetian dynasty of medieval France, showing how their ideas about power, religion, and identity continue to shape European society and politics today. Reigning from 987 to 1328, the Capetians became the most powerful monarchy of the Middle Ages. Consolidating a fragmented realm that eventually stretched from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, they were the first royal house to adopt the fleur-de-lys, displaying this lily emblem to signify their divine favor and legitimate their rule.

The Lady Elizabeau Treveighan is the illegitimate daughter of Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. Elizabeau was sent to foster at a very young age, her identity known only to herself and the earl who fostered her. When her half-brother Prince Arthur is murdered and rumors begin to fly that the opposition to King John intends to marry her to a Teutonic prince and supplant her and her new husband as the rulers of England, she suddenly becomes a very hot, and very dangerous, commodity.

1356 A.D. - It is warring times for England as the Black Prince sweeps his way through France, waging nasty warfare on the population. Masterminding this brutal strategy is the knight they call the Black Angel. Brandt de Russe, Duke of Exeter, is the brains behind the prince’s war machine, a mountain of a man who is as cunning as he is frightening. In battle, no man is his equal.

Grieving over a devastating loss, Morgan has retreated to the sanctuary of Belle Garde behind a veil of fairy magic, after swearing vengeance upon King Arthur and Camelot. Steeped in her rage, she becomes a storm of retribution, battling to avenge her brother's wrongs whilst trying to undo a terrible tragedy. But with her resurrection skills elusive and Camelot growing in glory and strength, Morgan is failing, her freedom under threat in the wake of her chaos and treasonous reputation.

Love. Magic. Faith. By the autumn of 537 AD, all who are loyal to King Arthur have retreated to a small parcel of land in North Wales. They are surrounded on all sides, heavily outnumbered, and facing near certain defeat. But Myrddin and Nell, two of the king's companions, have a secret that neither has ever been able to face: Each has seen that on a cold and snowy day in December, Saxon soldiers sent by Modred will ambush and kill King Arthur. And together, they must decide what they are willing to do, and to sacrifice, to avert that fate.

Daniel de Lohr, son of David de Lohr, is a highly trained knight of the highest order from one of the finest families in England. But he is also a wanderer, a gypsy, who prefers to travel rather than be tied down to one castle, one lord, or even one woman. He loves his vagabond lifestyle, much to the distress of his parents, who wish he would settle down. But Daniel's wandering ways come to a stop when he comes across a young boy running for his life across the Yorkshire moors.

As a child, he was given his own suit of armor; at the age of 16, he helped defeat the French at Crecy. At Poitiers, in 1356, his victory over King John II of France forced the French into a humiliating surrender that marked the zenith of England's dominance in the Hundred Years War. As lord of Aquitaine, he ruled a vast swathe of territory across the west and southwest of France, holding a magnificent court at Bordeaux that mesmerized the brave but unruly Gascon nobility. He was Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, and better known to posterity as "the Black Prince".

In 1282, David and his sister Anna crashed through time to save the life of their father, the last Prince of Wales. Thirteen years later, David is a grown man - husband, father, and high king of Britain. He is also the Duke of Aquitaine, a fact which King Philip of France appears to resent. So, when Philip summons David to Paris to bend the knee for the right to remain Aquitaine's duke, David is the first to suspect treachery.

1231 A.D. After a nasty skirmish along the England/Scotland border at Bog Wood, a badly wounded knight has crawled off to die. As women from the Clan Scott fan out across the battlefield to collect the spoils of war, one woman breaks off from the pack. She is sickened by the tradition of stealing valuables off the dead and runs off to hide. In her hiding place, however, lingers the badly wounded knight. The young woman is frightened at first but her natural instinct to lend aid takes over. She tends the knight and saves his life.

AD 1518 - As the eldest son of the knight who betrayed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, Trenton de Russe bears the dark legacy of men who changed the course of history. As a special ops knight for Henry VIII, it is Trenton’s duty to carry out the king’s command, and he has been known to have accomplished some questionable as well as dirty tasks. Trenton suffers a dysfunctional relationship with his father because of it. Gaston never wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, but Trenton has become so deeply entrenched in Henry’s dirty dealings that it is all he knows.

1264 A.D. - Davyss de Winter is the champion for King Henry III, a powerful and arrogant man that descends from a long line of powerful knights. He is also a much-sought after man and has had more than his share of female admirers, including a besotted baron's daughter who bore him bastard twins.

Lady Nicola Aubrey-Thorne is the widow of a great Edwardian supporter. When Kenton conquers her home of Babylon Castle, she offers him nothing but resistance and hatred. Kenton sees a beautiful, spoiled woman who fights him on every turn, yet the spark of attraction is there. As Kenton comes to learn the darker secrets of Babylon, he comes to understand Lady Thorne and her sorrows. And his attraction toward her grows beyond his control.

Byzantium. The name evokes grandeur and exoticism—gold, cunning, and complexity. In this unique book, Judith Herrin unveils the riches of a quite different civilization. Avoiding a standard chronological account of the Byzantine Empire's millennium-long history, she identifies the fundamental questions about Byzantium—what it was, and what special significance it holds for us today.

As a child, Jackston Forbes made a promise to lovely - and pushy - Lizelle Menzies. A man of his word, Jackston never forgot that promise. Through the years of experience and growth, Jackston has become a powerful warrior, now returning to his home in the highlands to assume his place as his father's heir. But along the way he meets a young woman who will test the strength of his vow to marry Lizelle, and when he discovers the brutal and petty woman Lizelle has become, it becomes a difficult choice for him - will he remain true to a childhood vow?

Lista de la Mere is a young woman of beauty, sense, and education. Unfortunately, her mother and her aunt don’t have the same sensibilities. Lista is an heiress, and a very wealthy one, and if her conniving, alcoholic mother and her sly, drug-addicted aunt have anything to say about it, she’s going to marry the man who can provide them with unlimited coinage to feed their habits–and put them back on top of the social hierarchy.

Tristan de Royans was raised by the House of de Royans, but de Royans blood does not flow through his veins. As the secret love child of Alys of France and Henry II, Tristan has been kept hidden since the day of his birth. Aware of his true parentage, he bears the shield of the royal house in the course of his duties, hating that he bears the crimson shield of his real family. A family that wants to kill him.

In a nasty battle on the Welsh marches, Dane is forced to make a bargain with the dying duke of Shrewsbury. On his deathbed, he rewards Dane with his only child, his heiress. Now, it is Dane who will inherit the dukedom of Shrewsbury and become a powerful man in his own right. It is a gift any man would be glad to accept, and Dane is no exception. Except for the marriage part. Only on his wedding day does he catch a glimpse of his bride, the Lady Grier de Lara, for the first time. Then, the situation changes markedly.

In The Once and Future Sex, Janega unravels the restricting expectations on medieval women and the ones on women today. She boldly questions why, if our ideas of women have changed drastically over time, we cannot reimagine them now to create a more equitable future.

AD 1518. As a decorated knight for Henry VIII, Cort is charged with a special mission: to seduce an Irish rebel and learn her secrets. Dera MacRohan is no ordinary Irish warrior lass. Born from the ancient MacRohan warrior bloodlines, Dera is from a long line of warrior women. She deeply resents the English and their conquest, but she also understands the subtleties of tactics and strategy.

Our modern image of the Middle Ages—filled with vivid scenes of chivalric tournaments, epic battles, devastating plagues, revered saints, powerful kings, noble knights, and courtly ladies—was not simply uncovered through objective historical research. Rather, it was largely shaped and even invented in the 20th century. The medieval world did not emerge fully formed from the archives; it had to be imagined, interpreted, and constructed. This is the story of how that vision came to life.