Medieval English

Sylvia Townsend Warner’s The Corner That Held Them is a historical novel like no other, one that immerses the listener in the dailiness of history, rather than history as the given sequence of events that, in time, it comes to seem. Time ebbs and flows and characters come and go in this novel, set in the era of the Black Death, about a Benedictine convent of no great note. The nuns do their chores, seek to maintain and improve the fabric of their house and chapel, and struggle with each other and with themselves.

In the winter of 1271, death stalks the corridors of Wynethorpe Castle on the Welsh border. When the Grim Reaper touches the beloved grandson of the castle lord, Baron Adam sends for his daughter, Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal, and her subinfirmarian, Sister Anne, to save the child with their prayers and healing talents. Escorting them to the remote fortress is Brother Thomas, an unwilling monk fighting his private demons.

Rome, 1492: The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous - or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous web.... Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the world at her feet: beauty, wealth, and a handsome young husband. But she is stunned to discover that her glittering marriage is a sham.

1515 A.D. - The Lady Micheline le Bec was pledged in marriage to Edmund de Cleveley, Baron Bowland, in payment for her father's gambling debt. When de Cleveley's big Irish captain, Sir Kirk Connaught, arrives to escort Micheline to her marriage, Micheline is apprehensive but submissive. In fact, she's not the real problem; the real issue is her sister, the Lady Mara.

As Tudor England erupts following the death of Edward VI, can one young spy protect his queen? International best-selling author Sam Burnell takes us deep into the treacherous world of powerful monarchs, intrigue, murder, and treason with this magnificent new epic, A Queen’s Spy. In 1553, England is torn apart by religious conflict. Power shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash testing friendship, loyalty, and brotherly love.

When Lucifer and his mates intercept a merchant ship sailing from Ireland to Plymouth, little does Lucifer realize the treasure on board the vessel goes far beyond monetary gain. A woman named Genevieve proves to be far more than merely a captive, and in that instant, Lucifer’s life is changed forever.

Scholars, journalists, and politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain - "al-Andalus" - as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: It is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity", Fernández-Morera sets the record straight.

Did you know that there are more penises than women in the Bayeux Tapestry? That the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was started and propelled by women who were protesting a tax on women? Or that Charles Darwin believed not just that women were naturally inferior to men, but that they’d evolve to become ever more inferior? These are just a few of the startling findings you will learn from listening to Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women. In this ambitious book, she tells the story of England over 900 years, for the very first time placing women—some fifty per cent of the population—center stage.

Duty-bound to seek revenge, Broderick MacConnaway, son of the Thane of Dunkeld, lives haunted by memories of his lost wife, Aisling. Forming an alliance with the Lochlann family presents its own trials, but if the marriage allows him to fulfill his vengeance, then so be it. Even if the guilt over Aisling prevents him from ever loving again.... But when sinister intentions surface and Amabel is captured before she has a chance to reveal them, Broderick is forced to see past the deceptions and begin another campaign of vengeance.

Addax al-Kort was not born in England. As the heir to the throne of a defunct distant kingdom (near present day Pakistan), Addax came to England with a trade caravan when he was very young. He became a page for a powerful knight and worked his way through the ranks and protocols of Medieval England to become a full-fledged English knight serving William Marshal. Addax is part of the brotherhood of Executioner Knights serving the Marshal, but he has a great talent for the tournament circuit. Competing under a standard emblazoned with black dragon, he becomes quite rich.

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.

Two teenagers are catapulted back in time to alter history and save the medieval kingdom of Wales ... David and his man-at-arms, Ieuan, find themselves alone and on the run from a company of English soldiers who've sworn vengeance for the recent death of their king. Meanwhile, Llywelyn lays on his deathbed, wounded by a traitor's arrow. And once again, it is David and Anna, and all that they represent, that holds the key to the survival of Wales.

Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization, they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

Widely hailed as a revelation of a "lost" golden age, this history brings to vivid life the rich and thriving culture of medieval Spain, where, for more than seven centuries, Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance, and literature, science, and the arts flourished.

Simon the Loyal has vowed never to love, for love makes a warrior weak. His arranged marriage to a beautiful Norman heiress would be duty and no more. But more than duty stirs his blood when he first sees Ariane. She has known only coldness from men - and a betrayal so deep it all but killed her soul. Wanting no man, trusting no man, speaking only through the sad songs she draws from her harp, Ariane comes to Simon an unwilling bride.

Battle-hardened warrior and favored of the king, Sir Lucien de Russe is called the Iron Knight because of his indestructibility in battle. An older knight, Lucien is entering his fortieth year and has seen a good deal in his lifetime. But having sustained fairly serious wounds in the most recent rebellions against Henry IV, Lucien retires his sword and spurs, choosing to live out the rest of his life in peace. Physically, he is damaged goods and must heal. Mentally, however, he is already dead.

August 1284. On the heels of King Edward's triumph over Wales, the high point of his reign thus far, he receives the worst news possible: his eldest living son and heir to the throne of England has died. Concerned that his victories in Wales, and even more the means by which he came by them, have brought the wrath of the Almighty down upon his house, King Edward sends Catrin and Rhys to Windsor Castle to investigate.

Believing only death will prevent him from returning to England, Sir Lucien de Gautier answers his king's call to arms. When he is captured and his family refuses the ransom demand, he finds himself bound to the oars of a galley. Enraged and embittered, he has no hope of escape - until a rich merchant's wife offers him freedom.

Adam Wellesbourne and his four sons - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - comprise the most feared House in the service of Richard III. Adam's eldest son, Matthew, has earned such an influential reputation that throughout England he is known as The White Lord of Wellesbourne. Upon the eve of the Battle of Bosworth field, Matthew finds himself forced into a contract marriage that he has been avoiding for 10 years.

Join Patrick and Brigantia as they overcome politics, wars, prejudices, and most of all, resistance to each other. Some loves are unexpected, some are instantly realized. But their love is something that comes from a deeper place of understanding and attraction, a powerful love that cannot be denied.