Medieval Women

Un'altra rivoluzione è nata in Francia prima del 1789: quella di Maria di Francia. Se non è raccontata nei manuali è perché, a differenza della prima, è una rivoluzione fallita. Le idee di Maria non compirono il salto necessario per trasformarsi, come quelle degli Illuministi, in arieti capaci di abbattere le mura della Bastiglia. Perfino la memoria di Maria si perse, e la sua vera identità si confuse. Le sue idee sulle donne, sul rapporto tra i sessi e sull'amore, tuttavia, seppero far emergere una visione - per la prima volta - del tutto femminile del mondo.

May 1283. The roads near Tyndal Priory are filled with happy pilgrims returning from St. Walstan’s feast day, but not all in Tyndal Priory and village are joyful. Signy, the local innkeeper, is quarrelling with her suddenly rebellious foster son. Gytha, Crowner Ralf’s wife, suffers failing health while her husband hunts smugglers on the remote North Sea coast. Brother Thomas remains moody and aloof. But before Prioress Eleanor can offer help and comfort, disaster strikes. A pilgrim is murdered near the priory walls.

Hildegard von Bingen was never meant to be remembered by history. The 10th child of one of the Graf von Sponheim’s knights, she was given to Disibodenberg monastery partly out of gratitude to God, but also partly because her visions made her too odd to make a suitable wife. When she succeeded Jutta von Sponheim as magistra and prioress of Disibodenberg monastery, she found herself unable to keep her visions secret any longer. What happened next led her to revolutionize not only monastic life for women, but the whole world too.

Medeltidens historia har ofta blivit männens historia. Hur såg livet ut för Jeanne d’Arc, för »merciernas härskarinna« Ethelfled eller läkaren Trota av Salerno? Hur betraktades de av sina samtida? De senaste decennierna har forskningen gjort många upptäckter kring medeltidens gränsöverskridande kvinnor. I den här boken möter vi dels vanliga bondhustrur, dels ledare och konstnärer, läkare och predikanter, härförare, fotsoldater och andra kvinnor som valde en annorlunda väg.

In the depths of the valley, two women, centuries apart, are bound by fate… Eve, desperate for a fresh start, arrives in the Valley of Ravens to restore a long-abandoned cottage. Little does she know, a centuries old secret buried in the depths of the valley is about to be revealed… Escape...

In the early 1800s, on a Hebridean beach in Scotland, the sea exposed an ancient treasure cache: 93 chessmen carved from walrus ivory. Norse netsuke, each face individual, each full of quirks, the Lewis Chessmen are probably the most famous chess pieces in the world. Harry played Wizard's Chess with them in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Housed at the British Museum, they are among its most visited and beloved objects.

The Renaissance is dawning over Europe. Ideas of freedom and science shake the foundations of medieval society. Demuth, the successful but eccentric apothecary of a small village in the German mountains, knows little about these developments...until she is forced to flee from a witch hunt and must leave her protected life for good.

The names of few medieval monarchs and their queens are better known than Eleanor of Aquitaine, uniquely queen of France and queen of England, and her second husband Henry II. Although academically labeled "medieval," their era was the violent transition from the Dark Ages, when countries' borders were defined with fire and sword. If princes fought for their succession to crowns, the princesses were traded—usually by their mothers—to strangers for political power without the bloodshed.

A young woman inherits a castle—along with a ghost who tries to scare her away. Her biggest fear, however, is falling in love with him...

In this indispensable volume, one of America's ranking scholars combines a life's work of research and teaching with the art of lively narration. Both authoritative and beautifully told, The Middle Ages is the full story of the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance - a time that saw the rise of kings and emperors, the flowering of knighthood, the development of Europe, the increasing power of the Catholic Church, and the advent of the middle class.

1135, England: Matilda, daughter of Henry I, knows that there are those who will not accept her as England's queen when her father dies. But the men who support her rival, and cousin, Stephen do not know the iron will that drives her. She will win her inheritance against all odds, and despite all men. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to a warrior who is fighting to keep Matilda off the throne. But Adeliza knows that Britain's crown belongs to a woman this time. Both women will stand and fight for what they know is right for England's royalty.

The Binding meets The Handmaid's Tale - Discovering a book of dark and ancient power, a convent librarian must defend it with her life. Perfect for fans of dark academia and historical feminist fiction. 'A wonderfully rich and absorbing tale' Observer 'Expertly crafted and beautifully told'...

In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history, and literature to imagine her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined.

Ireland. AD 672. The abbey of Muman at Imleach Iubhair is being renovated when its guests’ hostel burns to the ground. There is one fatality: Bishop Brodulf of Luxovium, a distinguished visitor and cousin to the King of Franks. Sister Fidelma is asked by Abbot Cuán to investigate the unfortunate incident and soon finds that the bishop had been stabbed to death before the fire had even started.

Paris, 1393. A masquerade ball at the palace ends in tragedy, with four revelers burned to death. Was it an accident...or did someone deliberately hurl a flaming torch at the dancers? Convinced it was an act of murder and that the king himself was the real target, Queen Isabeau has asked Christine de Pizan to spend time at court in an attempt to uncover the identity of the would-be assassin.

When a beggar at her door turns out to be a high born lady, Margaret learns of a family destroyed by the Norman invasion. She resolves to help the woman find her missing daughter—abducted and enslaved by a local mormaer. When the mormaer’s daughter is found murdered, the foreigners quickly become scapegoats. Can Margaret save her displaced countrywomen’s lives, while navigating her new role as queen in a foreign court?

This is the story of Joan de Geneville, wife to one of England's most infamous traitors: Roger Mortimer. After the death of her father in 1292, Joan becomes one of the greatest English heiresses of her generation. In a time when women are subservient, she is raised by her mother to command. Educated by her tutors, she becomes a formidable woman in her own right. When Joan is married her husband's lust for power knows no bounds. She is forced to choose between her duty to her King and her loyalty to her husband.

An elderly nun is accused of witchcraft after a priest dies under mysterious circumstances. When the nun tells Ela something that could turn the king against her nemesis, justiciar Hubert de Burgh, she knows she must whisper it in the king’s ear. Ela finds herself in a race to save the nun’s life as de Burgh tumbles from his lofty pedestal and chaos rattles the halls of power.

This series features a real historical figure—the formidable Ela Longespée. The young Countess of Salisbury was chosen to marry King Henry II’s illegitimate son William. After her husband’s untimely death, Ela served as high sheriff of Wiltshire, castellan of Salisbury Castle, and ultimately founder and abbess of Lacock Abbey.

Edyth, wife of King Harold of England, disappeared forever on the day of the great Battle of Hastings in 1066, taking with her the legitimate heirs to the thrones of England and Wales. This is the story of that amazing woman, who loved and married the King of Wales and then the man who would be King of England, only to witness his historic defeat by the light of Halley's Comet.