medieval fiction and nonfiction
Explore the best medieval fiction and nonfiction books! Dive into captivating tales of knights, castles, and historical events with our curated list of top reads.
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The Black Rood
by Stephen R. Lawhead
In the second volume of this trilogy, Duncan reunites with an uncle who appears from the East with tales of a holy relic called the Black Rood, the blood-stained remnant of the True Cross that is endangered by ruthless crusader barons. When tragedy strikes Duncan's life, he sets off to Jerusalem on his own pilgrimage.
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The Mystic Rose
by Stephen R. Lawhead
A new historical series examining in detail the Crusades and the major changes that period of history wrought in the church from award-winning novelist Stephen R. Lawhead.
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The Temple and the Stone
by Katherine Kurtz
The Knights Templar was a military order founded during the time of the crusades to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Legend endows the Templars with magical powers with which they are said to have altered the course of history. "The Temple and the Crown" picks up in 1306 with the crowning of Robert Bruce in Scotland. Bruce immediately faces a challenge to his throne, and Pope Clement and King Philip of France, jealous of the Knights' magical powers, wealth, and charm, have them arrested on trumped-up charges of black magic, blasphemy, and consorting with the Devil. The Templars' only hope is to flee as fugitives and seek a new home...and a safe haven for the mystical treasures they guard.
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The New Knighthood
by Malcolm Barber
Details the rise and fall of the medieval Order of the Temple, and its afterlife in myth and history.
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The Teutonic Knights
by William L. Urban
This major new book surveys the gripping history of the knights and their order and relates their rise to power; their struggles against Prussian pagans; the series of wars against Poland and Lithuania; the clash with Alexander Nevsky's Russia; and the gradual stagnation of the order in the fourteenth century. The book is replete with dramatic episodes--such as the battle on frozen Lake Peipus in 1242, or the disaster of Tannenberg--but focuses primarily on the year-after-year struggle to maintain power, fend off incursions and raiding bands, and launch crusades against unbelieving foes.
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The Northern Crusades
by Eric Christiansen
Inspired by the Pope's call for a Holy War, Scandinavian rulers and German military monks conquered and settled Finland, Estonia and Prussia, before turning on the eastern empires of Orthodox Novgorod and pagan Lithuania. These 'Northern Crusades' are less celebrated than those in the Middle East, but they were also far more successful. Vast new territories became and remain Christian, while the central institutions of medieval Western Europe - churches, castles, manors, guilds, parliaments and feudal law codes - were introduced into a dark and inhospitable outer world. Now newly revised in the light of the recent developments in Baltic and Northern medieval research, this overview provides a balanced and compelling account of a tumultuous era.
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Crusader Archaeology
by Adrian J. Boas
Crusader Archaeology draws together recent excavated material culture in Israel, Cyprus, Syria and Jordan to examine what life was like for the Crusaders in their territory, and how they were influenced by their new-found neighbours. Chapters discuss: * urban and rural settlements * surveying agriculture * industry * the military * the church * public and private architecture * arts and crafts * leisure pusuits * death and burial * building techniques. This highly illustrated volume creates a wonderful portrait of the period, which will make fascinating reading for all those interested in the Middle Ages, and in particular the Crusaders.