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The Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful - and most secretive - of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era. Their story - encompassing as it does the greatest international conflict of the Middle Ages, a network of international finance, a swift rise in wealth and influence followed by a bloody and humiliating fall - has left a comet's tail of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire historians, novelists and conspiracy theorists.

Heresy and inquisition in France, 1200-1300 is an invaluable collection of primary sources in translation, aimed at students and academics alike. It provides a wide array of materials on both heresy (Cathars and Waldensians) and the persecution of heresy in medieval France. The book is divided into eight sections, each devoted to a different genre of source material. It contains substantial material pertaining to the setting up and practice of inquisitions into heretical wickedness, and a large number of translations from the registers of inquisition trials. Each source is introduced fully and is accompanied by references to useful modern commentaries. The study of heresy and inquisition has always aroused considerable scholarly debate; with this book, students and scholars can form their own interpretations of the key issues, from the texts written in the period itself. -- .

"The Pilgrim's Way to St. Patrick's Purgatory" traces a route for the modern pilgrim across Ireland and across the boundaries of the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. It begins in Dublin and ends at Lough Derg in County Donegal, bringing travelers on a journey through the medieval past and the fragmentary riches that remain today. It provides a cultural itinerary that can be traveled by car or bike, on foot, and even partly by boat, through one of the loveliest landscapes of Ireland and Europe. This publication, offered in both print and digital formats, presents an introduction to the topic, an exploration of a taxonomy for medieval pilgrimage and an overview of what the early pilgrims have told us about the route. It features descriptions of the monuments, relics and saints along the way, as well as a stage-by-stage description of the journey itself. Ancillary materials include travelers' information, a complete bibliography, a chronology and index. 54 photos, 23 maps and plans. 204 pages

The 'long' fourteenth century perhaps can be seen as Thessalonica's heyday. Alongside its growing commercial prowess, the city was developing into an important centre of government, where members of the Byzantine imperial family of the Palaiologoi ruled independently under full imperial titles, striking coinage and following an increasingly autonomous external policy. It was also developing into a formidable centre for letters, education, and artistic expression, due in part to Palaiologan patronage. This volume sets out the political and commercial landscape of Thessalonica between 1303 and 1430, when the city fell to the Ottoman Turks, before focusing on the literary and hymnographical aspects of the city's cultural history and its legacy. The cosmopolitan nature of urban life in Thessalonica, the polyphony of opinions it experienced and expressed, its multiple links with centres such as Constantinople, Adrianople, Athos, Lemnos and Lesvos, and the diversity and strength of its authorial voices make the study of the city's cultural life a vital part of our understanding of the Byzantine Eastern Mediterranean.

For generations, early Franciscan thought has been widely regarded as unoriginal: a mere attempt to systematize the longstanding intellectual tradition of Augustine in the face of the rising popularity of Aristotle. This volume brings together leading scholars in the field to undertake a major study of the major doctrines and debates of the so-called Summa Halensis (1236-45), which was collaboratively authored by the founding members of the Franciscan school at Paris, above all, Alexander of Hales, and John of La Rochelle, in an effort to lay down the Franciscan intellectual tradition or the first time. The contributions will highlight that this tradition, far from unoriginal, laid the groundwork for later Franciscan thought, which is often regarded as formative for modern thought. Furthermore, the volume shows the role this Summa played in the development of the burgeoning field of systematic theology, which has its origins in the young university of Paris. This is a crucial and groundbreaking study for those with interests in the history of western thought and theology specifically.

"Wine has held its place for centuries at the heart of social and cultural life in western Europe. This book will explain how and why this came about, providing a thematic history of wine and the wine trade in Europe in the middle ages from c.1000 to c.1500. Wine was one of the earliest commodities to be traded across the whole of western Europe. Because of its commercial importance, more is probably known about the way viticulture was undertaken and wine itself was made, than the farming methods used with most other agricultural products at the time. Susan Rose addresses questions such as: Where were vines grown at this time?How was wine made and stored?Were there acknowledged distinctions in quality?How did traders operate?What were the social customs associated with wine drinking? What view was taken by moralists? How important was its association with Christian ritual? Did Islamic prohibitions on alcohol affect the wine trade? What other functions did wine have?"

The Fatimid empire was a highly sophisticated and cosmopolitan regime that flourished from the beginning of the 10th to the end of the 12th century. Under the enlightened rule of the Fatimid Caliphs, Cairo was founded as the nucleus of an imperium that extended from Arabia in the east to present-day Morocco in the west. Dynamic rulers like the the fourth caliph al-Mu'izz (who conquered Egypt and founded his new capital there) were remarkable not only for their extensive conquests but also for combining secular with religious legitimacy. As living imams of the Ismaili branch of Shi'ism, they exercised authority over both spiritual and secular domains. The sacred dimension of their mandate was manifested most powerfully twice a year, when the imam-Caliphs personally delivered sermons, or khutbas, to their subjects, to coincide with the great feasts and festivals of fast-breaking and sacrifice. While few of these sermons have survived, those that have endured vividly evoke both of the atmosphere of the occasion and the words uttered on it. Paul E. Walker here provides unique access to these orations by presenting the Arabic original and a complete English translation of all the khutbas now extant. He also offers a history of the festival sermons and explores their key themes and rhetorical strategies.

Since the age of the Sasanian Empire (224-651 AD), Iran and the West have time and again appeared to be at odds. Iran and the West charts this contentious and complex relationship by examining the myriad ways the two have perceived each other, from antiquity to today. Across disciplines, perspectives and periods contributors consider literary, imagined, mythical, visual, filmic, political and historical representations of the 'other' and the ways in which these have been constructed in, and often in spite of, their specific historical contexts. Many of these narratives, for example, have their origin in the ancient world but have since been altered, recycled and manipulated to fit a particular agenda. Ranging from Tacitus, Leonidas and Xerxes via Shahriar Mandanipour and Azar Nafisi to Rosewater, Argo and 300, this inter-disciplinary and wide-ranging volume is essential reading for anyone working on the complex history, present and future of Iranian-Western relations.

This title considers the Jews of medieval England as victims of violence (notably the Clifford's Tower massacre) and as an isolated people. In July 1290, Edward I issued writs to the Sheriffs of the English counties ordering them to enforce a decree to expel all Jews from England before All Saints' Day of that year. England became the first country to expel a Jewish minority from its borders. They were allowed to take their portable property but their houses were confiscated by the king. In a highly readable account, Robin Mundill considers the Jews of medieval England as victims of violence (notably the massacre of Shabbat haGadol when York's Jewish community perished at Clifford's Tower) and as a people apart, isolated amidst a hostile environment. The origins of the business world are considered including the fact that the medieval English Jew perfected modern business methods many centuries before its recognised time. What emerges is a picture of a lost society which had much to contribute and yet was turned away in 1290.

This is a new in-depth study of Christianization among the Anglo-Saxons in the period c597-c730. It is the first work on the subject to combine a historical approach with the insights provided by ethnography and anthropology, in particular from that of the relatively new academic discipline of cognitive anthropology.By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it studies the process of Christianization from a completely new basis, deepens significantly our knowledge of the subject and period and provides a fresh starting point for other studies of Christianization in medieval Europe. Using insights gained from various anthropological and ethnographical studies, the book outlines the differences between 'doctrinal' and 'imagistic' modes of religiosity and discusses how these can help our understanding of the fundamental characteristics of both Anglo-Saxon paganism (imagistic) and Christianity (doctrinal) religion. Another central feature of the book, which will contribute greatly to its impact, is its study of death and the dead.It explores the differences between Christian and non-Christian beliefs about the dead and the nature of the soul. It is the first book to apply cognitive theories of ritual to an examination of Anglo-Saxon ritual sites and objects. At the same time, its theoretical approaches are grounded firmly in a historical context and it provides new insights into familiar sources such as Bede's "Ecclesiastical History".

For generations, early Franciscan thought has been widely regarded as unoriginal: a mere attempt to systematize the longstanding intellectual tradition of Augustine in the face of the rising popularity of Aristotle. This volume brings together leading scholars in the field to undertake a major study of the sources and context of the so-called Summa Halensis (1236-45), which was collaboratively authored by the founding members of the Franciscan school at Paris, above all, Alexander of Hales, and John of La Rochelle, in an effort to lay down the Franciscan intellectual tradition or the first time. The contributions will highlight that this tradition, far from unoriginal, laid the groundwork for later Franciscan thought, which is often regarded as formative for modern thought. Furthermore, the volume shows the role this Summa played in the development of the burgeoning field of systematic theology, which has its origins in the young university of Paris. This is a crucial and groundbreaking study for those with interests in the history of western thought and theology specifically.

A masterful history of the great dynasty of the Netherlands' Middle Ages. 'A sumptuous feast of a book' The Times, Books of the Year 'Thrillingly colourful and entertaining' Sunday Times 'A thrilling narrative of the brutal dazzlingly rich wildly ambitious duchy' Simon Sebag Montefiore 5 stars! Daily Telegraph 'A masterpiece' De Morgen 'A history book that reads like a thriller' Le Soir At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a compulsively readable narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury and madness. It is about the decline of knightly ideals and the awakening of individualism and of cities, the struggle for dominance in the heart of northern Europe, bloody military campaigns and fatally bad marriages. It is also a remarkable cultural history, of great art and architecture and music emerging despite the violence and the chaos of the tension between rival dynasties.

The first Franciscan friar to occupy a chair of theology at Oxford, Adam Marsh became famous both in England and on the continent as one of the foremost Biblical scholars of his time. He moved with equal assurance in the world of politics and the scholastic world of the university. Few men without official position can have had their advice so eagerly sought by so many in high places. He was counselor to King Henry III and the queen, the spiritual director of Simon de Montfort and his wife, the devoted friend and counselor of Robert Grosseteste, and consultant to the rulers of the Franciscan order.
Scholars have long recognized the importance of his influence as mentor and spiritual activator of a circle of idealistic clergy and laymen, whose pressure for reform in secular government as well as in the Church culminated in the political upheavals of the years 1258-65. The collection of his letters, compiled by an unknown copyist within thirty years of his death, is perhaps the most illuminating and historically important series of private letters to be produced in England before the fifteenth century. The inclusion among his correspondents of such notable figures as Grosseteste, de Montfort, Queen Eleanor, and Archbishop Boniface, make the collection a source of primary importance for the political history of England, the English Church, and the organization of Oxford University in the turbulent middle years of the thirteenth century.
This critical edition, which supersedes the only previous edition published by J. S. Brewer in the Rolls Series nearly 150 years ago, is accompanied for the first time by an English translation. Volume II contains a further set of letters and indices to both volumes.

Although there are many books in English on the city and state of Lucca, this is the first scholarly study to cover the history of the entire region from classical antiquity to the end of the fifteenth century. At one level, it is an archive-based study of a highly distinctive political community; at another, it is designed as a contribution to current discussions on power-structures, the history of the state, and the differences between city-states and the new territorial states that were emerging in Italy by the fourteenth century.
There is a rare consensus among historians on the characteristic features of the Italian city-state: essentially the centralization of economic, political, and juridical power on a single city and in a single ruling class. Thus defined, Lucca retained the image of an old-fashioned, old-style city-republic right through until the loss of political independence in 1799. No consensus exists with regard to the defining qualities of the Renaissance state. Was it centralized or de-centralized; intrusive or non-interventionist? The new regional states were all these things. And the comparison with Lucca is complicated and nuanced as a result.
Lucca ruled over a relatively large city territory, in part a legacy from classical antiquity. Lucca was distinctive in the pervasive power exercised over its territory (largely a legacy of the region's political history in the early and central middle ages). In consequence, the Lucchese state showed a marked continuity in its political organization, and precociousness in its administrative structures. The qualifications relate to practicalities and resources. The coercive powers and bureaucratic aspirations of any medieval state were distinctly limited, whilst Lucca's capacity for independent action was increasingly circumscribed by the proximity (and territorial enclaves) of more powerful and predatory neighbors.

This book examines recent views on the emerging settlement patterns of early medieval Britain and their relation to land use, drawing on both archaeological and documentary sources. Simon Esmonde Cleary takes the study from the later Romano-British into the post-Roman period; Christopher Holdsworth examines the re-emergence of Christianity in sixth-century England, the location of minsters and their role in the economy. The problematic theme of continuity or dislocation recurs in a number of chapters and is closely investigated by Peter Rose and Ann Preston Jones in their chapter on Cornwall, a region marginal to the main thrust of Anglo-Saxon cultural influence. Ethnicity as a factor for change is challenged and Colleen Batey, looking at Northern Britain, finds that archaeology fails to identify with any degree of certainty the specific Scandinavian house type in the uplands. Della Hooke presents a more general summary of the period across England, noting the evidence for the emerging landscape regions which were characterized by particular settlement types and field systems and, in a case study of the Failand ridge in North Somerset, James Bond sets the evidence within a much broader time scale, revealing the gaps which still caracterize our knowledge of the early medieval period.

The importance of Bessarion's contribution to the history of Byzantine and Renaissance philosophy and culture during the 15th century is beyond dispute. However, an adequate appreciation of his contribution still remains a desideratum of scholarly research. One serious impediment to scholarly progress is the fact that the critical edition of his main philosophical work "In Calumniatorem Platonis" is incomplete and that this work has not been translated in its entirety into any modern language yet. Same can be stated about several minor but equally important treatises on literary, theological and philosophical subjects. This makes editing, translating and interpreting his literary, religious and philosophical works a scholarly priority. Papers assembled in this volume highlight a number of philological, philosophical and historical aspects that are crucial to our understanding of Bessarion's role in the history of European civilization and to setting the directions of future research in this field.