European and English courtly culture and history reappraised through the prism of the court as theatre. In the past half-century, court history has lost the air of frivolity that once relegated it to the margins of serious historical study and has rightfully taken a central part in the study of European states and societies in the age of personal monarchy. Yet it has been approached from so many different angles and appropriated to so many different models that it can be hard to put all our new understandings together to achieve a proper perspective on the functions of the court as a whole. This collection of essays uses the idea of the court as a stage for social and political interaction to re-integrate different styles of court history, focusing on courts in England and the Low Countries from the age of Richard II and Albert of Bavaria to that of Elizabeth I and Philip II. Themes studied include the relationship between court politics and cultural change, the social and political functions of court office-holding, the military, judicial and propagandist roles of the court, the economic relationships between courts and cities and the wider social and political significance of court rituals and traditions.

A definitive look at the early history of St George's Chapel, one of the most important medieval buildings in England. Developed and improved by Edward III, the Chapel became the spiritual home of his newly-instigated Order of theGarter and, in the process, a new Camelot for the English monarchy. St George's Chapel, Windsor, is one of the most famous ecclesiastical foundations in Britain. Established in 1348, its origins are closely bound up with those of the Order of the Garter, which was founded by Edward III at the sametime. The collection of essays in this volume sets Windsor in its context, at the forefront of the political and cultural developments of mid-fourteenth-century England. They examine the early history of the Chapel, its tieswith Edward III's chivalric ambitions, the community of canons who served it, and its place in the institutional development of the English Church. Major themes are the role of the Chapel in the early history of the Order and itsinfluence on other collegiate foundations of the late middle ages; and much attention is devoted to the mighty building campaign at the Castle started by Edward III which made Windsor the grandest royal residence of its day.

The notion of service was ingrained in medieval culture, prominent throughout the language and life of the time. The notion of service was ingrained in medieval culture, and not just as a part of the wider concept of patronage: it is prominent throughout the language and life of the time. These studies examine the nature and importance of service in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in a variety of contexts both within and beyond the dominions of the English crown, including contracts between domestic servants and employers, labour legislation, career opportunities for graduates, the public service ethos embodied by the king's household retinue and a scheme for its reform, public service in France, ducal service in Brittany, and bastard feudalism in Scotland. ANNE CURRY is Professor of History, University of Southampton; ELIZABETH MATTHEW is honorary research fellow at the Department of History, University of Reading. Contributors: JEREMY GOLDBERG, CHRISTOPHER GIVEN-WILSON, MICHAEL JONES, ALEXANDER GRANT, VIRGINIA DAVIS, JEREMY I. CATTO, D.A.L. MORGAN, KATHELEEN DALY, RALPH A. GRIFFITHS.

The book is here for free. Two stories, Children of a Dark Sky, is the journey of a young girl and her experiences of becoming part of a far away planets unique transportation system. Alice makes light of music, candy, tubing, government and of course Alice Adventures in Wonderland. Both are complete in the preview, but in the download and printed book has 30 more pages. Two previews of books that are currently in the works, Orphans of a Dark Sky, Lost child of a Dark Sky and two short stories. If you like what I write then buy the book. D. L. Morgan