Margarethe, the proud, impetuous daughter of a nobleman in Germany, wants no part in her father's plans to marry her off to Count von Schonstein's son, Eric, so that the two nobles can join forces against the "upstart" burghers. She would much rather stay at home with her beloved younger sister, Else, but Else will soon be leaving to spend the rest of her life in a convent. Unlike her gentle, pious sister, Margarethe is certain that God's only desire is to make her life miserable, especially now that she refuses to participate in the rites and ceremonies of the Church. When her brother, Fritz, brings her an "indulgence" from far-off Juterbog, she doubts that even this can make her acceptable to an angry God. Then from her great-aunt, Margarethe hears of another religion, one almost forgotten, that taught that God loves the world, and she longs to know if this message is true. As the controversy surrounding the teachings of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwinglius intensifies, she and her dear friend, Anna, along with Fritz and Eric, must decide what part they might play in the emerging Reformation.

In the fall of 1357, a Flemish weaver travels around the countryside in England, at the request of the king, seeking apprentices to learn his trade. During this time, however, many Englishmen prefer the easy wealth gained from war and pillaging to learning to work diligently with their hands. Along the way the weaver meets a prosperous wool merchant with two sons-big, strong, sixteen-year-old Roger and small, crippled, thirteen-year-old Tom. The merchant is eager to advance his elder son but the weaver feels drawn to the intelligence of young Tom who is seen only as a burden and a curse. When Roger suddenly disappears one evening, the weaver sees his opportunity to help Tom, but Tom's father is not at all sure he should agree to the weaver's startling plan. Through many unexpected events, Tom must learn how even a crippled boy can serve God and be a true help to his family and his country.

When their tribe in Britain is conquered by the Romans, Bran and his young sister, Hilda, are taken to Rome and sold as slaves to a wealthy Roman household. Filled with anger, Bran grows to hate everyone except Hilda, even rejecting the kindness shown to him by an elderly slave named Anicetus. Meanwhile, Hilda hears stories of the Roman god, Saturn, and longs for the day when he will rule the world in a Golden Age where everyone, including slaves, will be happy and free. One day, Anicetus takes Hilda to hear a prisoner named Paul and she learns of another God, a God who made the heavens and the earth and who loves slaves. Soon Hilda and Bran must decide if they are willing to follow this new God and to live in obedience to His commands.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

When Jules Marot arrives in St. Etienne, a small village in the French Alps, in the spring of 1666, he brings bad news for his brother's family about their young son, Jacques. These are difficult times for the Huguenots. Many of the Huguenot families have grown complacent, viewing their faith as a mere political arrangement. Meanwhile, the French government continues to place more and more restrictions on them. Their schools and churches are being torn down, and they are forbidden to gather for services. The Marot family watches in dismay as many families who were once fervent in the faith give in to the pressure to convert to the "king's religion." As the persecution intensifies, the whole Marot family, including their sons, Jacques and Franois, must learn to trust God more than ever before.

Late one day, in the summer of 782 A.D., young Adalinda is startled to come upon a Saxon family in the forest where she lives with her father. Their tribe had been captured by Charlemagne's soldiers and brought to France after they refused to convert to Christianity, but when Godrith's wife and children grew too weak to continue marching, the family had been abandoned. Godrith is suspicious of Adalinda's kindness, remembering how the "Christian" soldiers had burned his village and killed or captured so many of his people, but as she and her father offer shelter to these Saxon strangers, Godrith begins to see a new picture of Christianity, and her small acts of service have a greater impact that Adalinda could have ever imagined.

In the autumn of 1525, a peddler visits the Castle of Thorn in Germany, and inspires young Fritz with tales of Martin Luther who fights against sin and ignorance with the truth of God's Word. Fritz wants to follow in Dr. Luther's footsteps and be a soldier for the Lord, so he chooses the Bible from the peddler's pack as his birthday gift. Shortly after his father, the Count, goes off to war, however, he and his mother and little sister are forced to flee to the forest to escape being thrown in prison for their new faith. Disguising themselves as commoners, they must trust the Lord as they wait and hope for the Count to rescue them. Through his many trials and struggles, Fritz learns what it means to be a true soldier for the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the spring of A.D. 1510, young Claude Leclerc leaves his widowed mother and two sisters in southern France and travels to Paris to begin his training for the priesthood. The Church is very powerful but also very corrupt, and Claude is not sure what he believes about God. One day he learns the words to an old hymn and is drawn to the lines about "David's Royal Fountain" that will "purge every sin away." Claude yearns to find this fountain and receive its cleansing, and at last he dares to approach the famous Dr. Lefvre, a Doctor of Divinity at the renowned Sorbonne University. Claude's question puzzles the doctor but soon he sets aside his study of the saints and begins to study the Scriptures in earnest. As Dr. Lefvre grasps the wonderful truth of salvation by grace, he wants to share it with the young student, but Claude has mysteriously disappeared. Through the efforts of Dr. Lefvre, and his young associate, Guillaume Farel, many learn the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and great hope is born that a true Reformation is beginning in France that will spread to all the world.

Eager to bring her crippled grandson, Conrad, news of the wedding celebration of King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia, Dame Ursula sets out for the village, but finds herself harassed by the unruly crowd. A kindly blacksmith comes to her aid, and she welcomes his offer to visit Conrad, but soon becomes suspicious that he and his friend, Ned Trueman, are Lollards, followers of John Wycliffe. Unable to refuse anything that might please Conrad, she allows the visits to continue, and even allows their friend to teach Conrad to read, but passionately warns Conrad of the dangers of evil "heresy." Conrad decides to become a famous Doctor of the Church, so that he will be able to combat heresy, but he wonders why all the remedies of the Church fail to cure him. He is also troubled by the fact that he doesn't have a father like other boys. As Conrad pursues his studies as a young man, he has the opportunity to hear Wycliffe preach and is surprised by what he hears. At last, seeking answers to his past, Conrad leaves England and returns to his native Bohemia where John Huss is boldly preaching against the corruption of the Church. What Conrad learns in Bohemia will change his life forever.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Arriving home in A.D. 1366 from a meeting of Parliament in London, Sir Hugh Middleton is shocked to learn from his daughter that a neighboring monastery has laid claim to one of his fields. When Sir Hugh drives the monks from his property, his brother, a monk at the monastery, tells him that he has committed a mortal sin, however Sir Hugh steadfastly refuses to yield. He further offends the monastery by sending his younger son, Stephen, to study under Dr. John Wycliffe, who has begun to publicly question the authority of the Church to grant pardon for sin. At the same time, Sir Hugh sends his elder son, Harry, to serve as an attendant to the powerful Duke of Lancaster, who is well-known for his desire to limit the power of the Church and increase the power of the nobility. These are times of great political and religious upheaval as the desire for freedom spreads throughout England and Europe. As Wycliffe's "poor priests" begin to share the Word of God with the common people, Stephen and Harry and their sisters, Maud and Madge, all find that they have parts to play for the kingdom of God in the turbulent day in which they live.

When Jerusalem is captured by the Muslims in A.D. 1187, Elfreda, a young Saxon orphan, is sent back to England to her mother's sister. Her proud aunt, Lady de Valery, is not at all pleased to see her, and her uncle, Sir Valence, fears that she may have brought the family curse back to England. This hundred-year-old curse is said to have been placed on an ancestor named Leofwine, and more than one family member has tried in vain to remove it. Meeting her cousin, Guy, for a few moments as he prepares to join King Richard's Crusade to free Jerusalem, Elfreda tells him of her father's battle cry, "Christ and His salvation." Something in this cry thrills Guy's heart even though he doesn't understand the meaning of the words. Soon after this, Lady de Valery sends Elfreda off to live with relatives in London. There Elfreda and Guy meet again and Guy promises Elfreda that he will win such honor as a crusader that he will be able to remove the curse from their family. Elfreda, too, tries to remove the curse through a life of religious devotion. Over the years that follow, however, severe trials befall the de Valery family, and Guy and Elfreda despair of ever being able to lift the curse, until at last they both learn of One who has power stronger than any curse.

Humiliated by his father in front of their household, Leofwine's only crime is that, unlike his wild, younger brother, he finds no pleasure in terrorizing the countryside. Leofwine finally receives permission to enter a monastery but shortly after his dream is fulfilled, he hears strange rumors of a French monk who preaches "heresy." Unable to stop thinking about these new ideas, Leofwine and his fellow monks become convinced that he must be under the spell of a witch. At last, Leofwine determines to leave the monastery and England, hoping that in the holy life of a pilgrim he will find freedom from the curse that he feels he is under. His search for inner peace takes him to France and to Rome and finally to Jerusalem, but all of his travels leave him more confused than ever, and worse yet, he uncovers a plot against his native England. Now Leofwine must find a way to help his beloved country and also decide what to believe about the surprising ideas he has heard in a small village in the Alps.

Saxon England in 1053 is a time of violence, cruelty and ignorance where the strong dominate and mercy and compassion are scarce. Young Gytha longs to leave behind the evil of the world and enter a convent where she can devote herself to learning more about the God who loves even a little slave girl. Instead she lives in a household that scorns the very name of Christ. Gytha's mistress, the Lady Hilda, is an invalid whose afflictions have made her fretful and cross, yet as Gytha lives out her simple faith in service to her mistress, she is able to bring hope and purpose to Hilda's life. When England is defeated in 1066 by William the Conqueror, Gytha and Hilda face their greatest challenge-trusting God when it seems as though He has turned His back on England. Through all of her trials, Gytha learns that God often has a greater work for us to do in the world than out of it.

By A.D. 594 the Christian church has become divided into many competing sects. At a Syrian market, two Christian women are sold as slaves to a young merchant named Mohammed who is searching for truth as well as riches. One of the slaves, Lollia, is eventually sold to the Lady Paulina and taken back to Rome, once the center of the world, but now fallen into disrepair and menaced constantly by the hostile Lombards just outside the walls. Inside the city, the starving people are completely dependent on Bishop Gregory for food. Paulina struggles with the new doctrine of purgatory taught by Gregory and her own sense of unworthiness before God. The other slave, Amina, travels with Mohammed's caravan back to Mecca. There she attempts to share Christ with those around her, including a blind girl named Aseeyah, who embraces the gospel and seeks to influence her tribe in the true worship of God. As the years pass, Mohammed declares himself to be the prophet of God and begins to convert people by persuasion or force. In Rome and Arabia, Lollia, Paulina, Amina and countless others fall into the bondage of man-made religions and must learn at last to find true freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Knowing full well they may die in the attempt, a small band of monks sets out to convert the savage Danes who have laid waste to the surrounding countryside year after year. Their faith is sorely tested as they face opposition from the angry Priest of Odin as well as doubts, sickness and starvation. The Danes laugh at the idea of leaving their warlike gods for a "weak" God of love, but Osric, the leader of the monks, is unwavering in his attempts to share the "White Christ" with those who reject Him. Then the monks discover a young Christian woman named Elswitha who has escaped being sacrificed to the Danish gods. While they are willing to risk the wrath of the Danes to shelter and care for her, they still wonder what they are supposed to do with a woman. As the monks struggle with discouragement, however, Elswitha becomes the key to reaching the village by showing the love of Christ to those who wanted to kill her. Through her, the Danes at last begin to understand the true meaning of Christianity.

Emperor Constantine has proclaimed Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, ushering in a new era for the Church. Quadratus, a young Christian soldier assigned to Constantine's bodyguard, watches as the Church is transformed from scattered groups of devoted believers to a fashionable means of political advancement. Arriving home for a visit, Quadratus finds that his younger sister, Placidia, is determined to become a nun in spite of her mother's opposition and refuses to leave her room. His older brother has left the family to become a desert hermit while his other sister lives in luxury and comfort, married to a recently-converted Christian. Meanwhile, the new freedom given to the Church is stirring up great anger among the pagan priests and the Jews. When a riot sweeps through the city, Quadratus tries valiantly to defend his home, but after it is over, he finds that Placidia has disappeared. Through the years that follow, Quadratus, Placidia and many others must struggle to remain faithful to the simple truth of the gospel in the confusing and challenging times in which they live.

When Flaminius, a high Roman official, takes his wife, Flavia, and her sister to the Colosseum to see Christians thrown to the lions, he has no idea the effect it will have on all of their lives. Flavia cannot forget the faith of the martyrs, and is drawn more and more to a God who can give such courage in the face of death, but then rumors begin to fly about her forsaking the worship of the gods. Finally, to protect her from complete disgrace or even danger, Flaminius requests a transfer to a more remote government post. Even there, however, he cannot escape from troubles over this new faith. His job responsibilities require him to deal with increasing turmoil and unrest from the mobs who hate Christianity and demand to see its followers destroyed, while his own wife openly practices Christianity. As he and his family travel to the seven cities of Asia Minor mentioned in Revelation, he sees the various responses of the churches to persecution but is frustrated by those who stubbornly refuse to compromise for the sake of peace. Then something happens that shakes his faith in the gods, and his attitude toward the despised Christians begins to change.

The Druid priests are as cold and cruel as the forest spirits they claim to represent, and Guntra, the chief of her tribe of Britons, must make a desperate deal with them to protect those she loves. Unaware of Guntra's struggles, Jugurtha, her son, longs to lead his tribe against the hated Roman conquerors and drive them from the land. When Jugurtha encounters the Christian centurion, Marcinius, he scorns the idea of a God of love and kindness, certain that he has no use for such a God. There comes a day, however, when he is in dire need of help for himself and his beloved little sister, Norma, and it is Marcinius who comes to his aid. Through the kindness and humility shown by Marcinius, Norma, Jugurtha and even Guntra begin to be drawn to this God of love.