Samuel Fanous and Henrietta Leyser present a vivid interdisciplinary study devoted to the life, work and extant vita of Christina of Markyate, which draws on research from a wide range of disciplines.

This fascinating and comprehensive collection surveys the life of an extraordinary medieval woman. Christina of Markyate made a vow of chastity at an early age, against the wishes of her parents who intended her to marry. When forced into wedlock, she fled in disguise and went into hiding, receiving refuge in a network of hermitages. Christina became a religious recluse and eventually founded a priory of nuns attached to St. Albans.

Beautifully illustrated, this book provides students who regularly encounter Christina with a research compendium from which to begin their studies, and introduces Christina to a wider audience.

This fascinating and comprehensive collection surveys the life of an extraordinary medieval woman. Christina of Markyate made a vow of chastity at an early age, against the wishes of her parents who intended her to marry. When forced into wedlock, she fled in disguise and went into hiding, receiving refuge in a network of hermitages. Christina became a religious recluse and eventually founded a priory of nuns attached to St. Albans. Samuel Fanous and Henrietta Leyser present a vivid inter-disciplinary study devoted to the life, work and extant vita of Christina of Markyate, which draws on research from a wide range of disciplines. Key topics have been selected in a balanced and comprehensive approach; they cover timeless themes, such as monasticism and eremiticisim, as well as topical matters in medieval research, such as gender issues. The book begins by introducing readers to Christina's person and life, setting her in a cultural, social and religious context, and presenting the literary background of The Life of Christina of Markyate. virgin and ascetic, and Christina's alignment with both, the presentation of sanctity and sexual temptation in the twelfth century, and a survey of the phenomena of hermits and anchorites. The book also includes a close reading of the vita, revealing its markedly hagiographical qualities, and a discussion of the drama of the initials on the St. Alban's Psalter and what this reveals about the relationship between Christina and Abbot Geoffrey. Beautifully illustrated, this book provides students who regularly encounter Christina with a research compendium from which to begin their studies, and introduces Christina to a wider audience. Neil Cartlidge, Dyan Elliot, Samuel Fanous, Jane Geddes, Douglas Gray, Thomas Head, Stephanie Hollis, Tony Hunt, Stephen Jaeger, Eddie Jones, Rachel Koopmans, Henrietta Leyser, Ruth Mazo Karras, R. I.

Yang Jiang opens the black box of China's policymaking for free trade agreements and key regional financial initiatives. Using first-hand interview data, she sheds light on the key trends of China's trade and financial politics after its WTO entry in 2001. In particular, she highlights the influence of competing domestic interests, protectionist and conservative forces vis-a-vis liberal and reformist forces; government agencies, ministries and national commissions, local governments; and different ideas on China's foreign economic policy. In doing so, she also provides interesting comparisons between China and other countries in international negotiations. Her invesitgation offers a fresh look into China, its changing decision-making under different generations of leadership, and the basis for its current and potential contribution to international economic cooperation.

Using first-hand interview data, Yang Jiang reveals the key trends of China's trade and financial politics after its WTO accession. In particular, she highlights the influence of competing domestic interests, government agencies and different ideas on China's foreign economic policy.

'I wish to remain single, for I have made a vow of virginity.' This is the remarkable story of the twelfth-century recluse Christina, who became prioress of Markyate, near St Albans in Hertfordshire. Determined to devote her life to God and to remain a virgin, Christina repulses the sexual advances of the bishop of Durham. In revenge he arranges her betrothal to a young nobleman but Christina steadfastly refuses to consummate the marriage and defies her parents' cruel coercion. Sustained by visions, she finds refuge with the hermit Roger, and lives concealed at Markyate for four years, enduring terrible physical and emotional torment. Although Christina is supported by the abbot of St Albans, she never achieves the recognition that he intended for her. Written with striking candour by Christina's anonymous biographer, the vividness and compelling detail of this account make it a social document as much as a religious one. Christina's trials of the flesh and spirit exist against a backdrop of scheming and corruption and all-too-human greed. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

'Here lies our leader all cut down, the valiant man in the dust.' The elegiac words of the "Battle of Maldon", an epic poem written to celebrate the bravery of an English army defeated by Viking raiders in 991, emerge from a diverse literature - including "Beowulf" and "Bede's Ecclesiastical History" - produced by the people known as the Anglo-Saxons: Germanic tribes who migrated to Britain from Lower Saxony and Denmark in the early fifth century CE. The era once known as the 'Dark Ages' was marked by stunning cultural advances, and Henrietta Leyser here offers a fresh analysis of exciting recent discoveries made in the archaeology and art of the Anglo-Saxon world. Arguing that the desperate struggle (led by Alfred the Great) against the Vikings helped define a distinctively English sensibility, the author explores relations with the indigenous British, the Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity, the ascendancy of Mercia and the rise of Wessex. This vivid history evokes both the emergent kingdoms of Alfred and Offa and the golden treasures of Sutton Hoo. It will appeal to students of early medieval history and to all those who wish to understand how England was born.

In Medieval Women, Henrietta Leyser celebrates the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages. Rather than picturing them as hiding in the shadows and dismissing them as either victims or slaves, her unique approach presents medieval women as clever, argumentative, influential and visible. Above all, she rescues these women from the deeply unflattering portraits drawn by nineteenth century Victorian historians.

Written by the Oxford historian Henrietta Leyser, BEDA is a gazetteer to the remaining Anglo-Saxon ruins in England, many of them from the time of the Venerable Bede. For those who have bought Simon Jenkins' 100 Best Churches and now want something different, this is an invaluable window onto the world of the author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Concentrating on Bede himself (our most valuable historical source on Anglo Saxon England, and author of books that played a key role in the development of English national identity), BEDA is an accessible history and a guidebook simultaneously. Since Sr Benedicta Ward's book on Bede, with its endorsement by Rowan Williams, general interest in Anglo-Saxon Britain has been growing. BEDA serves as a perfect introduction to the subject, and is the only book of its kind.