From emperors and queens to artists and world travelers, from popes and scholars to saints and heretics, KeyFigures in Medieval Europe brings together in one volume the most important people who lived in medieval Europe between 500 and 1500. Gathered from the biographical entries from the on-going series, the RoutledgeEncyclopedias of the Middle Ages, these A-Z biographical entries discuss the lives of over 575 individuals who have had a historical impact in such areas as politics, religion, or the arts. Individuals from places such as medieval England, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, and Scandinavia are included as well as those from the Jewish and Islamic worlds. A thematic outline is included that lists people not only by categories, but also by regions. Entries fall under the following categories: * Artists/Architects * Authors * Commercial Figures * Musicians * Political Figures * Religious Figures * Scientific Figures * Travelers * Women

First published in 2006, Key Figures in Medieval Europe, brings together in one volume the most important people who lived in medieval Europe between 500 and 1500. Gathered from the biographical entries from the series, Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, these A-Z biographical entries discuss the lives of over 575 individuals who have had a historical impact in such areas as politics, religion, and the arts. It includes individuals from places such as medieval England, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, and Scandinavia, as well as those from the Jewish and Islamic worlds. In one convenient volume, students, scholars, and interested readers will find the biographies of the people whose actions, beliefs, creations, and writings shaped the Middle Ages, one of the most fascinating periods of world history.

Attitudes towards `labour', in the wake of the Black Death, shown to range from early protest literature to repressive authoritarianism. At the very moment that the image of the honest labourer seemed to reach its apogee in the Luttrell Psalter or, a few decades later, in Piers Plowman, the dominant culture of the landed interests was increasingly suspiciousof what it described as the idleness, greed and arrogance of the lower orders. Labour was one of the central issues during the fourteenth century: the natural disasters and profound social changes of the period created not merelya "problem" of labour, but also new ways of discussing and (supposedly) solving that problem. These studies engage with the contrasting and often competing discourses which emerged, ranging from the critical social awareness of some of the early fourteenth-century protest literature to the repressive authoritarianism of the new national employment laws that were enforced in the wake of the Black Death, and were expressed in counter-cultures of resistanceand dissent. JAMES BOTHWELL and P.J.P. GOLDBERG lecture in history, and W.M. ORMROD is Professor of History, at the University of York. Contributors: CORDELIA BEATTIE, CHRISTOPHER DYER, RICHARD K. EMMERSON,P.J.P. GOLDBERG, KATE GILES, CHRIS GIVEN-WILSON, STEPHEN KNIGHT, DEREK PEARSALL, SARAH REES JONES.

This richly interdisciplinary collection of seventeen essays by an impressive array of medievalists offers an overview of the influence of the Apocalypse on the shaping of the Christian culture of the Middle Ages. Each one focuses on some aspect of John's great visionary text, specifically analyzing its interpretation, representation, and manipulation in medieval culture, history, religion, art, and literature. The book is divided into three sections.

In the first part, six scholars of medieval history and thought detail the development of interpretations of the Book of Revelation from the earliest work of Tyconius and Augustine to the Franciscan and Dominican explanations of the later Middle Ages. In the second part, six art historians discuss the visual representation of the Apocalypse in medieval art from early Christian mosaics through late medieval and early Renaissance paintings and prints, including those of Albrecht Durer. Five essays by historians and literary historians in the third section focus on the wide variety of ways in which medieval literature, liturgy, and historiography were influenced by the Apocalypse.

Providing a wealth of new material, this book will enrich our understanding of some of the major themes of medieval intellectual, cultural, and religious history, and should serve as a model for future works on related topics.

Contributors David Burr, Michael Camille, Yves Christe, E. Randolph Daniel, Richard K. Emmerson, C. Clifford Flanigan, Paula Frederiksen, Ronald B. Herzman, Dale Kinney, Peter Klein, Robert E. Lerner, Suzanne Lewis, E. Ann Matter, Bernard McGinn, Karl F. Morrison, Penn Szittya, John Williams