After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today. On visits to the great cities of Europe--monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable...

Be an eyewitness to what life was really like for a knight in medieval times -- from battles to banquets and from jousting to hunting. See how a knight put on his armor. Find out why knights decorated their shields. Discover deadly weapons known as caltrops.

Text and illustrations trace the history of castles and their role in medieval life. Discusses how and why they were built, life inside and outside the castle walls, their uses in war and peace, and their eventual decline.

From the medieval bazaars of Tabriz, to the mysterious island of Caldihe, where sheep were said to grow on trees, Anthony Bale brings history alive in A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages, inviting the reader to travel across a medieval world punctuated with miraculous wonders and long-lost landmarks. Journeying alongside scholars, spies and saints, from western Europe to the Far East, the Antipodes, and the ends of the world, this is no ordinary travel...

Describes the preparation and celebration of a medieval feast held at an English manor house entertaining royal guests.

Text and detailed humorous illustrations present an overview of castles: who made them; when, how, why, and where they were built; what they were for; and what it was like to live in a castle.