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MEDIEVAL

SOCIETY

Medieval Lives

Consuming Narratives: Gender and Monstrous

Appetite in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

edited by Liz Herbert McAvoy and Teresa Walters. Eighteen papers,from a conference held in Cardiff in 2000, examine perceptions and represen-tations of the human body, particularly female, in literature and in medievaland early modern ideology in general. Women, foreigners and othermarginalised sections of society were often presented by male authors andchurchmen as having ‘monstrous’ appetites for sex, money, food, power andsin. Divided into three sections, papers focus on sexual appetite, depictions ofthe ‘monstrous female body’ and the use of the body as a metaphor for thestate and for a race. 257p, 6 b/w illus (Wales UP 2002) Hb £40.00, Pb £16.99

Dreaming of Cockaigne: Medieval Fantasies of the Perfect Life

by Herman Pleij. The imaginary earthly paradise of Cockaigne, portrayed inmedieval art and literature, presented an alternative, more appealing vision ofthe afterlife than that offered by the church. Pleij’s study, now in English, ex-amines the circulation of oral and written stories about Cockaigne, each ofwhich is different, and the alternative opinions about the nature and locationof paradise. Cockaigne’s excesses, notably its buildings made of food, reveal agreat deal about the hardships and deprivations of life in late medieval Eu-rope. 533p, 80 b/w illus (1997, Columbia UP Engl edn 2001, Pb 2003) Pb £15.50

Everyday Life in Medieval England

by Christopher Dyer. An investigation into the basis of medieval life – thehouses and settlements in which people lived, the food that they ate, theirspending – and also into social relationships. Dyer’s essays involve a wide rangeof sources, written and archaeological, which illuminate fundamental areas oflife in medieval England. His subjects include medieval rural settlements; de-serted medieval villages; changes in diet; gardens and orchards; English peas-ant buildings; power and conflict; wages and earnings; the rising of 1381 inSuffolk; towns and cottages in the 11th century; the consumer and the market;15th-century capitalists? 336p with figs (Hambledon 1994, Pb 2000) Pb £12.99

Growing Old in the Middle Ages

by Shulamith Shahar. This study demonstrates that the expectations andattitudes of old people in the Middle Ages, as well as attitudes towards them,were less different from those of our own day than might be expected. Thefirst part of this book gives a broad cultural history of old age in medievalwestern Europe while the second deals with the elderly in various social strata:churchmen and nuns, rulers, small office holders, soldiers, town dwellers andpeasants. 243p (Routledge Engl edn 1997, Pb 2004) Pb £18.99

Making a Living in the Middle Ages. The People of Britain 850-1520

by Christopher Dyer. This superb economic history examines the dailylives, ideas and attitudes of all social classes from peasants to aristocrats,exploring both long- and short-term economic developments and theprocesses and/or people that dictated and brought about these changes.The impact of both local and external events are examined including thepolicies, successes and failures of local land owners, the arrival of theVikings, the Norman Conquest, urban decline and the Black Death. 403p,

19 b/w pls, 4 figs, 11 maps (Yale UP 2002, Penguin 2003) Pb £12.99

The Medieval World

edited by Peter Linehan and Janet L Nelson. This rewarding collection of38 essays aims to provide a solid background to the rich diversity of culturesthat combined to form the Middle Ages. Essays address current researchthemes and methodologies whilst also considering four major areas:identities, beliefs, power structures, and groups and organisations. Coveringthe entire medieval period and encompassing an area from Britain to WestAfrica and the Near East, the contributions focus on social and politicalhistory and explore the ideologies that both united and divided the medievalworld. 745p (Routledge 2001, Pb 2003) Hb £150.00, Pb £27.50

Rites of Passage: Cultures of Transition in the Fourteen Century

edited by Nicola F McDonald and W M Ormrod. The people of 14th-century Europe were no different from those of other cultures and centu-ries who marked, or continue to mark, transitional periods in life with ritual.These eight essays, from the Second York Interdisciplinary Conference onthe 14th Century held in 2001, discuss the ‘peculiar funeral’ of Edward II,the accession of boy kings, becoming a priest, becoming a man, rites ofpassage in romances, Chaucer’s women, Gower’s Confessio Amantis, and ini-tiation in Froissart’s Dits amoureux. 176p (York Medieval Press 2004) Hb £45.00

Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives

by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira. Terry Jones approaches this most ‘misrep-resented and misunderstood’ period in history through its principal charac-ters. Each chapter deals with a major ‘character’, such as the peasant, theminstrel and entertainer, the outlaw, the monk and the crusader. The restof the books is filled with tales of philosophers, alchemists, magicians,fraudsters, innovators and doctors, chivalric knights, damsels and the kinghimself. 256p, many col pls (BBC Books 2004, Pb 2005) Hb £18.99, Pb £7.99

Understanding the Middle Ages

by Harald Kleinschmidt. This thought-provoking study treats the cultureof medieval Europe as an anthropologist would treat an unfamiliar world.It examines the ‘Generalities’, identifying men and women, behaviour andperceptions of time and space; concepts of economic, military and intellec-tual action; communicating ideas and commemorating the past; percep-tions and representations of order in the physical environment. 401p, 50 b/

w illus (Boydell 2000, Pb 2003) Hb £50.00, Pb £16.99

Love, Sex, Marriage and Children

Family and Dynasty in Late Medieval England

edited by Richard Eales and Shaun Tyas. This collection of essays, theProceedings of the 1997 Harlaxton Symposium, looks at the importanceof family and dynasty among royalty and powerful aristocrats, mercantileand clerical families, and those of lower aristocratic status. Among thefamilies discussed are the Angevin monarchy, the Wayte, Mortimer andBohun families and the family of Lady Margaret Beaufort. 273p, 46 b/w

figs and pls (Harlaxton Medieval Studies Vol IX, Shaun Tyas 2003) Hb £35.00

Family and Household in Medieval England

by Peter Fleming. A fascinating exploration of the medieval family betweenthe mid-11th and early 16th century. Presented as a journey through life,the study begins with the medieval experience of childbirth and the prob-lems of raising children and concludes with widowhood, retirement anddeath. Using a wide range of literary and documentary sources, Flemingreveals many of the perils and injustices that faced ordinary men, womenand children, especially during the tumultuous events of the 14th century.162p (Palgrave 2001) Hb £49.50, Pb £17.50

Histories of Sexuality: Antiquity to Sexual Revolution

by Stephen Garton. Written with the ‘risk of confirming popular fears thatacademics are capable of ruining even the most simple of pleasures’, thisinteresting and refreshingly jargon-free book discusses the impact of sexualrevolutions, such as feminism and the gay movement, on the academic world.Largely adopting a thematic rather than chronological approach, the bookbegins with a look at how Christianity transformed attitudes and behaviour,particularly towards austerity and marriage. Garton also examines Greco-Roman attitudes towards homosexuality and the dominance of the maleand how these attitudes informed medieval and modern western culture.311p (Equinox 2004) Hb £65.00, Pb £14.99

Homoeroticism and Chivalry: Discourses of Male Same-Sex

Desire in the 14th Century

by Richard E Zeikowitz. Medieval courtly literature is full of expressionsof often quite intimate male friendships, particularly between knights. Thistheoretical study argues that ‘homosociality’, which may have been physicalor purely emotional, was idealised among chivalric society. It examines Sir

Gawain and the Green Knight, Troilus and Criseyde and philosophical tracts,before considering the treatment of homosexuality in politically motivatedchronicles concerning Edward II and Richard II. Zeikowitz draws onpsychoanalytical theory throughout. 216p (Palgrave 2003) Hb £45.00

Individuals, Families and Communities in Europe, 1200-1800:

The Urban Foundations of Western Society

by Katherine A Lynch. Within medieval society a range of organisations orcommunities emerged which supplemented or replaced family-based net-works. This study looks at examples of religious and charitable organisationsacross western Europe and explores the demographic, economic, religious,social and political reasons for their rise to prominence. 250p, 10 b/w illus, 4

tbs, 3 maps (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £47.50, Pb £17.99

Intersections of Sexuality and Divine in Medieval Culture:

The Word Made Flesh

edited by Susannah Mary Chewning. These twelve essays examine the oftenparadoxical relationship between religion and sex and how this is manifestedin medieval literature and culture. Works such as Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale, thePearl-poems, alchemical texts, the York cycle drama, the writings of MargeryKempe, and the ‘Wooing Group’ are cited as examples where sexual and reli-gious experiences meet, where the metaphors are explored and different formsof sexual expression are presented. 213p (Ashgate 2005) Hb £45.00

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Love, Marriage and Family Ties in the Later Middle Ages

edited by Isabel Davis, Miriam Müller and Sarah Rees Jones. Taken fromthe 2001 International Medieval Congress held in Leeds, these seventeenpapers examine domesticity, inheritance rights, incest laws, domesticviolence, illicit love, kinship and piety, marriage and courtly love, includingcase studies from across Europe. 340p (International Medieval Research 11,

Brepols 2003) Hb £50.00

Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages: A Sourcebook

edited by Conor McCarthy. In bringing together a broad collection ofextracts from medieval literature (covering the 4th to 16th century),theological, medical and legal writings, chronicles and letters, McCarthyhighlights the diversity of attitudes, thoughts and concepts on love, sexand marriage in medieval England. All the sources are presented in Englishtranslation. 292p (Routledge 2004) Hb £55.00, Pb £16.99

Marriage Disputes in Medieval England

by Frederik Pedersen. This study is based around evidence from the 14th-century records of the church court of York and investigates how the courtsapplied canon law rules of marriage. Such records provide important in-sights into disputes about the validity of marriage, consent, sex, violence,impotence, property and issues surrounding the status and rights of women.235p (Hambledon and London 2000) Hb £25.00

Marriage in Medieval England: Law, Literature and Practice

by Conor McCarthy. In arguing that marriage in the medieval period wasoverregulated and overgoverned, Conor McCarthy examines how ideolo-gies of marriage were represented in both legal sources and literature, andhow these related to actual practices. Taking a thematic approach, he looksat issues of consent, property, alliance, love, sex, family, divorce and wid-owhood, highlighting both continuities and differences in thinking thatexisted throughout the medieval period. Attitudes towards marriage withinthe Church and within state legislation are compared throughout as theauthor covers a great deal of source material in this general overview of thesubject. 185p (Boydell 2004) Hb £40.00

Medieval Children

by Nicholas Orme. This well-illustrated volume begins with an analysis ofthe medieval understanding of the science and biology behind conceptionand childbirth and the Church’s teachings about the soul of an unbornchild. Orme subsequently looks at almost every aspect of a child’s life, in-cluding play, toys, reading, clothing, names and nursery rhymes as well asthe many perils that frequently ended in an early death. 387p, many col and b/

w illus (Yale UP 2001, Pb 2003) Pb £14.95

Medieval Families: Perspectives on Marriage, Household and Children

edited by Carol Neel. This study reprints eleven articles written by NorthAmerican historians and art historians over the last thirty years. The articles,which adopt a range of perspectives and use all manner of sources, reflecton such themes as the role of sentiment in studies of the family and theconcept of the family as a haven. They also present case studies fromacross medieval Europe, looking at the textual and iconographic evidencefor relations between parent and child, for the choice of spouse, for peasantmarriages, for the abandonment of children, sexuality, incest and thehousehold. 436p, b/w figs (MART 40, Toronto UP 2004) Hb £48.00, Pb £18.00

Queer Love in the Middle Ages

by Anna Klosowska. Studying Old French literature reveals some degreeof openness towards same-sex relationships, both in the well- and lesser-known works. From a cross-dressing heroine who marries a princess to thefigure of Perceval in the Grail legend, Anna Klosowska explores same-sexfriendships, bonds, loyalties, respect and love in a variety of literary forms:Arthurian romances, Grail narratives, fictions, allegories, legends and Latinmanuscript translations. What she reveals is that medieval writers used theliterary genre as a secure place to explore same-sex relationships and to flirtwith the idea of homoeroticism, demonstrating a pervasive interest in asubject which was ‘smuggled into canonical works in recognizable ways’.195p (The New Middle Ages, Palgrave Macmillan 2005) Hb £40.00

Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing unto others

by Ruth Mazo Karras. The question of medieval sexuality is often regarded asone of opposites with repression, celibacy, and the sinful work of the Devilon the one hand, and a world of lust, seduction secret liaisons and playfulnesson the other. Arguing that these merely reflect the views of the church versusliterary creation, Karras explores subjects such as chastity, sex in and outsideof marriage, the role of the church, reproduction, temptation, prostitution,same-sex relationships and violence. Finally, Karras asks how important sexwas to medieval society and whether scholarly attention on this subject re-flects a medieval or modern concern. Held by many to be the best single workon the subject, this study of sexuality in the medieval period comes highlyrecommended. 200p (Routledge 2005) Hb £50.00, Pb £15.99

Youth in the Middle Ages

edited by P J P Goldberg and Felicity Riddy. The child is virtually absentfrom literature, the arts (with the notable exception of the Christ-child) andeven history before the 13th century. Arguably, it was only the accession ofthe boy-king Richard II in the 14th century that led politicians and theolo-gians to debate the nature of childhood. These eight papers, mostly fromseminars and conferences in York in 1995, discuss the experience of child-hood for Christians and Jews, the martyrdom of maidens and femininity,the Pearl poem and the boy king Richard, Humiliati communities as safehavens for children, the migration of youths in later medieval England andthree young Viking kings. 144p (York Medieval Press 2004) Hb £45.00

The Paston Family

Blood and Roses

by Helen Castor. In the 18th century the publication of a collection ofletters from the Paston family in Norfolk became an instant success. Setagainst the background of the Wars of the Roses, the letters written be-tween various family members present a ‘unique and compelling perspec-tive on the dramatic events’. Based on these letters, Helen Castor’s booktraces the story of three generations of the Paston family from ClementPaston, a peasant farmer in the late 14th century, to John Paston III who,by 1500, was a trusted and well-respected servant of the king. This familybiography delves into the lives of the family, the births, the marriages, anddeaths, their squabbles, loves and the mundane realities of everyday life.347p, 27 col pls (Faber and Faber 2004) Hb £20.00

The Paston Women: Selected Letters

by Diane Watt. This book presents a selection of translated letters anddocuments written by three generations of Pastons women who lived inthe 15th century as well as a few documents from other women in thefamily. Based largely on Norman Davis’ publication Paston Letters and Papers

(1971 and 1976), the letters chosen provide insights into the social historyand events of this period. The book also includes an interpretative essaywhich places the letters in their social and historical context. 178p (The Li-

brary of Medieval Women, Brewer 2004) Pb £15.99

The Pastons: A Family in the Wars of the Roses

by Richard Barber. Richard Barber’s detailed yet accessible account, nowavailable again in a welcome reprint, focuses on what the content of theletters reveal about the Pastons’ world during the economic uncertaintyand violence of the 15th century. Linguistic features take second placeand some of the original wording has been changed to aid comprehension.Extracts from the letters are interspersed with background informationin order to give the reader a clearer picture of their meaning and significance.208p (Boydell 1993, First Person Singular Pb edn 2004) Pb £14.99

Home and Homelessness

Arts of Possession: The Middle English Household Imaginary

by D Vance Smith. Arts of Possession looks at the way in which ways of living,the household and practices of having, became central issues in Englishmedieval literature. Looking in particular at works such as The Canterbury Tales

and Piers Plowman, as well as archival material and records, Smith argues thathousehold practices generated and formed the organising principle behind14th-century romances, revealing the existence of a sophisticated economicdiscourse. 318p (University of Minnesota 2003) Hb £52.50, Pb £17.50

Exile in the Middle Ages

edited by Laura Napran and Elisabeth van Houts. These four-teen papers, from the International Medieval Congressheld at Leeds in 2002, endeavour to answer the questionof how exile in reality differed from the literary device,looking at the reasons behind it and the different kinds ofexile (both forced and voluntary, physical and mental), aswell as identifying key exile figures in medieval Europe.Examples are taken from both the secular and ecclesiasti-cal worlds. 249p (Brepols 2004) Hb £55.00

Home and Homelessness in the Medieval and

Renaissance World

edited by Nicholas Howe. The idea of ‘home’ means muchmore than a pile of bricks and mortar, and the archaeologicalevidence of physical structures provides valuable informationabout how people in the past have used the space in theirhouses. Similarly documentary evidence tells us much aboutthe dispossessed. This study collects five essays which approach ‘home andhomelessness’ from a range of perspectives, looking at examples in RenaissanceVenice, Spain, Peru, early medieval Iceland and its sagas, and Anglo-SaxonEngland. 170p, b/w illus (Notre Dame UP 2004) Hb £28.95, Pb £16.50

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The Medieval Household in Christian Europe c.850-c. 1550:

Managing Power, Wealth and the Body

edited by Cordelia Beattie, Anna Maslakovic and Sara Rees Jones. Twenty-three papers, from the 2001 Leeds International Medieval Congress, exam-ine a diverse range of households from all social classes and from manydifferent regions of Europe. Issues concerning gender, morality, the publicand private overlap, and the economy and possessions of the householdare also covered. Papers predominantly in English. 486p, b/w illus (Interna-

tional Medieval Research 12, Brepols 2003) Hb £73.00

Food and Cooking

Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

by Richard W Unger. Representing an alternative when clean drinking waterwas not available, a cheaper alternative to wine and a profitable commodityfor the state, beer was a necessity for all levels of state and society. Thisstudy of beer and beer-making examines archival material from the LowCountries and England relating to the ‘business, art and governance ofbrewing’. Unger discusses the transition in the brewing industry from thehousehold to commercial scale, patterns in the development andorganisation of the industry across Europe, investment and innovation,changing markets and consumption. He also looks back over the longhistory of brewing from the Egyptians onwards. 319p, 12 tbs, 22 b/w illus

(Pennsylvania UP 2004) Hb £29.50

Charlemagne’s Tablecloth: A Piquant History of Feasting

by Nichola Fletcher. Charlemagne’s Tablecloth contains a collection of twenty-nine stories and ‘colourful anecdotes’ of the successes and failures of feast-ing. Covering all extremes, from the flamboyant and eccentric to the prettyordinary, and in no particular order, Nichola Fletcher examines such thingsas the indulgence of the Persians, the Golden Age of medieval feasting, theluxurious fish suppers of the Athenians, Chinese banquets, Mardi Gras,Renaissance feasts with their new and exotic ingredients, Thanksgivingsand Hogmanay and, of course, Charlemagne’s infamous tablecloth. 256p,

b/w figs and col pls (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2004, Phoenix Pb 2005) Pb £8.99

The Duchess of Malfi’s Apricots and Other Literary Fruits

by Robert Palter. The sensuous richness and bawdy ridiculousness of fruitsare a regular feature of literature, from the Bible and ancient Greek playsto Arabic court poetry and medieval and modern prose and verse. Thisattractive and substantial volume revels in the luxurious fruity metaphorsof the past with chapters dedicated to particular fruits and their literarydouble meanings through the ages. The volume is full of poetry and prose,demonstrating how authors have used fruit to describe much about thehuman experience, particularly sex, love and desire. This is a lovely book,well worth a dip. 872p, 37 col pls (University of South Carolina 2002) Hb £57.50

Feast: A History of Grand Eating

by Roy Strong. Feasting has been part of society for thousands of yearsand has been an integral part of various celebrations, ‘a vehicle for displayand ostentation, for the parade of rank and hierarchy, for flattering andinfluencing people as well as providing a theatre in which to exercise theart of conversation and the display of manners’. In this stylish and convivialbook Roy Strong explores the history of feasting from the infamous partiesof the Greeks and Romans, to Christian communal feasting, late medievaland Renaissance banquets, through to the cuisine classique of the Frenchcourt of 18th and 19th centuries. This great book covers five millennia ofeating and drinking describing the people invited, their clothes, the setting,food, decoration, etiquette and general ambience of the occasion. 349p,

b/w figs and pls (Jonathan Cape 2002, Pb 2003) Pb £9.99

Food and Feast in Medieval England

by Peter Hammond. What did people eat and drink in medieval times andhow healthy was their diet? This fascinaing book examines theextraordinary range of food that found its way onto the tables of medievalEnglish society to supplement the staple diet of bread, ale, meat and fish.Every aspect of medieval food is described here: from hunting, fish-breeding, brewing and baking to food hygiene and storage and the way inwhich the food supply of a large household was organised. The nutritionalvalue of the food is also assessed in order to consider how well fed peoplewere. The book concludes with an examination of medieval feasts. 272p,

16 b/w illus (Sutton 1993, new Pb edn 2005) Pb £8.99

History of Brewing in Holland, 900-1900

by Richard W Unger. Unger argues that brewing had such a wide impact onsociety that its study should not be confined to economic histories. Withina broad timeframe, Unger explores such topics as the relations betweengovernment policy and technological innovation, production and socialorganisation, the development of guilds and the consumption of beer. 428p,

56 b/w figs, illus, tbs (Brill 2001) Hb £130.00

Medieval Cookery: Recipes and History

by Maggie Black. In the interest of cleanliness and courtesy, there was to be nospitting, belching or scratching of one’s head at the table and certainly nowiping of one’s mouth on the tablecloth. Detailed instructions on table eti-quette were written for the education of young girls and boys in the medievalperiod and demonstrate that in many ways little has changed. The same is trueof the menu and ingredients with bread, soup, meat, fish and vegetables asthe mainstay, but with more interesting and less politically correct additionssuch as peacock, swan, puffins and beavers. This concise history looks at theingredients available and the dishes created, at those who worked in the kitch-ens, their equipment, those that served the master and dining etiquette. Withrecipes added for the modern cook, this book gives the reader a real ‘taste ofthe times’. 96p, col and b/w illus (English Heritage 1985, rev edn 2004) Hb £7.99

Also available:

Tudor Cookery: Recipes and History by Peter Brears (rev 2003) Hb £7.99

Stuart Cookery: Recipes and History by Peter Brears (rev 2004) Hb £7.99

Georgian Cookery by Jennifer Stead (rev 2003) Hb £7.99

Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food

by Silvano Serventi and Françoise Sabban. The fact that pasta originated inItaly is no surprise, but the history of pasta in China is an altogether differentculinary story. ‘The Chinese became masters at transforming a great variety ofstarchy species of plants into pasta products’, long before the age of Christ.With the Italians, things took much longer and it was not until the medievalperiod that pasta appears in written sources. From the 12th century pasta wasbeing traded across the Mediterranean and there was no stopping the spreadof its rampant popularity. Pasta may seem a rather unusual topic for a historybook but its story is a fascinating one. The knowledge, skills and techniquesused to produce pasta in both Chinese and Italian culinary traditions aredescribed here in great detail alongside the history of its producers, tradersand consumers. 439p (Columbia UP 2002) Hb £20.00

Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe

edited by Melitta Weiss Adamson. Nine mouth-watering essays on the artof cookery in Europe from the end of the Roman Empire to the earlyRenaissance. Beginning with the culinary legacy of the Greek and Romanworlds (M Weiss Adamson), the contributors explore the different regionalcuisines in Britain (C B Hieatt), France (T Scully & C Lambert), Italy (S Varey)

and Sicily (H Salloum); Spain (R Chabrán), Germany (M Weiss Adamson) andthe Low Countries (J M van Winter), discussing recipes, food preparationand cooking, different flavours, herbs and spices staple foods and delica-cies. 254p (Routledge 2002) Hb £55.00

Zu Gast bei Kleopatra und Robin Hood: Eine kulinarische Zeitreise

by Hans-Peter von Peschke and Werner Feldmann. This culinary sweep throughhistory draws on literary, documentary and artistic evidence to look at feastingthrough the ages while suggesting recipes for each period. It’s all here: AncientGreek gravy for Herodotus, cabbage dumplings for Hannibal, grilled fish withAlexandrian sauce for Caesar and Cleopatra, roast mutton for Charlemagne,seafood for Leonardo da Vinci and much more besides. Each set of recipesare accompanied by discussions of chronological, regional and cultural trendsin food and dining. German text. 284p, b/w figs (Patmos 2003) Hb £18.95

Entertainment and Leisure

Al-Mansur’s Book On Hunting

introduction, translation and notes byTerence Clark and Mauwiya Derhalli. Theoriginal manuscript of On Hunting, whichdealt with all aspects of hunting and fal-conry, was presented to the Hafsid Sultanof North Africa in 1247. This work draws heavily on earlier classical sourcesprobably in Arabic translations and provides a fascinating window on boththe medieval Arabic world, the history of hunting and the breeding, feed-ing and training of dogs. 160p (Aris & Phillips 2002) Pb £16.50

Birth of the Chess Queen: A History

by Marilyn Yalom. First played in India, Persia and the Arab lands, the origi-nal game of chess had the king accompanied by his vizier rather than hisqueen, but only 200 years after the introduction of the game into Europe,the queen had made her debut. This intriguing book looks at how and whythe queen appeared on the chessboard and what this might reveal aboutcontemporary attitudes towards women, politics and queenship. At firstlimited in her movements and power, from 1200 to 1500 the queen becametactically superior to the king and other pieces, and was permitted unparalleledmovement around the board. Was the introduction of the queen merelythe desire to have a female presence on the board, or was it more inherentlylinked to the rise of powerful European queens such as Isabella of Castille?272p, 14 col pls, b/w figs (Pandora Press 2004) Hb £19.99

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The Kings and Their Hawks: Falconry in Medieval England

by Robin S Oggins. This social history of falconry in medieval England fromWilliam I to the death of Edward I, is based largely on literary sources andgovernmental records, as well as artistic and archaeological evidence. RobinOggins investigates what birds were used, where they were bought, how theywere trained, the role of the falconer, how he was paid, housed and what hisstatus was in the royal household. All this provides insights into royal sportand medieval leisure, royal administration and the infrastructure of the royalhousehold, as well as how activities such as falconry were perceived by differentsocial classes, from peasantry to the clergy, from proponents to critics, fromroyalty to legislators. 251p, 8 col pls, 15 b/w figs (Yale UP 2004) Hb £25.00

The Lewis Chessmen

by James Robinson. Made from walrus ivory some time between AD 1150and 1200, the Lewis Chessmen are iconic artefacts from the early medievalperiod. This concise book provides a guide to the history of these chesspieces including the story of their discovery in 1831, followed by skuldug-gery, deception and controversy as they were sold off to various partiesincluding the British Museum, where most of them are found today. 64p,

25 col pls, 4 b/w figs (British Museum Objects in Focus, BMP 2004) Pb £5.00

Medieval Music as Medieval Exegesis

by William T Flynn. This study ‘pushes the boundaries of liturgical musi-cology beyond the twin disciplines of liturgiology and musicology to em-brace a wider range of investigation that includes biblical exegesis, medievalstudies, Latin linguistics, as well as ecclesiastical history’. Includes an ex-tended analysis of two services: Christmas and Easter Services at Autun inthe early eleventh-century. 269p, 7 tbs (Scarecrow Press 1999) Hb £48.00

Music and Medieval Manuscripts: Paleography and Performance

edited by John Haines and Randall Rosenfeld. This volume presents fifteenspecially commissioned essays with the aim of providing an interdiscipli-nary study of medieval music in honour of Andrew Hughes. Divided intofour parts, the contributors examine the historical and textual evidence for:medieval paleography, including the pen; the theory and performance ofmusic; civic music and its role in drama; liturgical music. The papers covermuch of Europe including Yorkshire and the Welsh Marches, the Papalcourt, Andalucia and Italy. 438p, b/w figs (Ashgate 2004) Hb £59.95

Music in Medieval Manuscripts

by Nicholas Bell. Music was an intrinsic part of medieval life; much of ourevidence comes from manuscripts and this book presents just some of theevidence contained within the manuscript collections of the British Library.The many colour illustrations depict images of musicians, instruments andperformance, reflecting both the social, secular and liturgical aspects ofmusic. 64p, col pls (British Library 2001) Pb £7.95

Die Spielleute: Gaukler, Dichter, Musikanten

by Wolfgang Hartung. Drawing on a rich array of literary andartistic evidence, this accessible study examines the role andactivities of entertainers in medieval Europe, particularly inGermany. Hartung examines the repertoire of acrobats, po-ets, musicians and jugglers, amongst others, their movements,their patrons, their role in courts and towns, theirorganisation and their treatment at the hands of secularand ecclesiastical authorities. Scattered throughout are nu-merous little drawings demonstrating games and sports.German text. 8 col pls, many b/w figs (Patmos 2003) Hb £22.95

With Voice and Pen: Coming to Know Medieval

Song and How it was Made

by Leo Treitler. What are the origins of early Latin chant? Howwas poetry and music combined in medieval song? These arejust some of the questions addressed in this collection of sev-enteen essays by Leo Treitler, here revised and updated, whichanalyse the creation and spread of secular and sacred songthrough both oral and written forms between 900 and 1200. ACD contains performances of some of the music discussed.506p, 15 b/w pls, 14 figs, 4 tbs, CD (Oxford UP 2003) Hb £100.00

Travel

Asian Travel in the Renaissance

edited by Daniel Carey. These nine essays, first published as volume 17,number 3 of Renaissance Studies, cover the exploits of Europeans who setsail for Asia for a variety of reasons be they religious, political or economic.The essays depict both the heroes and scoundrels of the encounters be-tween Europeans and Asians, the air of prejudice, ignorance, mistreatment,curiosity and bewilderment felt, as well as the growing mistrust of Europe-ans and their motives by the people of Asia. 234p (Blackwell 2004) Pb £19.99

Medieval Travellers: The Rich and the Restless

by Margaret Wade Labarge. This book relates stories of great travellers ofthe 13th to mid-15th century, from kings and queens and, of course, theirhouseholds, to officials and diplomats, crusaders, pilgrims, adventurers andsocial climbers. Putting display and style above comfort, many of the aris-tocracy travelled between their houses, or hunting camps, with an elaborateentourage which brought spectacle to the places they visited. Based onchronicles, other literary works, household accounts and such like, Marga-ret Wade Labarge also explores the physical conditions and practicalities ofmaking such journeys. 286p (Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1982, Pb 2005) Pb £8.99

Reisen im Mittelalter

by Norbert Ohler. Despite the perils that faced the medieval traveller, notto mention the formidable length of time that many journeys could take,large numbers of people were on the move. From Viking seafarers andmigrating hoards to kings and queens on royal progressions and ordinarymen and women on their pilgrimage, this well-presented book demonstratesjust how many different groups of people travelled in Europe and even toother continents. Seafarers, missionaries, mobile royal courts, Saxons andVikings, wandering bishops and popes, crusaders, soldiers, pilgrims, ex-plorers to Asia, Columbus, roaming scholars, poets and artists are all con-sidered. 499p, b/w illus (Artemis 1986, Patmos rep 2004) Hb £23.50

Travel in the Middle Ages

by Jean Verdon. The medieval world was not a motionless one and peoplewere prepared to face the difficulties and dangers of travel. Now translatedinto English, this very readable study looks at literary evidence for real andimagined journeys undertaken, exploring how, why and for what reasonpeople travelled. 349p (1998, Engl edn Notre Dame 2003) Hb £41.50, Pb £21.50

Costume

Clothing Culture 1350-1650

edited by Catherine Richardson. During the latemedieval and early modern periods costume wasregulated by law, enforcing its role in definingsocial status and enabling its misuse as a meansof rebelling against social order. These fifteenpapers, mostly from a conference held in Kent,examine the culture of clothing (and being un-clothed) in England and across Europe. 290p,

25 b/w illus, 2 tbs (Ashgate 2004) Hb £49.50

Dress Accessories 1150-1450

by Geoff Egan and Frances Pritchard. This study is based on over 2,000brooches, rings, buckles, pendants, buttons, purses and other accessorieswhich formed part of everyday dress. The fully illustrated catalogue is ac-companied by a discussion of their manufacture, use and the ways in whichthey were attached and worn. 410p, 12 col pls, many b/w illus (Museum of

London 1991, Boydell new edn 2002) Hb £35.00

Dressing the Elite: Clothes in Early Modern England

by Susan Vincent. For centuries clothing has been used to say somethingabout the wearer’s personality, individuality, social standing, profession, so-cial affiliation, and so forth. In the early modern period dress was a power-ful and much used medium whose value went far beyond utilitarian andfinancial considerations. In examining evidence such as pictorial evidence,personal documents, sumptuary laws and conduct manuals, Susan Vincentexplores the social, political and moral implications of clothing in 16th- and17th-century England. She assesses how clothes influenced behaviour, re-lationships, decision-making with regard to garment choice, gender andpower relationships played out through dress, and the manipulation of ap-pearance. 219p, b/w figs (Berg 2003) Pb £17.99

Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress

edited by Désirée G Koslin and Janet E Snyder. This collection of 14 es-says, some from Kalamazoo, reflect different aspects and approaches totextiles and dress in medieval Europe. The contributors (historians, art his-torians and literary specialists) address issues of fashion, the manufactureand use of textiles, style, the impact of trade and and cultural exchange anddraw on case studies from artistic and literary works from across Europeand the Mediterranean. 270p, b/w illus (Palgrave 2002) Hb £42.50

History of Footwear in Norway, Sweden and Finland

by June Swann. Here, an English specialist on footwear and shoemaking,turns her attention to the shoes of Scandinavia from prehistory to 1950.Drawing on evidence from recent excavations, with most examples datingfrom the 17th century onwards, Swann looks at formal shoes, functionaleveryday shoes, clogs and boots and elaborate regional Scandinavian foot-wear. Illustrated throughout. 357p, many col and b/w illus (Kungl. Vitterhets

Historie och Antikvitets Akademien 2001) Pb £50.00

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Medieval Clothing and Textiles

edited by Robin Netherton and Gale R Owen-Cocker. The academic studyof medieval clothing has grown to such an extent that it now merits a newannual volume; this is the first edition. Aiming to cover both social andtechnological aspects of clothing and textiles, it presents ten scholarly pa-pers which draw on archaeological, iconographic and documentary evidenceas well as the ‘fruits of experiments’. The papers consider Anglo-Saxonembroidery, imagery in the Exeter Book, the dress of Cnut and his wife, thetype of mantle favoured by Icelandic slayers, medieval fulling, references toclothing (and clothing impropriety), the regulation of clerical dress, the tip-pet and the nature of the veil worn by Giovanni Cenami in the famous15th-century Jan van Eyck painting. Illustrations and tables throughout.185p, b/w illus, tbs (Boydell 2005) Hb £25.00

Medieval Costume and How to Recreate It

by Dorothy Hartley. This unabridged republication of Dorothy Hartley’sMedieval Costume and Life published in 1931 covers all manner of costumefrom the 12th to 15th century. Rather than a history of costume, her bookclassifies dress according to social type, from the ordinary peasant, to cler-ics and professionals, to the nobility and royalty. Hartley’s evidence, coupledwith lots of drawings, diagrams and illustrations from tapestries and illumi-nated manuscripts, makes this an excellent guide for those recreating or re-enacting medieval life. 142p, many b/w illus (Dover 2003) Pb £11.95

The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant

by Sarah Thursfield. Subtitled ‘Making common garments 1200-1500’, thisbook teaches the modern seamstress all about recreating medieval costume.Thursfield covers underwear, main garments, outer garments, headwearand accessories, with advice on choosing the right garment to match yourchosen period and to suit the wearer. Full of practical advice, lots of illus-trations, as well as discussion of the historical background to various gar-ments. 224p, 3 col pls, 19 b/w pls (Ruth Bean 2001) Pb £28.00

Shoes and Pattens

by Francis Grew and Margrethe De Neergaard. Thisstudy examines shoemaking and cobbling, decorationand fittings, repairs, wooden and leather pattens, wearpatterns and foot deformities, literary parallels and status in En-gland between the 12th and 15th centuries. Based on examplesfound in the waterlogged deposits of the river Thames, the briefnew introduction highlights recent discoveries and updates thebibliography. Summaries in French and German. 145p 165 b/w

illus, tbs (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London 2, HMSO 1988,

Boydell new edn 2001) Hb £25.00

Textiles and Clothing

by Elizabeth Crowfoot, Frances Pritchard and Kay Staniland. Excavationsalong the River Thames during the 1970s and 1980s produced an assem-blage of textiles, still unequalled in western Europe, which could be se-curely dated between 1150 and 1450. This analysis of the textiles, and pro-cesses of dyeing, weaving and tailoring, is now available in a new edition.The discussion supplements evidence from manuscripts and artworks andprovides a wealth of insights into the life and work of medieval Londoners.223p, 16 col pls, 183 b/w illus (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London 4,

HMSO 1992, Boydell new edn 2001) Hb £25.00

For other books in the series please see page 108

Tailor’s Pattern Book 1589

by Juan de Alcega. A facsimile of a Spanish tailor’s guide from the late 16thcentury, which ‘sets out the complicated calculations needed for adaptingmeasurements in the days when cloth and other materials were woven in manystandard widths’. The facsimile is followed by an illustrated English transla-tion and a glossary. 88p + 66p, b/w illus (Ruth Bean rep 2000, 2004) Pb £25.00

The Nobility and Life at Court

Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages

by Joachim Bumke. In the 18th and 19th century historians, artists andwriters re-imagined the Middle Ages, peopling it with chivalrous knightsand fair damsels, straight from the pages of a romance. The reality wasvery different, characterised by poverty, oppression and war. Here, Bumkeexamines the literary creation of an ideal courtly life, based around a strictmoral and social code of behaviour, and assesses the extent to which thenobility (especially in France and Germany) attempted to mirror thatbehaviour, if at all. 770p, b/w figs (1986, Overlook Press 2000) Pb £18.00

Courtly Love in Medieval Manuscripts

by Pamela Porter. In this book, Pamela Porter, Curator of Manuscripts inthe British Library, looks at courtly love within the context of romance,chivalry and ‘real life’ relationships in medieval society, accompanied by lotsof lovely colour photos. 64p, 50 col illus (British Library 2003) Pb £7.95

Heraldry

by Stephen Friar. Stephen Friar’s clear and enjoyable explanation of theorigins, history and symbolism of heraldry has now been made availableagain in a well-presented paperback. Well-illustrated. 276p, many b/w illus, 16

col pls (Sutton 1992, Pb 1996, rep 1997, new edn 2004) Pb £14.99

Nobles and Nobility in Medieval Europe

edited by Anne J Duggan. This collection of papers studies the concept ofnobility, pre- and post-Conquest England, Italy, Iberia, France, Scandinavia,Poland and Germany, from the 5th to the early 16th century. The first sixpapers consider the origins of the nobilty in Northern Europe and the estab-lishment of the vocabulary of nobilty in Old English; five essays discuss thecentral Middle Ages, including the role of the noble in politics and literature;the final three papers provide a broad overview of the noble and his family inlater medieval Europe. 285p, 2 b/w pls (Boydell 2000, Pb 2002) Pb £16.99

Origins of the English Gentleman: Heraldry, Chivalry and

Gentility in Medieval England, c.1300-c.1500

by Maurice Keen. What factors distinguished a ‘gentleman’ from his fellowmen in the medieval period? What part did a man’s ancestry, profession, ormilitary prowess play in his social standing? Maurice Keen explores thehistory of the ‘English Gentleman’ and traces changes in the use of her-aldry from a practical to symbolic entity and explains how and why thistransformation took place. Keen discusses the importance of social recog-nition through war service, of certain vocations such as lawyers and mer-chants, and how acceptance into certain social circles was achieved. 192p,

16 col pls, 19 b/w figs (Tempus 2002) Pb £16.99

The Origins of the English Gentry

by Peter Coss. The term ‘gentry’ has traditionally been associated with someform of land ownership, office-holding and with gentility, although be-yond this the term has very vague connotations. It is this uncertainty thatformed the impetus for Peter Coss’ detailed investigation into the originsof the English gentry which he argues can be dated to between the mid-13th and mid-14th century. Arguing that the gentry were a necessary deviceencouraged by royal government, Coss explores how they took on func-tions linked to the collection of taxes, social and judicial control over thelocal populace, and as local representatives at parliament, perhaps linked tothe needs of war. 329p, 3 b/w illus (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £48.00

Behaving and Misbehaving

‘A Great Effusion of Blood?’ Interpreting Medieval Violence

edited by Mark D Meyerson, Daniel Thiery and Oren Falk. The thirteenessays in this book, from a conference held at Toronto in 1998, argue thatviolence was omnipresent in medieval society, affecting all people and areasof life, from politics and religion, to social behaviour, language and textualproduction. The essays cover a range of subjects, looking at the multipleviews of violence, whether as historical reality or the product of theimagination, as witnessed by the victims, perpetrators, witnesses, writersand their audience. 319p (University of Toronto 2004) Hb £40.00

Conflict in Medieval Europe: Changing Perspectives on Society

and Culture

edited by Warren C Brown and Piotr Górecki. These fourteen papers froma conference held in California in 2001 bring together scholars of the‘American School’ of medieval conflict and social order studies. Togetherthey cover the different types and scales of conflict and the broad rangeof related issues such as criminality, coercion and violence, dispute, reform,punishment, judgements, law, feuding, and so on. The Viking and Normanperiods receive particular attention. 334p (Ashgate 2002) Hb £47.50

Crime in Medieval Europe 1200-1550

by Trevor Dean. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, Dean searchesfor the human stories behind the criminal laws and judicial systems of En-gland, France and Italy during the later Middle Ages. Chapters examine thegrowth of judicial corruption, the crime wave that accompanied the BlackDeath, women as victims and perpetrators, the misbehaviour of studentsand clerics, punishment and the place of crime in literature. 173p, 17 b/w pls

(Longman 2001) Hb £20.99

The Last Duel: A True Story of Medieval Crime, Scandal and Trial

by Combat in Medieval France

by Eric Jager. In the winter of 1386, beside a Paris monastery, a duel took placebetween a local squire and a knight, in front of the knight’s wife, the localtownfolk, the young Charles VI and all his court. The story of this duel, itsbackground, events and aftermath, are retold here by Eric Jager, based on theoriginal sources including chronicles, legal and court records. Set to becomethe last duel sanctioned by the Parlement of Paris, the duel is placed within thecontext of 14th-century France. 242p, b/w figs (Century 2005) Hb £14.99

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Medieval Mischief: Wit and Humour in the Art of the Middle Ages

by Janetta Rebold Benton. The Church was responsible for most medieval artbut stonemasons and wood carvers often could not resist the urge to pokefun at the establishment. Humour, particularly mischievous humour, can there-fore be found in the most surprising places. This attractive book is full ofcolour photographs that display the mischievous work of artists, beginningwith a fat church pillar wrapped in a corset. Other pictures show a whole hostof people who were depicted supporting columns, arches, lintels and corbels,as well as verbal puns, representations of the deadly sins and the horrors ofhell, misogynist images of women, cheeky animals, the battle of the sexes,couples making up, and, of course, many examples of the ever popular habitof dropping one’s trousers. 161p, many col pls (Sutton 2004) Hb £20.00

The Medieval Underworld

by Andrew McCall. Andrew McCall’s study outlines some of the majorchanges that took place in the early medieval period, the shift from pagan-ism to Christianity, feudalism, the corruption of money and materialism,and the conflict between the Church and the state. An array of evildoers arediscussed including bandits, outlaws, beggarmen, thieves, prostitutes, ho-mosexuals, heretics, sorcerers, witches and Jews. McCall describes the na-ture of these groups, their crimes, and the punishments that awaited them,concluding with the ultimate punishment – Hell. 319p, 54 b/w figs (Hamish

Hamilton 1979, Sutton History Classics series 2004) Pb £9.99

Popular Protest in Late Medieval Europe

translated and annotated by Samuel K Cohn. This anthology presents over200 documents, in English translation, which testify to the numerous re-volts and popular risings that Europe faced between 1245 and 1423. Dur-ing these centuries large numbers of brave, and often extremely foolhardy,peasants and workers refused to pay taxes, stormed castles, toppled localdespots, rioted, chased nobles out of cities, conspired and ravaged. Thesources for this ‘contagion of revolts’ are varied and go some way towardsanswering Samuel Cohn’s question regarding the impact that the Black Deathhad on the lives of the ordinary men and women of Europe as well asexploring the European context of the English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381.389p, maps (Manchester UP 2004) Hb £60.00, Pb £16.99

The Theory and Practice of Revolt in Medieval England

by Claire Valente. Many historical commentators note howthe period from the 13th to 15th century was fraught withcrises, revolts, conspiracy and resistance to the king. Valentepresents a comparative examination of revolts during this pe-riod, assessing what went wrong, what the motives were, whatresulted and asks whether it was the innate weakness of theking that caused outbreaks of resistance. Such periods of crisisare set within the historical, political and social context of thetime. 276p, tbs (Ashgate 2003) Hb £47.50

Death

Consuming Passions: The Uses of Cannibalism in Late Medieval

and Early Modern Europe

by Merrall Llewelyn Price. Late medieval and early modern texts often ex-plored the idea of cannibalism, attempting to reconcile its reality with theChristian act of Communion where worshippers ate the human flesh anddrank the blood of the divine. The five essays examine different aspects ofcannibalistic acts and their links with heresy and witchcraft. Three of themfocus on cannibalism within the context of the Church and the Eucharist,the fourth looks at the story of Mary of Jerusalem who killed and ate herchild rather than surrender her to an approaching imperial army, and thefifth draws on the sensationalist accounts of early explorers to the NewWorld. 164p, 8 b/w illus (Routledge 2003) Hb £50.00

Last Things: Death and the Apocalypse in the Middle Ages

edited by Caroline Walker Bynum and Paul Freedman. Death, the after-lifeand the end of the world were all closely linked within the mind of themedieval intellectual and the ordinary man and these eleven essays showhow all these concerns affected the way people lived their lives. They alsoexamine the apocalypse, which was continually predicted and linked withevents such as the Black Death, and the medieval view of the afterlife fromthe 12th to 14th centuries. 381p, 17 b/w figs (Pennsylvania UP 2000) Pb £17.50

Place of Death – Death and Remembrance in Late Medieval Europe

edited by Bruce Gordon and Peter Marshall. High mortality in medievalEurope ensured a prominent role for death and the dead in the lives of theliving, both as something to be commemorated and also to be feared. Fif-teen essays examine the broad influence of the dead: physically, as an objectto be disposed of safely, spiritually, as ghosts or angels, and materially, as asource of wealth to those left behind. 324p, 16 b/w pls and 1 b/w fig (Cam-

bridge UP 2000) Pb £18.99

Severed Heads: British Beheadings Through the Ages

by Geoffrey Abbott. This book, written by a retired Yeoman Warder fromthe Tower, presents a morbid but entertaining anthology of one hundredof the thousands of men and women who fell victim to the axe or sword(or the Halifax Gibbet or the Scottish Maiden). The entries, arranged chro-nologically, also look at the victims’ alleged crimes, any last words and thedisposal of the body and head, often on spikes on London Bridge. A clos-ing index lists each victim, identifying the type of blade that finished themoff. 244p, 16 b/w pls (André Deutsch 2000, Pb 2003) Pb £7.99

Sterben und Tod im Mittelalter

by Norbert Ohler. In the superstitious, religious and often unhealthy MiddleAges death was an important part of life. Originally published in 1990, thisis a historical investigation, based on documentary sources, of what the actof dying and the actual deathbed meant to medieval society. Beginningwith a detailed look at the types of death that a medieval man, woman orchild might expect, Ohler goes on to examine the Christian rituals of death,the Church’s attitudes towards its dying parishioners, the place of the bodyin society and religious practices (including the preservation of body partsin reliquaries). Other themes include the death of kings, death in war, pes-tilence and plague, types of graves, visions of the afterlife and more un-usual practices involving bodies, such as sacrifice and cannibalism. 320p, b/

w figs (Artemis 1990, Patmos Pb 2003) Pb £9.99

Tyburn: London’s Fatal Tree

by Alan Brooke and David Brandon. More than 50,000 people are thoughtto have died at Tyburn between the 12th century and 1783 when publichanging there was stopped. The three miles from Newgate prison to Tyburnprovided entertainment for the people of London as heroes, martyrs, crimi-nals, highwaymen, pretenders and imposters were sent to the gallows. Thisbook looks at the people who died there and their crimes, providing in-sights not only into the penal system in London and Britain as a whole, butalso the changing social and economic climate from the 12th to 18th cen-tury. William Wallace, Perkin Warbeck and the dashing highwayman ClaudeDuval were just some of the victims of Tyburn. The confessions, last wordsand condemnations of those facing the gallows, the role of the execu-tioner, and the appearance of Tyburn in London’s folklore, literature andart, are all discussed. 246p, 28 b/w pls (Sutton 2004) Hb £20.00

Witchcraft and Magic

Discerning Spirits: Divine and Demonic Possession in the Middle Ages

by Nancy Caciola. There was a fine line between those people who werevenerated as visionaries or mystics receiving divine messages and those thatwere condemned for being possessed by evil, demonic spirits. Nancy Caciolaexamines how the testing or ‘discernment of spirits’ related to women inthe medieval period, especially from the 12th century onwards. She dis-cusses how this testing was carried out, how evidence was sought in women’sbodily features and behaviours and how procedures changed through tothe 14th century. Insights into attitudes towards female mystics and theirtreatment can be found in theological works, saint’s lives, scholastic andmedical treatises, miracle accounts, demonologies and so on, all of whichare discussed here. 327p, 23 b/w illus (Cornell UP 2003) Hb £26.95

Footprints in Stone: Imprints of giants, heroes, holy people, devils,

monsters and supernatural beings

by Janet Bord. Footprints and handprints appear to be symbolicallysignificant in many cultures around the world, a phenomenon that reachesway back into the past to the time of dinosaurs. Whereas some imprintshave been scientifically tested and authenticated, others are morecontroversial and have spawned numerous stories, folklore andexplanations. This book delves into the world of the authentic and inventiveas Janet Bord examines more than a hundred examples of ancient andmore recent imprints. The extremes range from dinosaur footprints, handand foot imprints from our prehistoric ancestors, impressions left byBuddha, Jesus and the Virgin Mary, by saints, horses and other animals,the Devil, giants, villains and heroes. Within the pages of this book youwill find the bottom print of St Quirinius, as he rested on a pilgrimage toPalestine, the knee prints of St Cynllo left whilst praying, through tomodern mysteries including Big Foot and aliens. A gazetteer of ‘footprintsto visit’ is also included. 263p, 138 b/w illus (Heart of Albion 2004) Pb £14.95

Magie und Aberglaube im Mittelalter

by Jean Claude Bologne. A detailed study, translated from the French 1993edition, of magic and superstition in the Middle Ages. Throughout Bolognestresses the influence of classical paganism, sometimes unhappily marriedto Christianity. Sections examine the medieval magician, ritual objects, localand widely-held superstitions, black magic and alchemy. German text. 309p

(1993, Walter 1995 German edn, Patmos Pb 2003) Pb £9.99

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The Monstrous Middle Ages

edited by Bettina Bildhauer and Robert Mills. The monster performed vari-ous functions in medieval culture acting, most often, as a metaphor. Theseten essays examine the ‘meaning-laden’ monsters of the High and Late MiddleAges and the cultural uses of monstrosity within different agendas. Theessays show that whereas the monster may appear on the surface to be amarginal entity in manuscript illuminations and various writings, it was infact symbolically central to many aspects of medieval culture often withgender, ethnic and religious connotations. Essays include Jesus as Monster;Blood, Jews and Monsters in medieval culture; Demonizing the night inmedieval Europe; Apocalyptic Monsters. 236p, 19 b/w illus (University of Wales

2003) Hb £40.00, Pb £16.99

New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology

by Brian Levack. Gathering together the vast literature on witchcraft relatedissues published in the last decade, this 6-volume set focuses on topics suchas gender, government and law, the culture of religion and the occult in themedieval and early modern period. Using approaches from several disci-plines, including anthropology and sociology, this source provides a sweep-ing overview of the occult. 6 vols: 2100p (Routledge 2002) Hb £495.00; the six

volumes cost £85.00 each

The Occult in Mediaeval Europe 500-1500

edited and translated by P G Maxwell-Stuart. The medieval period has beenbranded an age of superstition but, as Maxwell-Stuart argues, this is mis-leading in many ways and was a creation of the 18th century which per-petuated through successive centuries. Here, Maxwell-Stuart presents a col-lection of almost 150 documents, translated into English, on variousthoughts and beliefs taken from religious, legal, medical and scientific texts.Extracts from writers such as William of Malmesbury, Nicholas of Cusa,St Augustine of Hippo, St Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon and Chaucer,reveal how medieval Europe sought to cope with and explain the unknownthrough various branches of magic, divination, astrology and alchemy. 245p,

7 b/w illus (Palgrave 2005) Hb £47.50, Pb £15.99

The Secret Middle Ages: Discovering the Real Medieval World

by Malcolm Jones. This well-illustrated and very accessible study of whatmedieval life was like away from the refined aristocratic, religious and liter-ary world that readers are normally presented with. Jones focuses on theartistic evidence of folklore, including doodles, carvings, unfamiliar scenesfrom paintings, and unusual and evocative artefacts. The photographs aresupported by an interesting discussion of what these images reveal aboutthe sexual life, superstitions, humour and follies of ordinary people as wellas their thoughts about animals, typical English traits, the opposite sex andbodily functions. 374p, 24 col pls, many b/w illus (Sutton 2002, Pb 2004) Hb

£25.00, Pb £14.99

Strange Histories

by Darren Oldridge. Many of the ideas that come from the medieval worldare frequently considered bizarre, irrational, absurd, illogical and above allignorant. In this book Darren Oldridge discusses how contemporary peoplewere more than capable of logical thought, but theirs was a world of magic,superstition, strong religious beliefs and ill-understood natural and super-natural forces. Beneath the rather gruesome cover lies a sophisticated dis-cussion of the strange and often disturbing world of the late Middle Agesand early modern period. Flying witches, exorcism, the Devil, the walkingdead, trial by ordeal, the execution of animals and persecution of hereticsare just some of the subjects addressed and contextualised within the un-derstanding and thinking of the contemporary world. 198p, 10 b/w illus

(Routledge 2005) Hb £18.99

Witchcraft: A History

by P G Maxwell-Stuart. This accessible study of witches, from their west-ern origins in Greece and Rome, to their persecution in the 16th centuryand 20th-century paganism, aims to challenge some commonly held mis-conceptions about witches and witchcraft. Maxwell-Stuart discusses theconnection between magic and heresy, stereotypical images of witchesthrough the centuries and methods used to identify suspects. 223p, 23 b/w

illus (Tempus 2000, 2001, this Pb edn 2004) Pb £9.99

Wizards: A History

by P G Maxwell-Stuart. Drawing on sources relating to both fictional andhistorical sorcerers, necromancers, spiritualists, alchemists and ‘ritual magi-cians’, from antiquity to the 20th century, Maxwell-Stuart discusses howwizards have been portrayed and why people have had problems in under-standing their aims and intentions. A flurry of examples are cited through-out as the author looks at how wizards learnt and mastered their art andexamines their powers, assessing the moral, physical and spiritual dangersthey faced as they entered other worlds and especially as they probed intothe mind of God. 222p, 20 b/w pls (Tempus 2004) Pb £16.99

Politics, Law and Diplomacy

English Diplomatic Practice in the Middle Ages

by Pierre Chaplais. Primarily intended as a manual, this specialised workcharts the development of English foreign relations from its 6th-centuryorigins to the late Middle Ages. Throughout, Chaplais relies on the richabundance of archival material to demonstrate the evolving sophisticationof diplomacy. Divided into three sections, the study focuses on Englishdiplomatic practice before 1200, particularly during the reigns of Henry IIand his sons, types of diplomatic correspondence, including their language,format and delivery, and missions. Numerous extracts are presented in Latinonly. 277p (Hambledon and London 2003) Hb £25.00

Fama: The Politics of Talk and Reputation in Medieval Europe

edited by Thelma Fenster and Daniel Lord Small. Gossip was as commonand as popular in the medieval period as it is today and was the subject ofmuch literary discussion. These nine papers from a conference held atFordham University in 2000 focus on fama, or talk, in the medieval periodand how it was regarded as both sinful gossip and hearsay, and somethingthat could have a beneficial and honest purpose. Widely discussed in liter-ary texts and legal documents, these essays ask what caused and createdtalk, such as public performance, behaviour, clothing, and how people usedit to gain status and notoriety. 227p (Cornell UP 2003) Hb £30.50, Pb £12.50

Judicial Trials in England and Europe, 1200-1700

edited by Maureen Mulholland and Brian Pullan. This collection of essays,five of which derive from ‘The Trial in History’ conference held in Manches-ter in 1999, explores the structure, function, procedures and different formsof trial from the 13th to 17th century. Contributors examine both the no-tion and concept of trial as well as discussing examples of English Com-mon Law and Roman and Canon Law of the Church, contrasting variouslegal systems from England and Europe. Issues of bias, openness, the roleof judges, juries, amateur and professional advisers, offenders and theircrimes are all discussed. 186p, 4 tbs (Manchester UP 2003) Hb £40.00

Kings, Barons and Justices: The Making and Enforcement of

Legislation in Thirteenth-Century England

by Paul Brand. This meticulous investigation of leg-islation and justice in 13th-century England is basedon the close reading of two crucial statutes: the1259 Provisions of Westminster and the 1267 Stat-ute of Marlborough. Using these and a range ofother sources, all of which are presented in Latinwith facing English translation in appendices,Brand explores the political context of the stat-utes, the social and legal context of their individualclauses, their enforcement, their amendments and theireffectiveness. 508p (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £65.00

The Kiss of Peace: Ritual, Self and Society in the High and Late

Medieval West

by Kiril Petkov. From the 11th to 16th century medieval rituals of reconcili-ation typically involved the kiss of peace. This study asks why this rite con-tinued to be used throughout the medieval period, its manipulation by indi-viduals, groups, as well as political and moral authorities, and what it revealsabout the relationship between ritual and power. 355p (Cultures, Beliefs and

Traditions 17, Brill 2003) Hb £85.00

The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the 12th Century, Vol 1

by Patrick Wormald. An authoritative work of reference and a broad dis-cussion of the impact and significance of written policy, Wormald looks atthe historians of early English law, such as Maitland and Pollock, and setsthe historical scene for the law-making of King Alfred and his successors.The second part of the book focuses on primary evidence and has moredetailed accounts of law-codes taken from contemporary chronicles, re-ports and manuscripts. The over-riding success of this study is its insis-tence on approaching legal manuscripts and texts as products of their owntime and of their own country. 574p, 20 b/w figs, 1 map (Blackwell 1999, rep

2000, Pb 2001) Pb £25.99

Medieval Justice: Cases and Laws in France, England and

Germany, 500-1500

by Hunt Janin. A general survey and selective insight into the workings ofthe justice system in medieval France, England and Germany. Medievallegal cases are rarely dull and more than 100 examples are included at theend of each chapter, giving the reader a taste of just some of the thousandsof legal records available. From divine to human justice, Hunt Janin looksat cases of duels, highway robbery, family disputes, an accused witch, theexecution of two monks, prostitutes, entrapment, murder and much more.225p (McFarland & Co. 2004) Hb £33.50

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Medieval Law and the Foundations of the State

by Alan Harding. Harding challenges the idea that there was no state in theMiddle Ages, arguing that it was during this period that the notion of thestate was first conceived and put into action. New systems of administer-ing justice, new court procedures, organised peace-keeping and legal orderwere all new models for a system of increased centralisation of govern-ment. Harding focuses in particular on the courts of the French and En-glish kings. 392p (Oxford UP 2002) Hb £50.00

The Oxford History of the Laws of England, Volume 1: The

Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction from 597 to the 1640s

by R H Helmholz. Contents: the Anglo-Saxon Church; from the NormanConquest to the establishment of consistory courts; from the 13th centuryto Elizabeth’s accession; from the Elizabethan Settlement to the abolitionof episcopacy; civil procedure and the law of proof; monetary obligationsand economic regulation; testamentary law and probate jurisdiction; tithesand spiritual dues; churches and the clergy; marriage and divorce; defama-tion; crimes and criminal procedure. 693p (Oxford UP 2004) Hb £125.00

Political Thought in the Age of Scholasticism

edited by Martin Kaufhold. This Festschrift publishes twenty essays inhonour of Jürgen Miethke and reflect his interests in the political and theo-logical thought of the Middle Ages. The specialist papers discuss: Joachimvon Fiore, the Magna Carta, Thomas of Aquinas, Nichomachean ethics,Padua, universities, William of Ockham, legal texts, Duns Scotus, Lutherand education. Fifteen papers in German, the remainder in English. 387p

(Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions CIII, Brill 2004) Hb £108.00

The Profession and Practice of Medieval Canon Law

by James A Brundage. Divided into three sections, these eighteen papersdiscuss the rise of professional canonists and their ethical ideals; teachingCanon Law in Cambridge and elsewhere; fees, costs and legal practice. Thepapers retain their original pagination. 336p (VCS, Ashgate 2004) Hb £57.50

Reputation and Representation in Fifteenth-Century Europe

edited by Douglas L Biggs, Sharon D Michalove and A Compton Reeves.This volume presents thirteen scholarly papers from the third conferenceon 15th-century studies held in Illinois in 2001. Subjects include: The‘Lancastrianization’ of the north during the reign of Henry IV; John theFearless’ way of war; women as the disseminators of culture; Margaret ofYork on pilgrimage; 15th-century genealogy; mothers and daughters inEngland; Yorkist propaganda; Morete Darthur; narratives of treason and royalauthority in 15th-century England; Parish troubles; witchcraft and theWoodvilles; rethinking Henry VII. 357p, 23 col and b/w pls (The Northern

World 8, Brill 2004) Hb £89.50

Ritual, Text and Law

edited by Kathleen G Cushing and Richard F Gyug. This volume presentseighteen papers on medieval canon law and liturgy in honour of Roger EReynolds. Divided into two sections, each of which begins with its ownintroduction, the first seven papers focus on ritual with specialised analysesof angels, priests, ordination, liturgy and prayers. The final elevencontributions examine texts and laws from across Europe, includingCarolingian manuscripts and sources from Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark.Thirteen papers in English, two in French, three in German. 326p, 18 b/w

pls (Church, Faith and Culture in the Medieval West, Ashgate 2004) Hb £50.00

Medicine and Disease

The A-Z of Traditional Cures and Remedies

by Dulcie Lewis. From abscesses, agues and aphrodisiacsto wormwood, wounds and zambuk (a one-time popularskin ointment), this handy guide steers the general readerthrough old wives’ tales, superstitions, as well as more sub-stantiated traditional cures, from the pre-NHS era. The de-scription of each ‘medical memory’ is concise, and oftenrevolting. 252p, b/w illus (Countryside Books 2002) Pb £9.95

The Art of Healing: Painting for the Sick and the

Sinner in a Medieval Town

by Marcia Kupfer. Focusing largely on the paintings preserved in the parishchurch of Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher in central France, Kupfer explores therole of the sick body in art, the relationship between sickness and sin inreligion, divine intervention in healing, the function of artworks whichdepict medical or healing procedures and, more generally, the use ofchurches as places of healing. Sections examine the role of urban bodiesin health control, such as the parish, the borough and the lord’s demesne,healing cults, pilgrimage, urban epidemics (particularly leprosy), imagesof disease, sin and cure, architectural design, crypts and examples ofwallpaintings. 319p, 117 b/w illus (Pennsylvania State UP 2003) Hb £36.95

Black Death 1346-1353

by Ole J Benedictow. Abscess, carbuncle andsepticaemia are just three of the delightfulwords that feature in this book’s glossary andgive some indication of its subject. Filling agaping hole in research on the Black Deathwhich typically discuss its cultural, psychologi-cal and religious effects, this Complete His-tory collates a wealth of source material onthe origins, spread and mortality rate of the disease. No effort has beenspared to collect, examine and synthesise the available studies on the BlackDeath’s epidemiology, spread and demographic impact from Russia to AsiaMinor, the Mediterranean and across Europe. Benedictow includes discus-sions of the earliest accounts of plague recorded in the Bible, ancient Greco-Roman sources, and in the medieval period. He goes on to examine themechanisms by which the disease was transmitted and inexorably spreadand its long-term impact on social, religious and economic life. 433p, 11

maps, 3 b/w figs, 38 tbs (Boydell 2004) Hb £30.00

Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine

by Roy Porter. The full and often horrifying history of man’s long battlewith disease is brought to life in this concise and vivid history of medicine.Adopting a thematic approach, ‘Britain’s greatest medical historian’ surveysthe history of medical bodies, techniques and institutions from the earliestrecorded times, mostly Egypt, through to the great discoveries of the 19thand 20th centuries. Subjects tackled include the doctor, the body, the labo-ratory, therapies, surgery and the hospital. Throughout Porter emphasisesthe social context, including the stigma and dread, of disease and treat-ments which, as this study shows, were often worse than the sickness orinjury. 199p, 38 b/w illus (Penguin 2002, Pb 2003) Pb £7.99

The Curse of Eve, the Wound of the Hero: Blood, Gender, and

Medieval Literature

by Peggy McCracken. Blood was frequently used as a metaphor in medievalliterature but in historical, medical and religious discourse, it was treated invery different ways. Drawing on French and other literature, PeggyMcCracken focuses on how blood acquired ‘gendered cultural values’. Me-dieval cultural values dictated that whereas male blood was frequently asso-ciated with chivalric bloodshed on the battlefield, with martyrdom and withstatus and privilege carried down the bloodline, female blood was oftenconsidered a pollutant and was shrouded from the public arena. McCrackenconsider these different sides to blood, from bloodletting to menstruation,from eucharistic ritual and the blood of Christ to medical theories andpractices. 178p (University of Pennsylvania 2003) Hb £27.50

Great Dying: The Black Death in Dublin

by Maria Kelly. If the Black Death was God’s punishment for people’s sins,the inhabitants of Dublin must have been very bad for ‘between Augustand Christmas 1348, 14,000 people are said to have died from the plague’.With little archaeological evidence for the prevalence of the plague and itseffects on the population of Dublin, much of Kelly’s history is based ondocumentary sources. Having outlined the background to the city of Dublin,its people, living conditions, health and sanitation before 1348, Maria Kellypaints a picture of the arrival and rapid progress of the plague, beginningwith indifference and swiftly moving to fear and panic, to confession andprayer, this study emphasises the religious fervour that took hold of medi-eval Dublin. 252p, 26 b/w pls, many b/w illus (Tempus 2003) Pb £14.99

Health, Sickness, Medicine and the Friars in the Thirteenth and

Fourteenth Centuries

by Angela Montford. Based to a large extent on 14th-century manuscriptevidence from the convents at Bologna, this book pieces together evidenceon the role of the mendicant orders in the medical history of the 13th and14th centuries. Angela Montford examines what happened to sick friars,how they were nursed and treated, and asks whether the friars offered medicalcare to the secular community. Issues of standards in care, duties and equip-ment, expenditure, surgery, secular practitioners, and the impact of the Plagueare all discussed. 302p, 19 b/w illus (Ashgate 2004) Hb £57.50

A History of the Black Death in Ireland

by Maria Kelly. Despite being somewhat hampered by a paucity of explicitsource material, especially when compared with other areas such as En-gland, Maria Kelly undertakes the history of the Black Death in Ireland.Arriving in Ireland in 1348, Kelly traces how the disease got here and howit then spread. She tracks its progress from town to village assessing theimpact it had on urban and rural lives and work, the response of the Churchand how it affected the governance of Ireland. Her discussion of the after-math of the Black Death is placed within the context of Anglo-Irish rela-tions. 223p, 25 col pls (Tempus 2001, Pb 2004) Pb £12.99

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The Madness of Kings

by Vivian Green. Beginning with extracts from Shakespeare who epitomisedthis favoured theme in the character of King Lear, this detailed and veryreadable study examines the friction that took place between private andpublic when the personal ailments of the monarch adversely affected thecourse of his nation’s history. This book covers many centuries, with somefamiliar and notorious madmen discussed, such as Caligula, Henry II andhis sons, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Ivan the Terrible, Stalin, Christian VII ofDenmark, Woodrow Wilson, Mussolini and Hitler. Supported by extractsfrom sources, Vivian Green examines the symptoms of each statesman’sderangement, its manifestations, its extreme repercussions for their sub-jects, its exploitation by politicians and to what extent the historical ac-counts can be trusted. 369p, 32 b/w pls (Sutton 1993, Pb 2005) Pb £8.99

Medicine Before Science: The Business of Medicine from the

Middle Ages to the Enlightenment

by Roger French. Much of medieval medicine was based on knowledge ofthe ancient sources such as Hippocrates and Galen, rather than what weknow of today as scientific practice and clinical trials. Roger French’s studyis not a history of medicine but it is a narrative survey of the relationshipbetween medicine and natural philosophy which instructed physicians onhow the body and natural world worked. He traces how and when medi-cine became a professional and widely regarded trade, and how physiciansbecame famous, powerful and rich with reputations based on social ratherthan clinical excellence. The point at which the medical profession reachedcrisis point, when natural philosophy was confronted by the ‘Scientific Revo-lution’, is discussed in detail. 289p (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £45.00, Pb £16.99

Die Pest: Ende eines Mythos

by Manfred Vasold. The most famous pestilence in history is the BlackDeath of 1348/49 which decimated the population of Europe. However,this sweeping history of ‘plagues’ through the ages shows that they haveimpacted on other cultures as well as Europe at regular intervals. Therepercussions of widespread disease, such as warfare, are also considered.The first half of the study examines more recent epidemics andcorresponding developments in medicine over the last 200 years, focusingon outbreaks of cholera and other diseases in Egypt, China and elsewherein Asia. The movement of flu epidemics during the 20th century is alsoconsidered. The rest of the study examines the Black Death, the revival ofplague across 17th-century Europe, including the 1665 outbreak in London,and discusses the fate of the Black Death as a disease. German text. 195p,

b/w figs (Theiss 2003) Hb £23.95

Plague: Black Death and Pestilence in Europe

by William Naphy and Andrew Spicer. Medieval Europe believed that theBlack Death was a sign of God’s wrath, precedents for which were evidentin the Bible and classical sources. This chronological history of the yearsbefore, during and after outbreaks of plague not only presents the historicalfacts, but also explores the impact of disease on society, on the attitudesof the people and especially their suspicion of medicine and doctors, andthe long-term consequences of wiping out half the population. This bookis a new paperback edition of The Back Death: A History of Plagues 1345-

1730. 222p, b/w figs, 46 b/w and col pls (Tempus 2000, Revealing History new Pb

edn 2004) Pb £10.99

Religion and Medicine in the Middle Ages

edited by Peter Biller and Joseph Ziegler. Twelve papers, mostly from aconference held at York University in 1999, focus on the complexrelationship between Christianity and medicine in western Europeansociety. Themes include opposing theological and medical theories aboutthe nature of the human body, the involvement of the church in providingpublic health services, midwifery regulations, the cure of souls in medievalhospitals, the role of music, medicine and heresy, immortality and demons.253p (York Studies in Medieval Theology III, York Medieval Press 2001) Hb £55.00

The Role of the Hospital in Medieval England: Gift-giving and the

Spiritual Economy

by Sheila Sweetinburgh. In the medieval period hospitals, charity andsalvation seemed to go hand in hand, with patrons founding, supportingand giving gifts to hospitals for various spiritual and political gains. Thisexcellent study of English hospitals looks at the changing role of this typeof institution in the community, regarding them as ‘a sensitive indicatorof contemporary attitudes regarding piety and charity’. Hospitals, theirbenefactors, patrons and beneficiaries, are studied on a national, regionaland local level with chapters devoted to the study of Kent and the townsof Dover and Sandwich. In this way Sheila Sweetinburgh is able to studygeneral or national trends, as well as regional and local variations in therelationships between hospitals, individuals, groups and other institutions.286p, 7 b/w illus (Four Courts 2004) Hb £55.00

Scotland’s Black Death: The Foul Death of the English

by Karen Jillings. Whilst the Scots initially celebrated God’s divine retribu-tion against the English in 1349, their delight was short-lived as just oneyear later more than a quarter of the population of Scotland was dead.Termed ‘The Foul Death of the English’ by the Scots this book tells thehistory of how the Black Death was brought to and affected Scotland, setwithin the context of 14th-century Christendom. Jillings brings to lightimportant evidence on the causes of plague and the effect of the distribu-tion and density of the population on its spread, and include extracts fromcontemporary sources. 192p (Tempus 2003) Hb £14.99

The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, Past and Present

by Peter Lewis Allen. Disease has often been treated as a punishment forsin throughout history, including diseases such as leprosy and the Plague.This engaging study explores the horrors of the medieval world, whenthe cure for diseases such as syphilis were often even worse than the effectsof the illness, where lepers were classed as the living dead and the blindlived on the streets. During the Great Plague of 1665 in England fear andrevulsion were so intense that prayer was believed to be the only remedy.The author examines the reasons for the seemingly unchanging prejudiceand ignorance of these diseases by many sections of society. The lastsection of the book is devoted to modern analogies. 202p, b/w figs (Univ

of Chicago 2000, Pb 2002) Hb £16.00, Pb £12.00

Science and Technology

Abbo of Fleury and Ramsay: Commentary

on the Calculus of Victorius of Aquitaine

edited by A M Peden. Abbo of Fleury, teacher atRamsay Abbey during the 980s, was one of the greatteachers and communicators of the 10th century, aman who was enthusiastically gripped by all types ofknowledge until his death in a brawl between monks.This volume presents, in the original Latin without trans-lation, Abbo’s Commentary on Victorius’ Calculus, a series of multiplication tables,which was written in the 5th century AD. 159p (British Academy 2003) Hb £45.00

The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton

by Stanton J Linden. This anthology of primary source material on alchemyand hermeticism provides both a general introduction to the subject andfeatures some of the most important authors and commentators. Includesancient, Islamic, medieval, Renaissance and 17th century texts, all in En-glish translation. 260p, 14 b/w illus (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £45.00, Pb £16.99

Astrology in Medieval Manuscripts

by Sophie Page. Astrology permeated many aspects of medieval societyand people’s fear of the work of the astrologer was gradually transformedinto revering him as an important and influential scholar. The ability tounderstand and predict celestial movements improved greatly in the medi-eval period and this study not only provides the historical background toastrology at this time, but it traces the principles and methods used as docu-mented in manuscripts. Sophie Page goes on to assess the role of astrologyin society as a whole, in agriculture, politics, medicine, weather forecasting,cosmology and alchemy, accompanied by many lovely illustrations. 64p, many

col pls (British Library 2002) Pb £7.95

Books, Banks, Buttons and Other Inventions from the Middle Ages

by Chiara Frugoni, translated by William McCuaig. We owe a great deal tothe ingenuity of medieval craftsmen and thinkers, many of whose inven-tions have become so mundane in modern everyday life as to be completelyover-looked. This book celebrates these heady days of invention describingthe first appearance of such objects, concepts and institutions as buttons,underwear, glazed windows, the wheelbarrow, water- and wind-mills, gun-powder, the compass, clocks, charity, banks, universities and pasta. Onesubject follows effortlessly into the next as Chiara Frugoni takes an eclectictour of the medieval world, accompanied by lots of wonderful illustrations.178p, 100 col illus (French edn 2001, Engl edn Columbia UP 2003) Hb £19.00

Copernicus

by Ivan Crowe. The Revolution of the Spheres was the culmination of NicholasCopernicus’ life’s work and it was to change the science of astronomy for-ever. Known as the first intellectual to claim that the earth revolved aroundthe sun, this study places Copernicus’ theories within the social, political,religious and intellectual context of the 15th century. Ivan Crowe outlinesCopernicus’ childhood and education, discusses those who influenced himas he grew up, those who encouraged him to pursue his ideas, calendarreform, his medical training and his career within the church. An interestingand revealing portrait of a man who crossed the fine line between scienceand heresy and whose legacy changed the way people think about the worldeven today. 190p, b/w illus (Tempus 2003) Pb £16.99

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Essays on Early Medieval Mathematics: The Latin Tradition

by Menso Folkerts. A collection of eleven papers by Folkerts, all previouslypublished between 1968 and 2001. The majority of papers, which are veryspecialised, comprise annotated Latin treatises accompanied by technicalcommentaries. Subjects include the importance of the Latin Middle Agesfor the development of mathematics, Bede’s mathematical treatise, Alcuin,the abacus, geometry and ‘Rithmomachia’. Three papers in German, therest in English. 366p (VCS, Ashgate 2003) Hb £62.50

God’s Clockmaker: Richard of Wallingford and the Invention of Time

by John North. This is a biography of ‘England’s greatest medieval scien-tist, a man who solved major practical and theoretical problems to build anextraordinary and pioneering astronomical and astrological clock’. JohnNorth tells an extraordinary story here; Richard of Wallingford (1292-1336)was the son of a blacksmith who became Abbot of St Albans, where heinvented his clock, before finally succumbing to leprosy. The story of theinvention of the clock is accompanied by a fascinating discussion of early14th-century scientific endeavour. Finally, North discusses the history ofastronomy and natural philosophy, the instruments used and the enormouslegacy that Richard left even though so few have heard his name today.441p, 89 b/w illus (Hambledon & London 2005) Hb £25.00

Medieval Views of the Cosmos: Picturing the Universe in the

Christian and Islamic Middle Ages

by E Edson and E Savage-Smith. The medieval view of the wider worldaround them and their portrayal of it in maps, illuminations and paintingshad very little to do with geography. This beautifully illustrated volume ex-amines and celebrates the medieval vision of the cosmos as a strictly hierar-chial and heavenly sequence of spheres, and of a world, protected by a skyfilled with an elaborate array of constellations, withJerusalem in the centre and mythical beasts aroundthe edge. The scholarly and very accessible discus-sion is accompanied by many colour illustrations ofChristian and Islamic works of art and science,mostly dating from the 12th century to the revolu-tionary ideas of the 16th. The foreword is by TerryJones. 122p, 59 col pls (Bodleian Library 2004) Pb £14.95

Science and Literature in Italian Culture: From Dante to Calvino

edited by Pierpaolo Antonello and Simon A Gilson. This volume presentspreviously unexplored connections between the discourses of literature andscience, and offers a variety of new critical readings. Topics considered in-clude the nature, scope and significance of science in the literary output ofmajor figures; the relationship between specific genres and scientific andphilosophical contexts; and the reception and transmission of science inliterary texts and of literature in scientific works. (Legenda, European Hu-

manities Research Centre 2003) Pb £35.00

Stars and Numbers: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Medieval

Arab and Western Worlds

by Paul Kunitzsch. This volume reprints twenty-nine essays, most of whichwere originally published during the last fifteen years, which examine the de-velopment of Arabic astronomy and its contact with the West. Divided intofour sections, the articles discuss the transmission of Ptolemy’s texts into Ara-bic and Latin translations, Arabic astronomical discoveries and equipment,and the West’s discovery of the astrolabe and Arabic constellations. The finalsection examines the transmission of classical mathematics to the Arabic andwestern worlds and the development of Arabic and Latin numerals and let-ters. Seven papers in German, two in French, the rest in English. The originalpagination is retained. 340p, b/w figs, tbs (VCS, Ashgate 2004) Hb £60.00

Studies on the Transmission of Medieval Mathematical Astronomy

by Raymond Mercier. This collection reprints ten essays by RaymondMercier, plus one other essay published here for the first time, whichexamine the transmission of Hellenistic science in ‘Greek, Arabic, Sanskrit,Hebrew, Latin’ technical astronomy treatises. The majority of these essayspresent technical analyses of the mathematical principles behind the studies,supported by diagrams and tables. The papers retain their originalpagination and appearance. 322p, b/w figs, tbs (VCS, Ashgate 2004) Hb £59.50

Various and Ingenious Machines

by Bryan Lawton. This two-volume work describes the early history ofmechanical engineering from prehistory through to the beginnings ofindustrialisation. The contents are divided into four sections: powergeneration; transport; manufacturing technology; weapons technology.Each section includes background chapters as well as in-depth appendiceswhich describe the principles of operation, operating conditions and thelimits of historically-important machines and inventions. The books areillustrated throughout and the material is presented in an easily understoodgraphical format. 2 vols: 1328p, 680 illus (Brill 2004) Hb £200.00

Villard’s Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, Science and Art

in Memory of Jean Gimpel

edited by Marie-Thérèse Zenner. These fourteen essays, from a memorialcolloquium held at The Medieval Institute in Kalamazoo in 2000, reflectJean Gimpel’s fascination with Villard de Honnecourt. Produced in thefirst half of the 13th century, the drawings in Villard’s Portfolio providean invaluable record of the geometry and mathematics, both esoteric andapplied, behind medieval architecture, science, and the technology ofeveryday life. Supported by illustrations from the Portfolio. 300p, b/w illus

(Ashgate 2004) Hb £55.00

Water Technology in the Middle Ages

by Roberta J Magnusson. Successfully combining history with medievalhydraulic engineering, this accessible study examines the impact of large-scale monastic and urban conduits on society. In illustrated sections,Magnusson discusses the Roman origins of medieval hydraulic compo-nents, the possible ways in which techniques and methods were transmit-ted or rediscovered over the centuries, the design and construction of theconduits, finance, the significance of a clean water supply and disposal sys-tem, and the role of craftsmen, repairmen, users and even victims of watertechnology. Many of the examples are taken from medieval England andnorthern Italy. 238p, b/w illus (Johns Hopkins UP 2001) Hb £28.00

Economy, Trade and Crafts

An Age of Transition? Economy and Society in England in the Late

Middle Ages

by Christopher Dyer. The way in which the society and economy of theMiddle Ages has been studied has radically altered in recent years althoughthe date c.1500 is still seen by many to be a major turning point in medievalhistory. This, Christopher Dyer argues, is a matter of convenient chronol-ogy rather than reality as he embarks on a study of a much longer period of‘transition’ beginning some two to three hundred years earlier. Essentially,Dyer finds that many of the features said to characterise the late MiddleAges had their origins much earlier and in discussing these, places the roleof ‘society’, the aristocracy and gentry to the peasants, traders and crafts-men, at the fore. 293p, 16 b/w figs, maps, 6 tbs (Oxford UP 2005) Hb £35.00

The Bridges of Medieval England: Transport and Society 400-1800

by David Harrison. Countering arguments that the main period of roadand bridge construction took place in the post-medieval period, DavidHarrison shows how the provision of safe, dry crossings was provided andmaintained throughout the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, leaving anetwork in place for the Industrial Revolution. This history of bridge con-struction begins with the post-Roman period and examines the design,construction and maintenance of bridges, the challenges that were facedand overcome, and the social and economic costs and benefits brought.Large sums of money were put into bridge construction, but it was thesocial and administrative infrastructure that made it possible for these bridgesto be maintained for so many years, allowing trade and communication toflourish. 249p, 27 b/w pls, 7 tbs, 2 maps (Oxford UP 2004) Hb £45.00

Credit and Debt in Medieval England c.1180-c.1350

edited by P R Schofield and N J Mayhew. These papers build upon an es-tablished tradition of approaches to the study of credit and debt in theMiddle Ages. Four papers were given at a conference on ‘Credit and debt inmedieval and early modern England’ held in Oxford in 2000; two othersdraw upon new important postgraduate theses. Contents: Introduction (PSchofield); Aspects of the law of debt, 1189-1307 (P Brand); Christian andJewish lending patterns and financial dealings, 12th-13th century (R R

Mundill); Some aspects of the business of statutory debt registries, 1283-1307 (C McNall); English parochial clergy as investors and creditors in thefirst half of the 14th century (P Nightingale); Access to credit in the medievalEnglish countryside (P Schofield); Creditors and debtors at Oakington,Cottenham and Dry Drayton (Cambridgeshire), 1291-1350 (C Briggs). 164p,

18 b/w figs, 17 tbs (Oxbow Books 2002) Pb £24.00

The History of the Merchant Taylors’ Company

by Matthew Davies and Ann Saunders. Seven hundred years ago London’stailors and linen-armourers began an affiliation that is still strong today. Thehome of the Merchant Taylors’ Company is the same building today that itwas in 1400. This well-presented study examines the history of the Company,or the Fraternity of St John the Baptist, from 1350 onwards, based on numer-ous contemporary records which document details about the members andtheir business as well as the properties and leaders of the Company. Through-out, the book places the development of this and other livery companies withintheir historical context; relations with the crown and warfare, particularly civilwar, as well as Black Death, all affected the workings of the Company. 316p,

24 col pls, 98 b/w illus (Maney 2004) Hb £49.50

66

Medieval Economic Thought

by Diana Wood. Much of the source material for the medieval economy isbased around theological texts since the economy was typically part ofbroader thoughts on poverty, charity, ethics and morality issues. This text-book looks at economic transformations within Europe beginning in the12th century and explores how social and theological concepts had to changein accordance with shifts in attitudes towards wealth, money, poverty, workethics, industry, trade and so on. Diana Wood’s study is based on a varietyof source material including court rolls, poetry, parliamentary legislation,and the writings of theologians, lawyers, traders and merchants. 259p (Cam-

bridge UP 2002) Hb £40.00, Pb £15.99

Medieval Merchants: York, Beverley and Hull in the Later Middle Ages

by Jenny Kermode. Merchants were at the very centre of medieval society,shaping it with their spending on religious observance and public works.This study, based on 1400 individuals living in York, Beverley and Hull,analyses all aspects of merchant life – achievement in politics, attitudestowards religion, family, circles of friends and business acquaintances, andthe conduct of trade at all levels. Includes short biographies of severalmerchants. 381p, tbs, maps (Cambridge UP 1998, Pb 2002) Pb £28.00

Medieval Money Matters

edited by Diana Wood. The central theme of this volume is the supply ofmoney in circulation, rather than the importance of money per se. It was thiscirculation that determined the movement of prices, of trade, and of creditin short, it was this that underpinned the commercialisation of the economy,and therefore was the most important medieval money matter. 96p, 5 b/w

pls, 5 tbs (Oxbow Books 2004) Pb £18.00, Oxbow special price £12.00

The Middle Ages at Work

edited by Kellie Robertson and Michael Uebel. This book sounds straight-forward; it presents ten specially commissioned essays which aim to rede-fine the idea and language of ‘labour’ in the Middle Ages, drawing on a vastreservoir of contemporary sources. The legal, economic, social and mate-rial aspects of labour are all considered, predominantly in medieval En-gland. However, as the introduction demonstrates, this is also a book about‘New Historicism’ in North American studies and, as a result, much of thisvolume is deeply theoretical and often very challenging. 267p (The New Middle

Ages, Palgrave 2004) Hb £32.50

Mills in the Medieval Economy: England 1300-1540

by John Langdon. Domesday Book records more than 6,000 mills in Englandin 1086, although the real figure is likely to have been nearer 15,000. This studybegins in 1300, as the milling industry reached its peak, and traces its historyand progress throughout the next 240 years. Based on a computer programmecreated by the author and a large amount of documentary evidence, Langdonexamines the numbers of mills in existence, the technologies used,the processes taking place, the personnel, entrepreneurs andinvestors, and the customers who used them. Whathe reveals is an industry that is not wholly indicativeof the effects of social and economic change dur-ing the 14th to 16th centuries. Although it was af-fected by events such as the Black Death, this was aperiod of general consolidation for an enduringmilling industry. 369p, 12 b/w pls, 28 b/w figs, 6

maps, tbs (Oxford UP 2004) Hb £60.00

Origins of the European Economy:

Communications and Commerce AD 300-900

by Michael McCormack. McCormack’s authoritative synthesis argues thatthe economy of early medieval Europe was just as dynamic and expansiveas that of the Eastern Mediterranean. Although the focus is on CarolingianEurope, the volume covers a broad range of topics such as the decline ofthe Roman economy, commerce, pilgrims, the slave trade, literary evidence,coinage, the logistics of travel, overland routes, European imports and ex-ports, major trading powers. 1101p, maps (Cambridge UP 2001) Hb £45.00

Power and Profit: The Merchant in Medieval Europe

by Peter Spufford. Spufford discusses all aspects of 13th-century trade, fromthe consumers, to suppliers, the great business centres of Europe, to the com-modities. He explains the origins of banking, insurance, borrowing and lend-ing, large-scale manufacturing, as well as the practicalities of moving goods,people and money between places and the many problems and dangers themerchant faced. 432p, 265 illus (29 in col) (Thames and Hudson 2002) Hb £24.95

York Bridgemasters’ Accounts

translated by Philip M Stell. In 1393 Richard II permitted York the right forits two main bridges to be managed by bridgemasters. Many of their yearlyaccounts have survived: 27 rolls relate to the Ouse bridge dating from 1400to 1499 and 17 from the Foss bridge from 1406 to 1488. The accounts aregiven here with a full index. 543p (The Archaeology of York 2003) Pb £35.00

Philosophy and Theology

Aquinas

by Ralph McInerny. This ‘lively and accessible introduction to the thoughtof Thomas Aquinas’ draws on key texts that reveal aspects of his philoso-phy and theology. After a brief outline history of Aquinas’ life (1225-1274),clear and well-structured chapters address his major works and extract ele-ments of his thinking for discussion. Finally, the revival of Thomist think-ing, first in the 13th to 16th century and, secondly, from the 16th to 20thcentury is considered. 160p (Polity 2004) Hb £50.00, Pb £15.99

The Cambridge Companion to Duns Scotus

edited by Thomas Williams. John Duns Scotus (1265/6-1308), along withAquinas and Ockham, was one of the most prominent figures in medievalphilosophy and theology. These twelve essays examine the thoughts, ideasand writings of Scotus, and assess the influence and relevance of his work.Includes essays on metaphysics, space and time, Scotus’ Modal Theory, hisphilosophy of language and mind, cognition, Natural Theory, his Theoryof Natural Law, and more besides. 408p (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy,

Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £47.50, Pb £17.99

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Philosophy

edited by A S McGrade. This companion assumes no prior knowledge ofmedieval philosophy and is therefore a good place for anyone to begindelving into the subject. Fourteen essays discuss the approaches medievalthinkers took in addressing the problems and issues of the day, such as thedivine reality of God, how to achieve eternal bliss, the search for goodness,hope, faith and Christian love. The contributors reflect on how medievalphilosophy spilled over into many other spheres of life such as politics,religion, science, influencing language, morality and social behaviour. Thebook includes Islamic and Jewish thinkers. 405p (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb

£45.00, Pb £17.99

Early Medieval Glosses on Prudentius’ Psychomachia

by Sinéad O’Sullivan. Prudentius was regarded as the most Christian ofclassical authors during the Carolingian and Ottonian periods. As a resulthe was extremely popular, resulting in a large number of glossed manu-scripts. This thesis focuses on the High German or Weitz glosses whichdemonstrate the significance of Psychomacia in early medieval thought.O’Sullivan discusses the Weitz manuscripts before considering their func-tion and sources. Much of the study, however, comprises the Latin glossesthemselves. These are not translated. 381p (Brill 2004) Hb £103.00

Editing Robert Grosseteste

edited by Evelyn A Mackie and Joseph Goering. These seven papers, whichoriginated at the Thirty-Sixth Conference on Editorial Problems held inToronto in 2000, are based around the premise that the works of the 13th-century philosopher Grosseteste are among the most challenging to edit,not least because of their great intellectual diversity and the rather untidinessof the manuscripts. Contributors discuss the legacy of Grosseteste and thedifficulties of editing his scientific and cosmological texts and, more spe-cifically, the Super Psalterium, Le Château d’amour and Note on the Physics. Asone would expect, these are technical papers intended for fellow editors ormedievalists. 208p (Toronto UP 2004) Hb £25.00

Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

by Simo Knuuttila. This investigation of ‘philosophical psychology’ exam-ines ancient theories of the emotions and shows how these theories werecontinued and adapted by early Christians and medieval theologians andphilosophers. Much of the study is based on a close reading of pivotaltexts, including Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s treatises, Augustine’s City of God

and Aquinas’ Summa theologiae, as well as the main philosophical movements.341p (Oxford UP 2004) Hb £45.00

Essays in Medieval Philosophy and Theology in Memory of Walter

H Principe, CSB

edited by James R Ginther and Carl N Still. These eleven papers, whichreaffirm Principe’s faith in the value of history as an instructor for studentsof theology, focus on the theology of Thomas Aquinas as well as August-ine, Rupert of Deutz, Hildegard of Bingen, Guerric of Saint-Quentin,Capreolus and the medieval university. 177p (Ashgate 2005) Hb £50.00

Every Valley Shall be Exalted: The Discourse of Opposites in

Twelfth-Century Thought

by Constance Brittain Bouchard. Bouchard argues that a concept of oppo-sites was prevalent in 12th-century French thought. Indeed, Abelard em-braced this concept as a way of perceiving and reasoning about fundamen-tal questions of a theological, legal and philosophical nature. Here, Boucharddiscusses this broad conceptual system as it influenced five major areas oflife: scholasticism, romance, legal disputes, conversion and the construc-tion of gender. 171p (Cornell UP 2003) Hb £18.95

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An Exposition of the ‘On the Hebdomads’ of Boethius

by St Thomas Aquinas, introduced and translated by Janice L Scultz andEdward A Synan. This specialist study looks at two difficult works, bytwo different authors, living in two very different worlds. It presents anexposition by Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274) of a short treatise entitledDe hebdomadibus written by Boethius (c.480-524), along with facing-pageEnglish translation. 65p (CUAP 2001) Hb £25.50, Pb £16.50

Fifty Key Medieval Thinkers

by G R Evans. Evans confines himself to fifty figures active within theintellectual, religious, philosophical and political spheres of the Middle Ages,providing a biography of each and a list of their major works. Concentrat-ing largely on the Latin West, the familiar names are Augustine of Hippo,Boethius, Bede, Anselm of Canterbury, Adelard, Hildegard of Bingen,Joachim of Fiore and Wyclif. 183p (Routledge 2002) Hb £55.00, Pb £13.99

From Paradise to Paradigm: A Study of Twelfth-Century Humanism

by Willemien Otten. During the 12th century, for a brief period, the humanmet the divine in philosophy and theology. This detailed and specialisedstudy focuses on the rhetoric of 12th-century humanism by examining textsby Alan of Lille, William of Conche, Peter Abelard and Bernard Silvestris.Otten explores the fine line that divided philosophy from heresy. 330p (Brill’s

Studies in Intellectual History 127, Brill 2004) Hb £93.99

Herbst des Mittelalters?

edited by Jan A Aertsen and Martin Pickavé. These thirty-two papers, froma conference held in Köln in 2002, endeavour to define the nature of thelate Middle Ages, particularly its philosophy and theology. Subjects includeHuizinga and Blumenberg, universities, architecture; Jean Gerson; Nikolausvon Kues; Judaica/Arabica; natural philosophy; late medieval spirituality.Five papers in English, one in French, the rest in German. 632p (Miscellanea

Mediaevalia 31, de Gruyter 2004) Hb £135.00

A History of Philosophy 2: Medieval Philosophy

by Frederick Copleston. First published in 1950, this is a reprint of themedieval volume of Copleston’s eleven-volume work which ‘is one of themost remarkable single-handed scholarly enterprises of modern times’.Beginning with the Patristic Period and concluding with Scotus in the 13thcentury, the study provides an in-depth examination. 614p (Continuum 1950,

Pb 1999, Pb rep 2003) Pb £9.99

John Buridan: Portrait of a 14th-Century Arts Master

by Jack Zupko. John Buridan (c.1300-1361), who spent most of his careerinstalled at the University of Paris as a master of arts, was perhaps the mostinfluential philosophy teacher of his day. This study is described as a workof ‘philosophical portraiture’ and rather than reconstructing the life ofBuridan, of which we know very little, it focuses on the main features ofhis thinking. 446p (University of Notre Dame 2003) Hb £58.95, Pb £34.50

Master of the Sacred Page: A Study of the Theology of Robert

Grosseteste ca. 1229/30-1235

by James R Ginther. Whereas most studies of Robert Grosseteste focus onhis philosophical thought, this specialised analysis focuses on his theologi-cal writings, looking in particular at those produced during Grossteste’syears as master of theology at Oxford University. These include His Dicta

collection of sermons and a series of letters, including those to the FranciscanAdam Marsh. An in-depth study of the tenets of Grosseteste’s theology ispreceded by a discussion of the religious and intellectual context of thisphase of his career. 232p (Ashgate 2004) Hb £50.00

Measure of Multitude: Population in Medieval Thought

by Peter Biller. An innovative study that addresses the increasing awarenessof population numbers in the medieval period. Ideas from ancient sourcessuch as Aristotle, as well as contemporary accounts, show a growing interestin social realities, in birth and death rates, numbers of marriages, polygony,life expectancy and sex ratios. Peter Biller discusses how medieval thoughtwas beginning to realise and deal with these issues and addresses the viewsof various commentators, most notably the Church. 476p, 8p b/w pls (Oxford

UP 2000, Pb 2003) Hb £45.00, Pb £20.00

The Medieval Craft of Memory

edited by Mary Carruthers and Jan M Ziolkowski. Memoria was regarded inthe late medieval period as a form of composing from recollection, frommemory. The composition could take many forms, both literary and visual,and is most clearly seen in prayers, sermons, pictures, stories, poems andmusic. Regarded as a craft which had both tools and techniques, this an-thology of sources on memoria looks at different examples of creative de-vices used between c.1135 and 1470. Each of the twelve sections is pre-ceded by an introduction and the sources cited include Hugh of St. Victor,Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, John of Metz and Jacobus Publicius.312p, b/w illus (Pennsylvania UP 2002, Pb 2004) Pb £13.00

Medieval Identity Machines

by Jeffrey J Cohen. Taking a view of human identity beyond its physicalfleshy definition, Cohen looks at the many different identities of body inthe medieval period. The work of philosophers Gilles Deleuze and FélixGuattari, along with queer and feminist theory, chivalry, masochism andsanctity, are intermingled throughout. ‘Medieval Identity Machines is,admittedly, a rather strange book. It prefaces an exploration of the queermingling of man and animal in chivalry with a discussion of a renownedAnglo-Saxonist enjoying a game nighttime swing.’ A challenging book.336p (Minnesota UP 2003) Hb £52.50, Pb £19.00

Metaphysics in the Twelfth Century: On the Relationship among

Philosophy, Science and Theology

edited by Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, Alexander Fidora and AndreasNiederberger. A century before the reception of Aristotle’s epistomologyin the 13th century, scholars and theologians were showing a great interestin metaphysics, manifested as ‘natural philosophy’ or ‘divine science’. Theseeleven papers, from a conference held in Frankfurt in 2001, investigateshow in the 12th century, Jewish, Christian and Muslim authors, predomi-nantly from Iberia and Francia, were addressing many of the issues thatwent on to become characteristic of 13th-century philosophy. The conceptof metaphysics is considered through the works of Boethius, and in vari-ous texts such as those of Adelard of Bath, Hermann of Carinthia, Do-minicus Gundissalinus and Daniel of Morley. 220p (Brepols 2004) Pb £32.00

Robert Grossteste and the Beginnings of a British Theological Tradition

edited by Maura O’Caroll. 2003 saw the 750th anniversary of the death ofRobert Grosseteste; theologian, scientist, bishop and politician. This bookcontains papers delivered at a Grosseteste Colloquium held at Greyfriars,Oxford, in July 2002. The papers have been grouped under the headingsof: historiography, texts and commentary, studies in Grosseteste’s theologyand pastoral practice. 371p (Instituto Storico dei Cappucini 2003) Pb £22.00

Saint Thomas Acquinas Volume 2: Spiritual Master

by Jean-Pierre Torrell, translated by Robert Royal. This volume, which com-pletes Father Torrell’s biography of Aquinas, focuses on a relatively over-looked aspect of the Dominican’s theology, his spirituality. This is a highly-specialised and in-depth analysis of that side of Aquinas which not onlyqualified him to be one of the great intellects of the Middle Ages but also asaint. The narrative is heavily annotated and supported by extracts, in En-glish translation, from Summa theologiae and other works by Aquinas. 422p

(1996, CUA Press Engl edn 2003) Hb £41.50, Pb £25.95

Volume 1 is forthcoming: Pb £21.00

Schriften im Umkreis mitteleuropäischer Universitäten um 1400

edited by Fritz Peter Knapp, Jürgen Miethke and Manuela Niesner. Theseeleven papers originated at a conference held in Heidelberg in 2002 whichfocused on academic texts produced at the three universities of Prague,Vienna and Heidelberg in the years around 1400. Both vernacular andLatin texts are considered here, including the works of Konrad von Saltauand Konrad von Gelnhausen, ethical and Aristotelian texts, and educationaland theological tracts. German text. 310p (Brill 2004) Hb £82.00

Science, the Singular and the Question of Theology

by Richard A Lee. The Condemnations of 1277, which ushered in a succes-sion of philosophical and scientific theories concerning God’s creation ofthe earth, lies at the heart of this in-depth analysis of the shifting shape ofmedieval natural philosophy. Beginning with Robert Grosseteste and con-cluding with Duns Scotus and William of Ockham, Lee looks at how inter-pretation of the Aristotelian concept of the intellect fundamentally alteredafter 1277. 180p (Palgrave 2002) Hb £47.50

Time and Eternity: The Medieval Discourse

edited by Gerhard Jaritz and Gerson Moreno-Riaño. These thirty-twopapers from the 7th International Medieval Congress held in Leeds in2000, wrestle with the complex and difficult subject of time and eternityin the medieval period. They reflect different scholarly approaches to thesubject and reveal a variety of medieval concepts of time and its function.The papers are arranged according to seven themes: Time, its computationand the use of calendars; Jewish concepts of time and redemption;Christian philosophies of eternity and time; Monastic and clericalconceptions; Literary representations; Time and art; The end of the world.535p, b/w illus (International Medieval Research Vol 9, Brepols 2003) Hb £65.00

William of Malmesbury

by Rodney M Thomson. This is a revised edition of Thomson’s compre-hensive analysis of William of Malmesbury (c.1090-c.1143), one of the great-est intellects of medieval England. Although William is best known todayfor his histories, Thomson shows that he was equally gifted as a man ofletters, as a Biblical commentator and as a scribe and librarian. 239p, b/w figs

(Boydell 1987, rev Pb 2003) Pb £30.00

68

MEDIEVAL

WOMENAbandoned Women: Re-Writing the Classics in

Dante, Boccaccio and Chaucer

by Suzanne Hagedorn. The abandoned, heart-brokenwoman was a popular figure in classical literature, not leastas a foil to the active hero. As this detailed study shows,the Heroides, the Aeneid and Statius’ Achilleid provided me-dieval authors with their best inspiration for abandoned women. Hagedornfocuses on the works of three late medieval writers, showing how the sto-ries of Dido, Deidamia, Ariadne and others still had the power to movemedieval authors. The book includes numerous extracts with English trans-lations where appropriate. 220p (Michigan UP 2004) Hb £37.50

Better a Shrew than a Sheep: Women, Drama and the Cult of Jest

in Early Modern England

by Pamela Allen Brown. Pamela Allen Brown discusses a wide range ofliterary texts, including riddles, short narratives, sayings and proverbs, plays,ballads and rhymes, to understand the ways in which women rebelled againstmen and against cultural and behavioural norms. The culture of jest litera-ture portrays women as rogues, quick-witted, great storytellers, devious sati-rists, perverse and foolish who frequently made men the butt of their jokes.Brown determines what women laughed at in everyday life and especially inthe theatre and how they gained ‘a few heady moment of agency’. 263p, 14

b/w illus (Cornell UP 2003) Hb £30.50, Pb £12.50

Capetian Women

edited by Kathleen Nolan. For almost three hundred years, between the11th and 13th centuries, French politics was dominated by the Capetianfamily. However, these twelve papers, some from a 1998 conference, focuson the wives, consorts and sisters. The studies examine the role of womenas political pawns whilst also showing that they had power in their ownright, particularly in society, religion and the arts. The women discussedinclude Constance of Arles, Adelaide of Maurienne, Isabelle of Hainault,Ingeborg of Denmark, Blanche of Castile, Isabelle of France and Jeanneof Valois. 302p, 25 b/w illus (The New Middle Ages, Palgrave 2003) Hb £40.00

English Aristocratic Women, 1450-1550

by Barbara J Harris. This detailed study aims to challenge our understand-ing of male and female responsibility during the English late Middle Agesand show that the duties of the wealthy woman often extended far beyondher front door. The study follows women through their lives, from child-hood, into an arranged marriage, usually at an early age, into widowhoodand, in many cases, an independence late in life in which they could enjoyeither a career of their own or fruitful patronage of others. 346p, b/w figs

(Oxford UP 2002) Hb £40.00, Pb £21.50

The Fourth Estate: A History of Women in the Middle Ages

by Shulamith Shahar. This revised edition of Shahar’s classic study ofmedieval women remains a wide-ranging and meticulous investigation ofthe status of women from the 12th to 15th century and attitudes towardsthem. Thematic chapters examine a different ‘type’ of woman, includingnuns, wives, peasants, noblewomen, townswomen, religious women,heretics and witches. A new preface allows Shahar to revisit the originalconcept of the 1983 book and she briefly discusses recent trends inscholarship. 351p, 23 b/w pls (Routledge 1983, rev edn 2003) Pb £14.99

Gendering the Master Narrative. Women and Power in the Middle Ages

edited by Mary C Erler and Maryanne Kowaleski. There were a variety ofconditions and arenas within which medieval women could hold positionsof power but, at the same time, many of these also differentiated and erodedtheir authority. This collection of eleven papers presents a range of ap-proaches to the question of female power and the practices and institutionsthat permitted and encouraged it. Contributors discuss power relationswithin the family, opportunities for exercising power within the medievalparish, female confession, hagiography and the production of other textsand images that catered to female interests, women’s involvement in parishguilds and other alliances, charity and fund-raising, female mysticism andspiritual authority. 269p (Cornell UP 2003) Hb £38.95, Pb £14.50

The Knowing of Woman’s Kind in Childing. A Middle English Version

of Material Derived from the Trotula and Other Sources

edited by Alexander Barratt. This is a late medieval gynaecological treatisein Middle English based on various French sources and a Latin text thoughtto have been written by a woman named Trotula, a midwife from Salerno insouthern Italy. 169p (Brepols 2001) Hb £45.00

Ladies of Medieval Cyprus and Caterina Cornaro

by Leto Severis. This book examines the women of medieval Cyprus andtheir roles in society, beginning with the period of the Third Crusade. Wives,mistresses and daughters under the Frankish kings are discussed from aliterary and historical perspective, set within the context of the politicalhistory of the period. One of the chapters is devoted to Caterina Cornaro,wife of James II, and a member of one of the leading and most wealthyfamilies in Venice who also had a residence, family ties and ambitions inCyprus. 197p, col pls (Foundation of Kostakis and Leto Severis 1995) Hb £16.50

The Lais of Marie de France

translated and introduced by Glyn S Burgess and Keith Busby. Marie ofFrance’s lais, written at the close of the 12th century, are amongst thefinest of the genre, describing a moment of crisis in a refined and courtlylove affair. This volume presents prose English translations of twelve lais,two of which are new inclusions for this second edition. 164p (Penguin

Classics 1986, 2nd edn 1999, this rep 2003) Pb £7.99, Pb £7.99

Maistresse of My Wit: Medieval Women, Modern Scholars

edited by Louise D’Areens and Juanita Feros Ruys. This collection of twelvespecialised studies aims to celebrate the lives and works of a number ofmedieval ‘maistresses’ whilst reflecting on the happy relationship betweenmodern scholars and their female predecessors. Focusing on such womenas Christine de Pizan, Hildegard of Bingen, Margery Kempe, Heloise, Aliceof Schaerbeek and Birgitta of Sweden, the contributors discuss the placeof female scholars in medieval intellectualism, and the relationship betweenwomen and texts in the past and now. Extracts are accompanied by Englishtranslations. 384p (Making the Middle Ages 7, Brepols 2004) Hb £66.50

The Medici Women. Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence

by Natalie R Tomas. Medici is a name synonymous with late medieval Flo-rence and it is this family that was responsible for major political change inthe city in the 15th and 16th centuries turning it from a republic into aprincipate. Taking a feminist approach, Natalie Tomas examines the roleand influence of the Medici women in this process of change. She exploreshow they used and exercised their power and influence, for example throughcultural patronage, justified through their duties and responsibilities asmothers, wives, daughters, sisters and so on. 229p, 4 b/w figs (Women and

Gender in the Early Modern World, Ashgate 2003) Hb £47.50

Medieval Narratives of Accused Queens

by Nancy B Black. A particular type of fictional narrative characterised bya heroine’s fall from status on at least two occasions to regain her positionin the end, was popular in the late medieval period. This study identifiestwo types of such narratives which occurred in religious and secularcontexts, named ‘The Empress of Rome’ and ‘The Constance Story’. Thisstudy examines examples of these as they occur in, for example, Gautierde Conici’s ‘Empress of Rome’, Philippe de Remi’s La Manekine, Trevet’sChronicles, Gower’s Confessio Amantis, Chaucer’s ‘Man of Law’s Tale’ andHoccleve’s ‘Tale of Jereslaus’s Wife’. 261p, 42 b/w figs (University Press of

Florida 2003) Hb £49.50

Medieval Women and the Law

edited by Noël James Menuge. Eight essays focus on: women, power andprotection in 10th-11th century England; women, land and law in Occitania;residential arrangements in 14th-15th century York; women, testamentarydiscourse and life-writing; Medieval mother as guardian; consent; rape in12th-15th century; women’s knowledge of common law and equity courtsin Late Medieval England. 169p (Boydell 2000, Pb 2003) Pb £18.99

Portraits of Medieval Women: Family, Marriage and Politics in

England 1225-1350

by Linda E Mitchell. This study approaches English women of the 13th and14th century from a biographical and prosopographical perspective and re-veals insights into the lives and behaviour of seven women through their ac-tions and activities recorded in various sources. These women include Marga-ret de Quency and Maud de Lacy, Maud Mortimer, Isabella de Vescy and Alicede Lacy. Linda Mitchell explores how the parameters of law, politics and gen-der defined their activities and how some women were able to transcend theseto become powerful viragos. 185p (Palgrave 2003) Hb £35.00

Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe

edited by Anneke B Mulder-Bakker. In the Middle Ages higher educationwas a male pursuit and, therefore, learned women have received littleattention from scholars. Similarly, during the medieval period, women werelooked down upon by learned men for being irrational and immoderate.Men and women had a different way of seeing and knowing: learned menthrough education and visionary women through inspiration. That is thepremise of these nine specially commissioned essays which explore theways in which the wisdom and knowledge of mystical women wastransmitted and received. 204p (Brepols 2004) Hb £50.00

69

The Texture of Society: Medieval Women in the Southern Low Countries

edited by Ellen E Kittell and Mary A Suydam. This volume, which aims tobring to the attention of a wider academic audience studies by Dutch andother European scholars, presents nine essays that examine the role ofmedieval women in the urban, politically fragmented world of the southernLow Countries. Although society for many women was constricted, some-times in Beguine communities, these studies show that some were able tomove about and enjoy a certain level of freedom. 247p, b/w figs (The New

Middle Ages, Palgrave 2004) Hb £35.00

The Trotula: A Medieval Compendium of Women’s Medicine

edited and translated by Monica H Green. The first English translation ofthe Trotula, a compendium on women’s medicine written in the mid-13thcentury. Green places the work within the context of other literary works,commenting on new medical theories and practices and contemporary so-ciety, and addresses the debate over its authorship. 301p, 10 b/w illus (Penn-

sylvania UP 2001, Pb 2002) Hb £39.00, Pb £13.00

Women, Art and Patronage from Henry III to Edward II: 1216-1377

by Loveday Lewes Gee. Gee chooses the 13th and 14th centuries as a con-text for her discussion of the role of women as patrons, a period whenthere was a proliferation of wealthy widows and heiresses. She questionswho these patrons were, their social standing and the source of their wealth,their motives, and the types of monuments, tombs and objects they com-missioned. She also asks whether gender affected any of these elements.219p, 60 b/w pls (Boydell 2001) Hb £50.00

Women in Early Medieval Europe 400-1100

by Misa M Bitel. Spanning the end of the Roman empire to the early 12thcentury, Bitel looks at women’s involvement in the political, economic, so-cial and cultural achievements of the period and their active participation inall aspects of society. A good, well-written study of the lives of ordinarywomen. 326p, 18 b/w illus, 2 maps (Cambridge UP 2002) Hb £42.50, Pb £16.99

Women in Medieval Europe 1200-1500

by Jennifer Ward. An accessible but scholarly overview of each area of a me-dieval woman’s life and the different opportunities, both good and evil, thatwere open to them. In a text unencumbered with notes, Ward examines awide range of themes: upbringing, marriage, the family and household, workinside and outside of the home, aristocrat women and queens, the arts, areligious life, mystics, charity and witchcraft. 322p (Longman 2002) Pb £17.99

Religious Women

Art, Identity and Devotion in Fourteenth-Century England:

Three Women and their Books of Hours

by Kathryn A Smith. This book contains a thorough study of three Booksof Hours produced in the early 14th century, De Lisle, De Bois and Neville of

Hornby, produced for Margaret of Beauchamp, Hawisia de Bois and Isabelde Byron. Smith examines the visual and textual aspects of the Books withina broad context, exploring issues of female patronage, devotional experi-ence, personal and familial identity, book ownership, lay literacy and reli-gious imagery as well as the practicalities of their production. Her discus-sion is particularly revealing about their female owners. 364p, 8 col pls, 145 b/

w figs, 5 maps (The British Library and University of Toronto 2003) Hb £45.00

Authority and the Female Body in the Writings of Julian of

Norwich and Margery Kempe

by Liz Herbert McAvoy. The medieval church had a fixed concept of wom-anhood, principally brought about by Eve’s role in the fall of man. Thisdetailed thesis examines the ways in which two female writers broke freefrom their ‘allocated spaces’ and challenged the boundaries proscribed byreligion. McAvoy focuses in particular on the presentation of the femalebody in the writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, both ofwhom were let down by their bodies in the form of life-threatening dis-eases. 276p (Brewer 2004) Hb £50.00

The Book of Margery Kempe

by Liz Herbert McAvoy. This is an abridged translation of Margery Kempe’sbook, ‘ a unique narrative of sin, sex and salvation’ based on an account ofher own life in 15th-century England. The introduction and interpretativeessay provide the background to Margery, her marriage, sexuality, includingher vow of chastity following the birth of her 14th child, and, above all, herspiritual calling. 153p (The Library of Medieval Women, Brewer 2003) Pb £15.99

The Book of Margery Kempe

edited by Barry Windeatt. This book presents the earliest surviving autobi-ography in English and one of the most important texts of the MiddleAges, in its original language with the appropriate glossary presented oneach page. The text is preceded by summaries of each of the chapters. 474p

(Pearson 2000, Brewer rep 2004) Pb £17.99

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women’s Writing

edited by Carolyn Dinshaw and David Wallace. Seventeen essays are di-vided into three sections which discuss the ‘estates’ of women (childhood,virgins, wives, widows and lesbians), the place of women (in communities,in the home and in the church) and examples of women. These includeHeolise, Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Julian of Norwich, MargeryKempe and Joan of Arc. 289p (Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £45.00, Pb £16.99

Choosing not to Marry: Women and Autonomy in the Katherine Group

by Julie Hassel. Comprising five early 13th-century devotional texts, theKatherine Group is the earliest surviving English literature to advocatethe single life for women. Promoting self-sufficiency and autonomy forwomen through the example of women such as the virgin martyrs ofKatherine, Margaret and Juliana, the texts are anti-matrimonial, warningof the emotional and financial damage caused by marriage. Hassel dis-cusses these texts within the historical and philosophical context of vir-ginity and celibacy in the male clerical tradition of Jerome and Peter Abelard,and the role of women in monastic life from the 11th to 13th century.140p, figs (Routledge 2002) Hb £45.00

Christina of Markyate: A Twelfth-Century Holy Woman

edited by Samuel Fanous and Henrietta Leyser. The life of the hermit Chris-tina of Markyate is little known today and yet it is an extraordinary tale. Put topaper in the 14th century by a monk of St Albans it presents a vivid accountof life in Anglo-Norman England, of a woman pursued by the ‘firebrand’Ranulf Flambard, an enemy of the evil Bishop of Lincoln, and an unhappybride who fled her enforced marriage to live hidden in a tiny hermit cell. Fi-nally, she founded a priory of nuns at St Albans where she had a controversialfriendship with Abbot Geoffrey. In 2003 a conference was held at St Albansto mark the life of this fascinating woman, resulting in this collection of thir-teen scholarly papers. The contributors discuss the Life of Christina of Markyate,including its literary and religious context as well as its romantic content, whilealso examining her life. 266p, 8 col pls (Routledge 2005) Hb £50.00, Pb £16.99

Christine de Pizan: A Casebook

edited by Barbara K Altmann and Deborah L McGrady. A unique andprolific writer, a defender of women, and a pivotal figure in late medievalliterature – all these things are true of Christine de Pizan (c.1365-1430).This collection of fifteen essays consists of both new research into herlife and works, but also encompasses an up-to-date review of the currentstate of Christine de Pizan studies. 296p (Routledge 2003) Hb £65.00

Cîteaux et les femmes

edited by Bernadette Barrière, Marie-Elizabeth Henneay, et al. This well-illustrated and clearly-presented volume presents an analysis of the role ofwomen in the Cistercian order in France throughout the medieval and, to alesser extent, modern periods. The results of a colloquium held in 1998, thecontributions discuss the architectural characteristics of female monaster-ies and the organisation of female monastic space, the extent to whichwomen had any authority in the Cistercian order, and the duties and lives offemale Cistercians in the present day. Throughout, the twenty-two multi-disciplinary papers draw on architectural, artistic and documentary sources.354p, many b/w illus, maps (Creaphis 2001) Pb £35.00

Cities of Ladies. Beguine Communities in the

Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565

by Walter Simons. The Beguine communities wereformed by and for women and offered an alternativelifestyle for women from all social classes, one basedon religious virtue, spirituality, chastity and hard work.This, the first history of the Beguines written inEnglish for many years, traces the process by which smallclusters of women came to form large thrivingcommunities and goes on to explore the lives, experiencesand spirituality of the women and the history of theircondemnation and struggle for survival. Based on archivalmaterial from these communities, it features some of themost prominent Beguine writers of the period. 335p, 6 b/w

figs, 4 maps (University of Pennsylvania 2001, Pb 2003) Pb £16.00

A Companion to the Book of Margery Kempe

edited by John H Arnold and Katherine J Lewis. As the editors argues, theresurgance of interest in Margery Kempe is more than justified by The Book

of Margery Kempe. This companion, comprising eleven specialist study, movesthe focus away from the Book as a text, in order to explore its social, politi-cal, cultural and religious context. The scholarly yet accessible contributionsexplore the extent to which Margery’s life was representative of female lifein 15th-century England, her treatment of men, her mysticism, her life inLynn, her readers, and the ways in which she applied her spirituality to herpractical life. 246p, 7 b/w illus (Brewer 2004) Hb £50.00

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Convent Chronicles: Women writing about women and reform in

the late Middle Ages

by Anne Winston-Allen. Winston-Allen draws on literary material on churchreform produced by German-speaking communities of Italy, Switzerland,Germany and the Low Countries, from a female perspective. Through ex-ploring what it was that women wrote about themselves, religious reform,piety and spirituality, she gains a better understanding of the reasons whywomen supported or opposed the reform and how they portrayed them-selves in this process. 345p, 10 b/w illus (Pennsylvania State UP 2004) Hb £38.50

Eloquent Virgins: From Thecia to Joan of Arc

by Maud Burnett McInerney. Whereas the virgin martyr was in many waysa role model for powerful medieval women who saw her as a symbol ofindependence and authority, she was regarded rather differently by theolo-gians who saw her as a means of limiting the potential for female indepen-dence. In this study McInerney examines the works of writers such asHildegard of Bingen, Clemence of Barking, Hrotsvitha and influentialwomen such as Joan of Arc, contrasting their use of the virgin martyr withopposing ideologies in the works of Ambrose, Aldhelm and Wace for ex-ample. 250p, 6 b/w illus (The New Middle Ages, Palgrave 2003) Hb £35.00

Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents

translated by Vera Morton. A selection of six translated letters written bymale clerics to women living in female communities in England and North-ern France, including Adelidis Abbess of Barking, Heloise, and the niecesof Peter the Venerable and Osbert of Clare. The letters, written by mensuch as Abelard and Peter the Venerable of Cluny, address issues relating toChristian women and provide insights into the status, role and achieve-ments of these women, whilst also giving advice and addressing stereo-types. 203p (The Library of Medieval Women, Brewer 2003) Hb £40.00

The Instruction of a Christian Woman

by Juan Luis Vives, edited by Virginia Walcott Beauchamp, Elizabeth HHageman and Margaret Mikesell. Juan Luis Vives’ treatise on the conductof women was first published in 1523 and by 1600 appeared in 40 editionsin various European languages including the original Latin. The book isknown to have been dedicated to Catherine of Aragon for the instructionand education of her daughter Mary and its popularity in Tudor Englandcan not be under-estimated. This English translation of the treatise makesit available to a wider audience. 274p (Illinois UP 2002) Hb £30.00

Joan of Arc and Sacrificial Authorship

by Ann W Astell. Ann Astell asks why post-Enlightenment writers choseJoan of Arc as a subject and in what ways they, the authors, identified withher. Examples of the modern renditions of this medieval victim, martyrand scapegoat are found in the works of Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain,Coleridge and George Bernard Shaw for example, all of which are dis-cussed here. The variations in the portrayals of Joan from work to work,often mirroring aspects of the author’s life, are considered. Includes anexcellent historical preface and introduction. 283p (Notre Dame UP 2003)

Hb £33.50, Pb £21.50

Joan of Arc and Spirituality

edited by Ann W Astell and Bonnie Wheeler. Joan of Arc’s heroism and herown particular kind of sanctity form the subject of these fifteen speciallycommissioned essays. A major theme is how a young girl, without educa-tion or rank, stood out in this male environment and how sanctity can bemarried to militancy. Contributors also discuss the responses of the clergyto Joan during her life time, contemporary female mystics and Joan thespiritual role model during the last five hundred years. 298p, 8 b/w illus (The

New Middle Ages, Palgrave 2003) Hb £42.50

Joan of Arc: The Warrior Saint

by Stephen W Richey. Many books about Joan of Arc dismisscharacterisations of her as a rather pathetic misguided figure who was ledby voices from God and instead reaffirm her strength and charisma as amilitary figure and leader of men. This is such a book. Focusing on evi-dence from her trials, and her retrial 24 years after her death, as well ashistorical and literary accounts, Richey describes and analyses her militarycareer, examining her leadership qualities, her achievements and the impor-tance of luck. An interesting and very readable study. 175p, 10 b/w illus, 7

maps (Praeger 2003) Hb £22.60

Listening to Heloise: The Voice of a 12th-Century Woman

edited by Bonnie Wheeler. These 15 essays focus on ‘Heloise as a compel-ling intellectual figure and a daring writer’. The contributors examine herposition as a powerful monastic leader and place her career and her letterswithin the context of early 12th century France. Specific subjects includecontroversy over the authorship of the letters, her character and tempera-ment, her relationship with Abelard, her philosophical and rhetorical skill,and her spirituality. 394p (Palgrave 2000) Hb £45.00

Mary Magdalene and the Drama of Saints: Theater, Gender, and

Religion in Late Medieval England

by Theresa Coletti. This detailed study focuses on an early 16th-centurydrama from East Anglia, the so-called Digby Mary Magdalene, in order toexplore the religious culture of late medieval England as a whole. Colettiadopts a number of approaches, but the emphasis is on ‘female contribu-tions to salvation history’ and the role of that most popular of literarygenres, drama and the theatre. Coletti discusses examples of holy womenin East Anglia, the relationship between religious and lay values and theatre,and the Digby play’s treatment of the male Christ and the ‘fleshliness’ ofMary Magdalene. 342p, b/w figs (Pennsylvania UP 2004) Hb £42.00

Mechthild of Magdeburg: Selections. The Flowing Light of the Godhead

by Elizabeth A Anderson. Written between c.1250 and c.1282, The Flowing

Light of the Godhead is an example of female mystical writing which recordsthe relationship between Mechthild of Magdeburg and God, and her con-temporaries. Her writings survive in a mid-14th century translation intoHigh Middle German. This study contains an English translation of thetext along with an interpretative essay. 170p (Brewer 2003) Hb £40.00

Mechthild of Magdeburg and Her Book: Gender and the Making

of Textual Authority

by Sara S Poor. Mechthild of Magdeburg’s The Flowing Light of the Godhead

was the first book written by a female mystic in vernacular German, yet it isnow almost forgotten. This detailed study examines the reasons for this,arguing that it was because Mechthild was a woman, and insists that it shouldmatter to us that history has a tendency to forget the literary voices ofwomen. Initially, Sara Poor examines the historical context of the work,placing it in the mid-13th century, and discusses its content and voice whichderides the corrupt priests of her day. Poor also explores Mechthild’s skilfuland poetic use of German, her presentation of her visions, her frustrationswith the church and the way in which she expressed a sense of authority.The study then traces the transmission of The Flowing Light in several manu-scripts from the 14th century. 333p (Pennsylvania UP 2004) Hb £38.50

Medieval Religious Women in the Low Countries: The Modern

Devotion, the Canonesses of Windesheim, and their Writings

by Wybren Scheepsma. Medieval religious women have become a favouritesubject for many historians, largely because nuns and the like were amongthe few women permitted a voice. This study, first published in Dutch in1997, focuses on the northern Netherlands where religious women flour-ished between the 14th and 16th centuries in a movement called the Mod-ern Devotion. 280p (1997, Boydell 2004) Hb £55.00

Medieval Virginities

edited by Anke Bernau, Ruth Evans and Sarah Salih. Virgins and virginityare frequently referred to in late medieval culture and in particular in histori-cal, medical, legal and hagiographical literature. This collection of twelveessays takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject of the manifesta-tion of virginity in the late medieval period. Subjects explored include vir-ginity referred to in law, Welsh prose, clerical perceptions, the virginal por-trayal of Edward the Confessor, erotic mysticism, alchemy, the virgin mar-tyr and Joan of Arc. 296p, 8 b/w illus (Religion and Culture in the Middle Ages

series, University of Wales 2003) Hb £40.00, Pb £16.99

Nunneries, Learning and Spirituality in Late Medieval English Society

by Paul Lee. This detailed examination of the religious life and spiritualityof late medieval nunneries focuses upon Dartford Priory, Kent, one of thelargest and wealthiest English nunneries and the only Dominican nunneryin medieval England. This book considers the French origins of the Priory,its charters and privileges, its chaplains and endowments before examiningthe place of the Priory within the diocese of Rochester and its role in secu-lar society and on Dartford in general before the Dissolution. The secondhalf of the book examines the level of learning and literacy in Englishnunneries and the books and surviving manuscripts of Dartford Priory.243p (York Medieval Press 2001) Hb £55.00

Patterns of Piety: Women, Gender and Religion in Late Medieval

and Reformation England

by Christine Peters. The significance of female role models such as femalesaints and the Virgin Mary were greatly diminished as the Reformationtook hold, just as the closure of nunneries removed the emphasis on chas-tity and virginity. So what were the gender implications of the Reformationfor women? This book presents a detailed study of the subject exploringand emphasising the shift towards piety focused on the passion of Christ,his wounds and suffering. Peters reveals how the Reformation brought newpossibilities for female piety and devotion and different models of the godlywoman, with an emphasis more on the notion of the laywoman as thehousehold religious specialist and devoted wife. 389p, 50 b/w illus, 10 tbs

(Cambridge UP 2003) Hb £45.00

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Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe

by Avraham Grossman. During the Talmudic period the lives of Jewishwomen were restricted and controlled although there was a discernible im-provement in their status during the period AD 100-1300. It is this im-provement that forms the focus of this study, an abridged translation ofthe author’s original Hebrew study (2001). Grossman explores the reasonswhy the Jewish woman’s lot was transformed at this time, highlightingchanges in Jewish society and greater acceptance of the position of womenin Christian Europe. The thematic structure of the book looks in turn atthe image and status of women as partners and ‘other’, their age at mar-riage, engagement and betrothal, monogamy and polygamy, their role inthe family as wife and mother, their education, their role in religion and inJewish martyrdom, violence towards women, divorce and widowhood. 329p

(Brandeis UP 2004) Hb £44.50, Pb £22.50

Proving Woman: Female Spirituality and Inquisitional Culture in

the Later Middle Ages

by Dyan Elliott. Within the context of social and religious change in thelater Middle Ages, this study examines the gradual downfall of spiritualwomen and their criminalisation at the hands of the Inquisition. Focusingon why they were discredited and persecuted, Dyan Elliott looks at the riseof sacramental confession and puts the confessional practices of theBeguines under the spotlight. 350p (Princeton UP 2004) Hb £41.95, Pb £15.95

Queenship and Sanctity:

The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid

translated by Sean Gilsdorf. Mathilda and Adelheid were 10th-century Saxonand Burgundian queens, venerated and canonised as ‘holy queens’ for theways in which they combined their considerable secular power with exem-plary and saintly behaviour, including their patronage of the church. Thisstudy presents English translations of two anonymous ‘Older’ and ‘Later’Lives of Mathilda as well as Odilo of Cluny’s Epitaph of Adelheid. Thesesources, which provide invaluable information on politics and religion atthe Ottonian court, are preceded by an extensive introductory discussion.221p, maps (CUAP 2004) Pb £20.50

St Anselm and the Handmaidens of God

by Sally N Vaughn. In this study, Vaughn focuses on Anselm’s relationshipswith, and perceptions of, women, from young girls and mothers to maturewives and widows, to countesses and queens. Arguing that Anselm col-lected and edited his own correspondence, Vaughn reveals examples ofboth real and idealised women. She highlights his complex ideas aboutmothers, the ‘Handmaidens of God’, and their central role in his thoughtson life in general, his emphasis on quality for women and how powerfularistocratic women in particular were put on pedestals. 335p, 26 b/w illus, 6

maps (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, Brepols 2002) Hb £50.50

St Katherine of Alexandria: Texts and Contexts in Western

Medieval Europe

edited by Jacqueline Jenkins and Katherine J Lewis. St Katherine of Alex-andria was one of the most popular saints in medieval Europe, as is at-tested by the many editions of her life that survive in most European lan-guages. These ten papers, gathered from sessions held at Leeds andKalamazoo in 1999, examine the type of texts that exist whilst investigat-ing the reasons for St Katherine’s extraordinary popularity both for malewriters and female readers. 257p, b/w illus (Brepols 2003) Hb £55.00

Studien und Texte zur literarischen und materiellen Kultur der

Frauenklöster im späten Mittelalter

edited by Falk Eisermann, Eva Schlotheuber and Volker Honemann. Theseeleven papers, from a symposium held in Wolfenbüttel near Brunswick in1999, examine the literature and material culture of female religious housesin the late Middle Ages. The book covers nunneries across northern Europebetween the 13th and 16th centuries but establishments in Lincoln, Ebstorf,Münster, Lüneburger, amongst others, receive special attention. 414p (Studies

in Medieval and Reformation Thought 99, Brill 2004) Hb £123.00

Teresa of Avila’s Autobiography: Authority, Power and the Self in

Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spain

by Elena Carrera. The Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila(1515-82), author of one of the most acclaimed earlymodern autobiographies (Vida, 1565), has generateda wealth of literary, historical and theological studies,yet none to date has examined the impact of textualmodels on Teresa’s self-construction. Through a closereading of contemporary Spanish devotional books andconfessors’ manuals, Carrera establishes important con-nections between Teresa’s autobiography and the prac-tices of meditative reading and sacramental confession in16th-century Spain. (Legenda, EHRC 2004) Pb £42.50

Veiled Women, Volumes I and II

by Sarah Foot. This meticulous study of female monasticism aims to ex-amine and explain the popularity and subsequent disappearance of a largenumber of female religious institutions during the Anglo-Saxon period.The first volume distinguishes between cloistered nuns and the more com-mon groups of aristocratic women who usually preferred the veil to remar-riage. The second volume contains a detailed survey of specific female reli-gious communities in England between 871 and 1066. 2 vols: 502p (Ashgate

2000) Hb 2 vols £87.50, or £52.50 each

The Voice of Silence: Women’s Literacy in a Men’s Church

edited by Thérèse de Hemptinne and María Eugenia Góngora. These thir-teen papers, published as part of a joint Flemish and Chilean project heldbetween 2000 and 2002, examine medieval female literacy from a genderperspective. The papers discuss the reappearance of the female voice in theworks of Hadewijch and Hildegard of Bingen,the reading and writing cul-ture of religious women and male representations of reading and writingwomen. 224p (Medieval Church Studies 9, Brepols 2004) Hb £45.00

Vulgariter beghinae. Eight Centuries of Beguine History in the

Low Countries

by Hans Geybels. With the Beguine movement virtually ended in Belgium,Hans Geybels looks back over its history since the establishment of thefirst Beguine communities in the Low Countries during the 12th century.Geybels draws on documentary evidence to examine the nature of Beguinespirituality, its expression in writings, daily life in the Beguinage and itsorganisation and sustenance. The final section discusses in turn each ofthe thirteen Beguinages which have been granted World Heritage Status.181p, 24 col and b/w pls (Brepols 2004) Pb £26.99

Women and Religion in Medieval England

edited by Diana Wood. Nuns and devout noblewomenwere sometimes celebrated for their literary achieve-ments in the medieval period, but more often thannot these women only appear on the side-lines ofhistory, while the ordinary wife and mother is virtu-ally invisible. These papers discuss the spiritual lifeof medieval women from all walks of life. From an analysisof the architecture and economic organisation of nunner-ies, to an assessment of the medieval Church’s response tochildbirth, these papers consider the influence of the churchon the lives of women, and vice versa. 200p, 24 b/w pls, 13

b/w figs, 1 tb (Oxbow Books 2003) Pb £20.00

Women and the Church in Medieval Ireland c.1140-1540

by Dianne Hall. Dianne Hall pieces together scraps of literary,documentary and physical evidence relating to the lives of religious women inIreland from the time of the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the late 12thcentury to the suppression of the monasteries in the 1540s. She goes on todiscuss the piety of secular women, typically privileged women with a domi-nant role in local society, and the public expressions of their religious patron-age. 252p, 7 tbs, 2 graphs, 16 b/w figs (Four Courts 2003) Hb £45.00

Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in

Twelfth-Century Bavaria

by Alison I Beach. In her study of three religious communities in Bavaria,Beach reveals that female members were not only copyists alongside theirmale counterparts, but that they also played an important role in the resur-gence of book production in Germany in the 12th century. She adopts asystematic approach to identifying female copyists through named work,manuscript colophons and paleographical analysis. 198p, 24 b/w pls, tbs (Cam-

bridge Studies in Palaeography and Codicology 10, Cambridge UP 2004) Hb £45.00

Women of the Humiliati: A Lay Religious Order in Medieval Civic Life

by Sally Brasher. The Humiliati was a lay religious movement that was popular,especially amongst women, in Italy during the 12th to 14th century. Brashersuggests that, with increasingly fewer monastic options open to women, thisreligious movement’s spiritual life and work ethic geared towards the com-mon good rather than profit, made it appealing and popular among Italianwomen. In particular, she reveals that all types of women, from all backgrounds,joined the movement. 146p, 11 tbs, 3 illus (Routledge 2003) Hb £45.00

Women, Reading and Piety in Late Medieval England

by Mary C Erler. What did medieval women like to read? Did they sharebooks? If so, who did they lend or give them to? Erler addresses suchquestions in this study of the lives of seven women and their ownershipand exchange of liturgical and devotional books. Consisting of lay widowsand nuns, these women lived between 1350 and 1550 and are set within asocial, familial and intellectual context which included reading, borrowingand owning books and the development of institutions such as women’slibraries. 226p, 12 b/w illus (Cambridge UP 2002) Hb £45.00