European history: medieval period, middle ages

In "The Axe and the Oath", one of the world's leading medieval historians presents a compelling picture of daily life in the Middle Ages as it was experienced by ordinary people. Writing for general readers, Robert Fossier vividly describes how these...

Depicting the lives of the saints in an array of factual and fictional stories, The Golden Legend was perhaps the most widely read book, after the Bible, during the late Middle Ages. It was compiled around 1260 by Jacobus de Voragine, a scholarly friar...

William of Rubruck was a Franciscan friar who wrote the first great travel book about Asia. In 1253-55 he made the journey from the Holy Land to the court of the Great Khan Mngke at Qaraqorum in Mongolia and back again. William was interested in all that...

In The Medieval Kitchen, Hannele Klemettil presents a richly illustrated history of medieval food and cookery in Western Europe and Scandinavia. The book is also a practical cookbook, with a collection of more than 60 originally sourced recipes that can...