We’re keeping it short and sweet for you this month! Bask in the summer sunshine with one of the most important miscellanies to survive from medieval England or perhaps acquaint yourself with the heart of elite society in the Middle Ages: Chivalry. We offer our selection of books to keep your eyes peeled for this July!
Don’t forget, you can get 25% off all of our titles featured in the post with promo code BB685.
Until next time!
Ruling Fourteenth-Century England
Essays in Honour of Christopher Given-Wilson
The twin themes of power and authority in fourteenth-century England, a century of transition between the high and late medieval polities, run throughout this volume, reflecting Professor Given-Wilson’s seminal work in the area. Covering the period between Edward I’s final years and the tyranny of Richard II, the volume encompasses political, social, economic and administrative history through four major lens: central governance, aristocratic politics, warfare, and English power abroad.
A Companion to Chivalry
Chivalry lay at the heart of elite society in the Middle Ages, but it is a nebulous concept which defies an easy definition. More than just a code of ethical behaviour, it shaped literary tastes, art and manners, as well as social hierarchies, political events and religious practices; its impact is everywhere. This work aims to provide an accessible and holistic survey of the subject. Its chapters, by leading experts in the field, cover a wide range of areas: the tournament, arms and armour, the chivalric society’s organisation in peace and war, its literature and its landscape.
Interpreting MS Digby 86
A Trilingual Book from Thirteenth-Century Worcestershire
Extravagantly heterogeneous in its contents, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Digby 86 is an utterly singular production. On its last folio, the scribe signs off with a self-portrait – a cartoonishly-drawn male head wearing a close-fitted hood – and an inscription: “scripsi librum in anno et iii mensibus” (I wrote the book in a year and three months). His fifteen months’ labour resulted in one of the most important miscellanies to survive from medieval England: a trilingual marvel of a compilation, with quirky combinations of content that range from religion, to science, to literature of a decidedly secular cast.
The Arms and Armour of Death