Courtly love is a medieval literary concept of love emphasizing nobility and chivalry. Stories of noble knights riding off on adventure for the love of a fair lady abound in the Middle Ages. "Love and Romance in the Middle Ages" captures the stories of courtly love, noble knights and fair maidens. Read the romantic love story of Tristan and Iseult, the romantic poems of Marie de France, The legend of King Arthur and Tannhauser.Love and Romance in the Middle Ages contains:Th...

Gilles de Rais, an esteemed knight and the Marshall of France, who fought alongside Joan of Arc. Then he turned to the occult and tried to deal with the devil. Gilles isn’t remembered as a hero of France, instead he is remembered as a gruesome child murderer.Gilles de Rais would stop at nothing to keep his wealth and gain more. He tried Alchemy to turn matter into gold, which lead to sorcery and summoning demons. Through it all he was a vile child killer, who killed so many childre...

Jacques de Molay the 23rd and final Grand Master of The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, better know as The Knights Templar.The Knights Templar formed in 1119 and quickly rose in power and wealth. With help from the church they were able to amass a fortune in money and property. They were fierce warriors of God that set out to protect the Holy Land and Christian pilgrims.Lead by Jacques de Molay in the late 13th Century the Knights Templar were the ...

You've seen the award winning television show now read the history behind Pope Alexander VI, Lucretia and Cesare Borgias. The Borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th century. Today they are remembered for their corrupt rule, and the name Borgias has become a synonym for nepotism and treachery.The Borgias Collection contains the following three books:The Borgias by Alexandre DumasThere are dreadful -- perhaps scurrilous -- rumors ...

Holland, 1672: a mob tears two statesmen apart in the street while a quiet gentleman in Dordrecht goes on trying to breed a black tulip worth a hundred thousand florins. Dumas makes the flower carry a love story, a prison escape and a rival who will do anything — and keeps it all light. Paintings of Dutch Golden Age gardens, Delft interiors and prison towers; the Gilded Library ornament is tulips, Delft tile and a barred window.

In "Alexander the Great," Jacob Abbott deftly chronicles the life and conquests of one of history's most renowned military leaders. With a narrative that is both accessible and engaging, Abbott employs a vivid literary style that combines meticulous historical detail with storytelling flair. Set against the backdrop of ancient Macedonia and the Persian Empire, this biographical account captures not only the epic battles and strategic brilliance of Alexander but also delves into his complex...

Take a tour with the author round a courtly palace and see what the kitchens, the bakery, the laundry, the bedrooms, the gardens and the privvies were like. Everything you could wish to know is here, as the book describes the different lifestyles of the court, and the people who served them.

⚔️ The Musketeers Return. The Kingdom Is in Peril. Their Brotherhood Faces Its Greatest Test. In Twenty Years After, Alexandre Dumas reunites readers with Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan—two decades after their heroic adventures in The Three Musketeers. France is in turmoil. Royalists and revolutionaries clash, and Cardinal Mazarin rules in the name of a young King Louis XIV . The once-united Musketeers have drifted apart—until a crisis pulls them back into action. Betrayal, reven...

Since Aramis’s singular transformation into a confessor of the order, Baisemeaux was no longer the same man. Up to that period, the place which Aramis had held in the worthy governor’s estimation was that of a prelate whom he respected and a friend to whom he owed a debt of gratitude; but now he felt himself an inferior, and that Aramis was his master. He himself lighted a lantern, summoned a turnkey, and said, returning to Aramis, “I am at your orders, monseigneur.” Aramis merely nodded h...

The most handsome man of his era… yet also the most feared...Cesare Borgia was the most infamous member of history’s original crime family – the Borgias. Son of the scandalous Pope Alexander VI, and brother to the notorious Lucrezia Borgia, he rose above them all to become an icon of power. At the age of twenty-four, he was an accomplished murderer, at twenty-seven he had conquered most of Italy, and by thirty-one he lay dead on the battlefield. Described by some as ‘a rebel agains...

Francis Barrett (born probably in London circa 1770-1780) was an English occultist. Barrett claimed himself to be a student of chemistry, metaphysics, and natural occult philosophy. He was known to be an extreme eccentric who gave lessons in the magical arts in his apartment and fastidiously translated Kabbalistic and other ancient texts into English. He was very enthusiastic about reviving interest in the occult arts, and published a magical textbook called The Magus. Few people, even tod...

Bestselling historian and broadcaster Tom Holland gives a thrilling panoramic account of the birth of the new Western Europe in the year 1000'An exhilarating sweep across European history either side of the year 1000; riveting' ALLAN MASSIE, SPECTATOR'I relished the blood and thunder narrative - the work of a great storyteller at his best' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, EVENING STANDARD'A splendid, h...