A lively account of medieval England through the eyes of its most famous poet and chroniclerWho were Chaucer’s thirty-three pilgrims, and why were they heading to Canterbury? What do they and their tales tell us about medieval England as a place, and about the daily lives of its people?Nicholas Orme, one of our leading historians, brings literature and history together to answer this question, using the Canterbury Tales and the other great writings...

The first history of all the English cathedrals, from Birmingham and Bury St Edmunds to Worcester and York MinsterEngland’s sixty-two Anglican and Catholic cathedrals are some of our most iconic buildings, attracting millions of worshippers and visitors every year. Yet although much has been written about their architecture, there is no complete history of their life and activities. This is the first such book to provide one, stretching from Roman times to the pres...

The first history of childhood in Tudor England“Tudor Children is social history at its best. . . . By connecting with our own history as children, Orme invites us to embrace a new way of engaging with the past.”—Joanne Paul, Times (UK)What was it like to grow up in England under the Tudors? How were children cared for, what did they play with, and what dangers did they face?In this beautifully illustrated and char...

An engaging, richly illustrated account of parish churches and churchgoers in England, from the Anglo-Saxons to the mid-sixteenth centuryParish churches were at the heart of English religious and social life in the Middle Ages and the sixteenth century. In this comprehensive study, Nicholas Orme shows how they came into existence, who staffed them, and how their buildings were used. He explains who went to church, who did not attend, how people behaved there, and h...

Medieval children lived in a world rich in poetry, from lullabies, nursery rhymes, and songs to riddles, tongue twisters, and nonsensical verses. They read or listened to stories in verse: ballads of Robin Hood, romances, and comic tales. Poems were composed to teach them how to behave, eat at meals, hunt game, and even learn Latin and French. In Fleas, Flies, and Friars, Nicholas Orme, an expert on childhood in the Middle Ages, has gathered a wide variety of chil...

Originally published in 1984, this is a study of the kings and the aristocracy who ruled England between the Conquest and the Reformation. Not, as usual, about their adult lives, but how they became the people they were through childhood and education. The first such study of its kind, it follows noble boys and girls from birth through the care of their nurses, masters and mistresses, until they left home for further training in noble households, monasteries and universities. The author ex...

Medieval children lived in a world rich in poetry, from lullabies, nursery rhymes, and songs to riddles, tongue twisters, and nonsensical verses. They read or listened to stories in verse: ballads of Robin Hood, romances, and comic tales. Poems were composed to teach them how to behave, eat at meals, hunt game, and even learn Latin and French. In Fleas, Flies, and Friars, Nicholas Orme, an expert on childhood in the Middle Ages, has gathered a wide variety of children’s verse that...

A lively account of medieval England through the eyes of its most famous poet and chroniclerWho were Chaucer's thirty-three pilgrims, and why were they heading to Canterbury? What do they and their tales tell us about medieval England as a place, and about the daily lives of its people?Nicholas Orme, one of our leading historians, brings literature and history together to answer this question, using the Canterbury Tales and the other great writings...

The first account of the dissolution of the monasteries for fifty years—exploring its profound impact on the people of Tudor England“This is a book about people, though, not ideas, and as a detailed account of an extraordinary human drama with a cast of thousands, it is an exceptional piece of historical writing.”—Lucy Wooding, Times Literary SupplementShortly before Easter, 1540 saw the end of almost a millennium of monastic life ...

This is the first, and only, compendium to be written of the Lives of Orthodox Saints of the British Isles. Covering July through September, this third of four volumes provides an enlightening guide to another 158 of these inspiring and historic Orthodox men and women. These saints were not only key figures in the development of the Church; they are an intrinsic part of the fabric of the history of the British Isles, and by extension the entire Western world.As St. John of Shanghai...

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.Rich in detail and atmosphere, Peter Ackroyd's Tudors is the story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward...

Thomas Cromwell was a man of humble origins and outstanding intellect who rose up to become Henry VIII's chief minister and right-hand man during the English Reformation. He wielded enormous power while he retained the king's favour, but the failure of Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves, which Cromwell had arranged, led to his swift downfall and execution. In this biography, John Schofield reveals that the popular image of Cromwell as a blood-stained henchman is largely fi...