Authors Factions And Courts In Angevin England

​Authors, Factions, and Courts in Angevin England: A Literature of Personal Ambition (12th-13th Century) advances a model for historical study of courtly literature by foregrounding the personal aims, networks, and careers as the impetus for much of the period’s literature. The book takes two authors as case studies – Gerald of Wales and Walter Map – to show how authors not only built their own stories but also used popular narratives and the tools of propaganda to achieve their own, personal goals. The purpose of this study is to overturn the top-down model of political patronage, in which patrons – and particularly royal patrons – set the cultural agenda and dictate literary tastes. Rather, Fabrizio De Falco argues that authors were often representative of many different interests expressed by local groups. To pursue those interests, they targeted specific political factions in the changeable political scenario of Angevin England. Their texts reveal a polycentric view of cultural production and its reception. The study aims to model a heuristic process which is applicable to other courtly texts besides the chosen case-studies.

From their small county in the heart of France, the lords of Anjou - the Angevins - produced dynasties that became kings of Jerusalem, England, Sicily, Hungary and Poland from 900 - 1500. They were described by a contemporary as 'lords of the greater part of the world'. Here is their extraordinary story, including figures such as Geoffrey Plantagenet, Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Acquitaine, Charles of Anjou, Queen Johanna of Naples, Louis the Great of Hungary and Saint Jadwiga of Poland.A history of one of the most dynamic families of medieval Europe - the Angevins.A reference for those interested in medieval history; students, academics, historians and enthusiasts for the era.Includes historical figures such as Geoffrey Plantagenet, Empress Matilda, Richard the Lionheart and Louis the Great of Hungary.Contains two plate sections with colour and black & white photographs.Jeffrey Anderson has an MA in medieval history from Durham University and an MA in history from the University of Michigan.

Margaret of Anjou ruled England but lost the Wars of the Roses and her reputation. She was reviled as a murderer and adulterer, This biography restores her rightful place as a powerful medieval queen.

The life and times of the greatest knight of the high middle ages, who saved England from the French. In 1217 England was facing her darkest hour, with foreign troops pillaging the country and defeat close at hand. But, at the battle of Lincoln, the seventy-year-old William Marshal led his men to a victory that would secure the future of his nation. Earl of Pembroke, right-hand man to three kings and regent for a fourth, Marshal was one of the most celebrated men in Europe, yet is virtually unknown today, his impact and influence largely forgotten In this vivid account, Richard Brooks blends colourful contemporary source material with new insights to uncover the tale of this unheralded icon. He traces the rise of Marshal from penniless younger son to renowned knight, national hero and defender of the Magna Carta. What emerges is a fascinating story of a man negotiating the brutal realities of medieval warfare and the conflicting demands of chivalric ideals, and who against the odds defeated the joint French and rebel forces in arguably the most important battle in medieval English history – overshadowing even Agincourt.

Barry Jones? Dictionary of World Biography weaves historical facts with perspective on the subjects and the influence they had on theirs and on modern times. Gain a unique insight into the life and times of important identities, cultural icons and controversial characters.

When we engage with the writings of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, we encounter a culture radically unfamiliar to us at the start of the twenty-first century. The past is a foreign country, and so too are many of its texts. This readable and provocative book seeks to enhance our understanding of early modern literature by recovering the contexts in which it was originally produced and consumed. Taking us back to the courts, theatres and marketplaces of early modern England, Jason Scott-Warren reveals the varied ways in which literary texts dovetailed with everyday experience, unlocking the distinctive social practices, economic structures and modes of behaviour that gave them meaning. He shows how the periods most beguiling writings were conditioned by long-forgotten notions of knowledge, nationhood, sexuality and personal identity. Bringing an anthropologists eye to his materials, he offers richly detailed new readings of works from within and beyond the canon, covering a span that stretches from Erasmus and More to Milton and Behn. Resisting any notion of the period as merely transitional a staging post on the road leading from the medieval to the modern world Scott-Warren reveals the distinctiveness of its literary culture, and equips the reader for fresh encounters with its extraordinary textual legacy. Any undergraduate student of the period will find it an essential guide, while scholars will find its fresh approach invigorating.