Author : Michael Prestwich
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500772312
Total Pages : 609 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)
Book Synopsis Medieval People: Vivid Lives in a Distant Landscape by : Michael Prestwich
Download or read book Medieval People: Vivid Lives in a Distant Landscape written by Michael Prestwich and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2014-11-11 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rich and revelatory exploration of the medieval world, conveyed through intimate biographies by a renowned historian This engrossing, exquisitely illustrated, often witty account tells the life stories of some seventy individuals who "made" the Middle Ages. There are kings and queens, popes and politicians, soldiers and merchants, scholars, authors and visionaries. They range from the important, such as El Cid or Frederick Barbarossa, to the little known, such as the dissolute Venetian nun Clara Sanuto. Some were astonishingly successful: the empire created by Chinggis Khan was one of the most extensive ever seen. Some, such as Charles the Bold, the over-ambitious 15th–century duke of Burgundy, were failures. Contrary to modern myth, medieval people did not believe the earth was flat; torture was far less common than in later centuries; and technological advances included guns, printing, blast furnaces, spectacles, stirrups and the compass. Full of insights such as these, this book shows how medieval people lived in an era that was more one of invention and innovation than of superstition and backwardness. It will appeal to all those who want a truer picture of a world often erroneously portrayed by bestselling novelists of today.