Medieval History
Describing a monumental stepping stone in civilization, medieval history books take readers back to the fascinating time period from the end of the 5th century until the Renaissance began in the 1300s. Despite it also being known as the Dark Ages, the era was actually full of noteworthy details that influenced future endeavors. These records are wonderful additions for any bookshelf full of retrospective volumes of how the world was long ago.
Many aspects of the Middle Ages have been deciphered from ancient ruins and the remnants of early writings, with authors commonly referencing the Greek and Roman scholars before them. Illustrated manuscripts, vintage medieval history books often embellished with gold leaf, also reveal insightful information about ideas through the religious and philosophical musings recorded in them. Within are rules of etiquette, lyrical poetry, and Sumptuary Laws, which assigned certain clothing and other habits to people according to a class system.
Stately knights and ladies dressed in corsets dined on dishes prepared with imported cooking oils and exotic spices. It was the birth of Gothic architecture, advancements with the camera obscura pinhole camera, and the invention of several time-telling devices. Filippo Brunelleschi developed the creative concept of linear perspective, Giotto di Bondone was a pioneer of naturalism in art, and Hildegard of Bingen composed notable music. On the other hand, the Middle Ages was also defined by feudalism, high childbirth and infant mortality rates, the Great Famine, the Black Death, the deadly Crusades, and the Hundred Years War.
There are plenty of titles to choose from that chronicle everything from how women should behave, bloodletting and medicinal treatments, and interpretations of the King Arthur legends. You can also examine political strategies in The Taming of the Dragon: Edward I & the Conquest of Wales by W.B. Bartlett or intriguing timelines in Frances and Joseph Gies' Cathedral, Forge, & Waterwheel: Technology & Invention in the Middle Ages. Check AbeBooks when you're looking to buy medieval history books that recount the parts of the Middle Ages you're most interested in.