Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter

Product Information

the Middle Ages... It’s the small details that grab the attention, such as Mortimer’s explanation of how the rediscovery of mirror-making, a skill lost in the Dark Ages, helped foster self-awareness and contributed to the rise of individualism... Mortimer’s analysis of the evolution of modern English is particularly compelling... An eye-opening book that challenges our preconceptions and prejudices about the past.' Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday (19 February 2023 Prince William 'has only read passages of Spare', but rejected two attempts by Harry to set up a meeting via a mutual friend after publication Emily Ratajkowski flaunts her model figure in a striking lingerie shoot as she opens up about how motherhood changing her body to Vogue Australia It makes no sense - even though, yes, this was still an era when suspected heretics were burned at the stake, and slavery was rife. He gives the staggering statistic that in the England of 1086 some 10 per cent of the population were slaves, rising to 20 per cent in the South West. Many English slaves were sold to the Irish. Love Island star Chloe Burrows pays tribute to her late friend after his sudden death: 'Love and miss you every day!'

Georgina Rodriguez treats stepson Mateo, five, to a VIP day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he takes after his dad Cristiano Ronaldo by sitting in a supercar The Salle des Hôtes. A reception room. Just in case a king drops by with about three hundred knights... Originally built by Henry II and Richard I, I wanted to see how a two-tower donjon could possibly work. Not sure it does - or ever did - as it seems never to have been a royal residence but to have taken ages ot build and was constantly remodelled, as if the powers that be never knew quite what to do with it. Nonetheless, it's both impressive and unique.

Retailers:

Lana Del Rey promotes appearance in the upcoming holiday special Christmas At Graceland:'I just know you're gonna have the best time' I'm A Celeb viewers show support for Grace Dent as she quits show but say it was 'obvious' she was going to leave: 'She looked like she hated every minute!' Laurence Fox tells libel trial he has been financially 'destroyed' by 'hurtful' racism allegations that have left him without acting work

Harry and Meghan are 'still hurt' about the delay in giving Archie and Lilibet their Prince and Princess titles, Omid Scobie claims I found the structure to be particularly helpful when thinking about the different ways progress occurs - as Mortimer says, “horizons”. I loved that this history focussed just as much on the experience of the peasant, slave or serf as it did on the nobility, reflecting on how they each may have experienced different points in time, and the role different social classes played in shaping their societies.This evening I joined the good people of nearby Drewsteignton to launch the share offer for their wonderful local pub, the Drewe Arms, which they (and I) want to turn into a community-owned building and buisness. It was the New Inn in the eighteenth century, when the landlords were the Smith family. It later became the Druid's Arms, named after the local cromlech. When the Drewe family started to build Castle Drogo in 1912, Julius Drewe asked that the name changed to his family name. It is now the only pub in Devon without a bar - only a serving hatch - and is well-known for having been run by Mable Mudge from 1919 until 1994. She retired at 99. Lottie Tomlinson poses in a skimpy brown bikini in Abu Dhabi as her trip comes to a close and she heads to America Queen Margrethe of Denmark will spend Christmas with her sons and their families - after spending last December 25 apart following title row So many positive things could be said about this lecture. I didn't realise that three-quarters of those accused of witchcraft in English assize courts were acquitted of the crime - and did not hang - whereas in Scotland, where law was much more localised, many more were killed by their neighbours. Scotland's population was perhaps a quarter of that of England in the seventeenth century yet it burnt five times as many witches as England hanged. My question to Prof Hutton about female literacy and the rise of misogyny elicited a long answer about how in some parts of the world, only men were feared as witches - such as Iceland, where it was the rune-readers who were accused of wtchcraft. Hence in Iceland 93% of those killed for witchcraft were male. Nor did I appreciate how ancient and widespread the test of the trial by water was for a witch - it is first recorded almost four thousand years ago.

Tommy Fury's face is playfully squeezed by a female reveller as he parties with Chris Brown - after fiancée Molly-Mae Hague is seen without her ring And its apse. I love the elegance and refinement of thirteenth-century French cathedral architecture. Yesterday I heard that my agents have secured a deal for my new book Medieval Horizons to be published in Greek. Never had a book translated into Greek before. Very exciting. Thus will be the seventeenth foreign language in which a book of mine has appeared or is due to appear (the other sixteen being German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Estonian, Latvian, Ukrainian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Complex Chinese, Japanese and Korean).

Our Bestsellers

Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker dies aged 64 with grieving bandmates saying they're 'devastated and gutted' David Haye cuts a dapper figure as he steps out for dinner with glamorous girlfriend Sian Osborne after hinting they are in a new throuple Strictly Come Dancing's Vito Coppola continues to fuel speculation as he shares a steamy message to Ellie Leach amid romance rumours

If Ian Mortimer's bestselling Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England revealed what it was like to live in the fourteenth century, Medieval Horizons provides the perfect primer to the period as a whole. It looks at the Middle Ages through the prism of a small range of topics - ranging from warfare to religion, travel to architecture, inequality to a new sense of self - thereby correcting misconceptions and presenting the period as one of the most important eras in our past, about which any reader with an interest in history should care. Southwark Cathedral held a debate in which nine historians argued for 'the greatest monarch' of the British Isles. Not a serious endeavour - Athelstan wasn't represented, nor were Alfred, William I, Henry II or Edward I. Robert the Bruce wasn't a candidate either, nor Hywel Dda nor Llewelyn ap Iorwerth. Nevertheless, I was very pleased that Edward III came out on top.

Join our email club...

As a result of both these points I was considering giving the book a 3* rating at one point. However, the final two chapters (on 'Literacy' and 'Individualism') and the conclusion salvaged this book for me. Gone were the dreary lists of chattels and the ad nauseam take-downs of Harari's throwaway line, replaced with a clear narrative on developments during the Middle Ages which prove (conclusively, in my opinion), that the Middle Ages really do matter. We couldn't be more wrong. As Ian Mortimer shows in this fascinating introduction to the Middle Ages, people's horizons—their knowledge, experience and understanding of the world—expanded dramatically. All aspects of life—politics and economics, religion and the arts—were utterly transformed between 1000 and 1600, in the process laying the foundations on which our modern lives rest. Strictly Come Dancing's Ellie Leach andVito Coppola FURTHER fuel romance rumours as she drops hint with comment about her family Big Brother's Jordan Sangha reveals he's made his romance with Henry Southan OFFICIAL: 'I cannot stop smiling!'