Maurice Keen Bücher

Das Rittertum, mit seinen Festlichkeiten, Wappen und Rittern in strahlender Rüstung, war ein gesellschaftliches Ideal, das einen tiefgreifenden Einfluss auf die Geschichte des frühneuzeitlichen Europas hatte. In diesem eloquenten und detailreichen Buch erörtert ein führender Mittelalterhistoriker die komplexe Realität des Rittertums: seine weltlichen Grundlagen, die Auswirkungen der Kreuzzüge, die Literatur des Rittertums und das Ethos der sozialen und moralischen Verpflichtungen des Adels. Das Buch nutzt effektiv eine Vielzahl von Dokumenten und Illustrationen. Der Autor bewegt sich mühelos durch Europa auf der Suche nach dem internationalen Geist des Rittertums. Die dargestellte Pracht ist farbenfroh und die Schlussfolgerungen ermutigend. Es handelt sich um eine lesenswerte und umfassende Untersuchung, die anregend und informativ ist und einen hervorragenden Kontext schafft. Alle Historiker der westlichen Gesellschaft werden gut daran tun, sich auf dieses Buch zu beziehen.

The medieval period was a singular epoch in military history--an age profoundly influenced by martial ideals, whose very structure of society was organized for war, and whose leaders were by necessity warriors. Now, the richly illustrated Medieval Warfare illuminates this era, examining over seven hundred years of European conflict, from the time of Charlemagne to the end of the middle ages (1500). Twelve scholars examine medieval warfare in two sections. The first section explores the experience of war chronologically, with essays on the Viking age, on the wars and expansion of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, on the Crusades, and on the great Hundred Years War between England and France. The second section traces developments in the art of warfare: fortification and siege craft, the role of armored cavalrymen, the use of mercenary forces, the birth of gunpowder artillery, and the new skills in navigation and shipbuilding.

Traces the course of the power struggle between European religious and political forces during the Middle Ages

The popular heroes of the Middle Ages were semi-mythical figures such as Robin Hood and Hereward the Wake. In this illuminating book, now available for the first time in paperback, and with a new appendix to outline new research, Maurice Keen explains the popularity of such figures. He explores what it was in the outlaw stories that appealed to the common people of the Middle Ages, and discusses their origins, spirit and background. Apart from William Wallace, the heroes of the outlaw legends were not men who played a leading role on the historical stage. Nevertheless, as Maurice Keen shows, they were remembered in tradition for generations and some of them, like Robin Hood, have become household names, retaining their popular appeal up to the present day. Cover illustration: Late fifteenth century woodcut used on the front of the Gest of Robyn Hode and his meyne, and of the proud Sheryfe of Nottingham published in 1508.