by Cassandra Fedele (2000)
By the end of the fifteenth century, Cassandra Fedele (1465-1558), a learned middle-class woman of Venice, was arguably the most famous woman writer and scholar in Europe. A cultural icon in her own time, she regularly corresponded with the king of France, lords of Milan and Naples, the Borgia pope Alexander VI, and even maintained a ten-year epistolary exchange with Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain that resulted in an invitation for her to join their court. Fedele's letters reveal the central, mediating role she occupied in a community of scholars otherwise inaccessible to women. Her unique admittance into this community is also highlighted by her presence as the first independent woman writer in Italy to speak publicly and, more importantly, the first to address philosophical, political, and moral issues in her own voice. Her three public orations and almost all of her letters, translated into English, are presented here for the first time.
Philip J. Potter
"This biographical history tells the story of 30 Gothic monarchs who fought in the crusades, enforced their feudal rights throughout the kingdom, sponsored the growth of representative government through the parliament, and ultimately created a military power that would dominate European affairs"--Provided by publisher.
Margaret Hodges
A biography of the 15th century knight who collected stories about King Arthur and his knights and rewrote them into a work that was to influence poets and writers throughout the ages.
Miriam Greenblatt
Provides an overview of the lives of Charlemagne and his subjects in the Frankish empire of the late eighth and early ninth centuries, and includes excerpts from poems, letters, laws, and diaries of the time.
based on the translation by H.E. Butler
"The autobiography of Gerald of Wales, translated from the Latin, offers a compelling picture of medieval life"--Provided by publisher.