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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2013

        The Black Death

        by Rosemary Horrox

        This series provides texts central to medieval studies courses and focuses upon the diverse cultural, social and political conditions that affected the functioning of all levels of medieval society. Translations are accompanied by introductory and explanatory material and each volume includes a comprehensive guide to the sources' interpretation, including discussion of critical linguistic problems and an assessment of recent research on the topics covered. From 1348 to 1350 Europe was devastated by an epidemic that left between a third and one half of the population dead. This source book traces, through contemporary writings, the calamitous impact of the Black Death in Europe, with a particular emphasis on its spread across England from 1348 to 1349. Rosemary Horrox surveys contemporary attempts to explain the plague, which was universally regarded as an expression of divine vengeance for the sins of humankind. Moralists all had their particular targets for criticism. However, this emphasis on divine chastisement did not preclude attempts to explain the plague in medical or scientific terms. Also, there was a widespread belief that human agencies had been involved, and such scapegoats as foreigners, the poor and Jews were all accused of poisoning wells. The final section of the book charts the social and psychological impact of the plague, and its effect on the late-medieval economy.

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        Literature & Literary Studies
        August 2004

        The Papal Reform of the Eleventh Century

        Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII

        by Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean, I. Robinson

        The eleventh-century papal reform transformed western European Church and society and permanently altered the relations of Church and State in the west. The reform was inaugurated by Pope Leo IX (1048-54) and given a controversial change of direction by Pope Gregory VII (1073-85). This book contains the earliest biographies of both popes, presented here for the first time in English translation with detailed commentaries. The biographers of Leo IX were inspired by his universally acknowledged sanctity, whereas the biographers of Gregory VII wrote to defend his reputation against the hostility generated by his reforming methods and his conflict with King Henry IV. Also included is a translation of Book to a Friend, written by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri soon after the death of Gregory VII, as well as an extract from the violently anti-Gregorian polemic of Bishop Benzo of Alba (1085) and the short biography of Leo IX composed in the papal curia in the 1090s by Bishop Bruno of Segni. These fascinating narrative sources bear witness to the startling impact of the papal reform and of the 'Investiture Contest', the conflict of empire and papacy that was one of its consequences. An essential collection of translated texts for students of medieval history. ;

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        Literature & Literary Studies
        August 2001

        The lives of Thomas Becket

        by Rosemary Horrox, Michael Staunton, Simon Maclean

        This collection tells the story of Thomas Becket's turbulent life, violent death and extraordinary posthumous acclaim in the words of his contemporaries. The only modern collection from the twelfth-century Lives of Thomas Becket in English and features all his major biographers, including many previously untranslated extracts. Providing both a valuable glimpse of the late twelfth-century world, and an insight into the minds of those who witnessed the events. By using contemporary sources, this book is the most accessible way to study this central episode in medieval history. Thomas Becket features prominently in most medieval core courses. This book allows the subject to be taught as never before, and is highly suitable as a set text. ;

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2013

        Chronicles of the Investiture Contest

        by Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        May 2001

        Ottonian Germany

        The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg

        by Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean

        The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg has long been recognised as one of the most important sources for the history of the tenth and early eleventh centuries, especially for the history of the Ottonian Empire. Thietmar's testimony also has special value because of his geographical location, in eastern Saxony, on the boundary between German and Slavic cultures. He is arguably the single most important witness to the early history of Poland, and his detailed descriptions of Slavic folklore are the earliest on record. This is a very important source in the medieval period, translated here in its entirety for the first time. It relates to an area of medieval studies generally dominated by German scholars, in which Anglo-phone scholars are beginning to make a substantial contribution. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        November 2000

        The world of El Cid

        Chronicles of the Spanish Reconquest

        by Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean

        Makes available, for the first time in English translation, four of the principal narrative sources for the history of the Spanish kingdom of León-Castile during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Three chronicles focus primarily upon the activities of the kings of León-Castile as leaders of the Reconquest of Spain from the forces of Islam, and especially upon Fernando I (1037-65), his son Alfonso VI (1065-1109) and the latter's grandson Alfonso VII (1126-57). The fourth chronicle is a biography of the hero Rodrigo Díaz, better remembered as El Cid, and is the main source of information about his extraordinary career as a mercenary soldier who fought for Christian and Muslim alike. Covers the fasincating interaction of the Muslim and Christian worlds, each at the height of their power. Each text is prefaced by its own introduction and accompanied by explanatory notes. ;

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      • Trusted Partner
        Literature & Literary Studies
        May 2008

        Eleventh-century Germany

        The Swabian chronicles

        by Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean, I. Robinson

        Three of the most important chronicles of eleventh-century Germany were composed in the south-western duchy of Swabia. The chronicles reveal how between 1049 and 1100 the centripetal attraction of the reform papacy became the dominant fact of intellectual life in German reformed monastic circles. In the abbey of Reichenau Herman 'the Lame' composed a chronicle of the reign of Emperor Henry III (1039-56). His pupil, Berthold of Reichenau, continued his master's work, composing a detailed account of 1076-1079 in Germany. Bernold, a clergyman of Constance, continued the work of Herman and Berthold in a text containing the fullest extant account of 1080-1100. Herman's waning enthusiasm for the monarchy and growing interest in the newly reformed papacy were intensified in Berthold's chronicle, and writing in the new context of the reformed monasteries of south-western Germany, Bernold preached total obedience to the Gregorian papacy. The Swabian chronicles are an indispensable resource to the student of the changing loyalties and conflicts of eleventh-century Germany. ;

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        Literature & Literary Studies
        November 2007

        Court and civic society in the Burgundian Low Countries c.1420–1520

        by Andrew Brown, Graeme Small, Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean

        This volume is the first ever attempt to unite and translate some of the key texts which informed Johan Huizinga's famous study of the Burgundian court, The Waning of the Middle Ages, a work which has never gone out of print. It combines these texts with sources that Huizinga did not consider, those that illuminate the wider civic world that the Burgundian court inhabited and the dynamic interaction between court and city. Through these sources, and an introduction offering new perspectives on recent historiography, the book tests whether Huizinga's controversial vision of the period still stands. Covering subjects including ceremonial events, such as the spectacles and gargantuan banquets that made the Burgundian dukes the talk of Europe, the workings of the court, and jousting, archery and rhetoric competitions, the book will appeal to students of late medieval and early modern Europe and to those with wider interests in court culture, ritual and ceremony. ;

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        December 1995

        Peter Huchel

        Leben und Werk in Texten und Bildern

        by Peter Walther

        In den Erinnerungen von Freunden und Bekannten an Begegnungen mit dem Dichter entsteht ein Bild von der Persönlichkeit Huchels. Zugleich wird ein Stück jüngster deutscher Literaturgeschichte rekonstruiert.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2011

        Friars’ Tales

        by David Jones, Rosemary Horrox, Simon Maclean

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2017

        Noble society

        by Rosemary Horrox, Jonathan Lyon, Simon Maclean

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