Medieval Military

The reign of Richard III, the last Yorkist king and the final monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty, marked a turning point in British history. But despite his lasting legacy, Richard only ruled as king for the final two years of his life. While much attention has been given to his short reign, Michael Hicks explores the whole of Richard's fascinating life and traces the unfolding of his character and career from his early years as the son of a duke to his violent death at the battle of Bosworth.

From William Shakespeare’s series of history dramas, to Sir Walter Scott, and George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire—not to mention the smash-hit TV show Game of Thrones—the British civil war of 1455 to 1485 has inspired writers for centuries. Ed West’s My Kingdom for a Horse illuminates the bloody war fought for thirty long years between the descendants of King Edward III in a battle for the throne.

With subtlety and exceptional sensitivity, historian Zoë Oldenbourg analyzes the complicated tangle of currents and ideas that motivated the Crusades. As Oldenbourg describes them, the Crusades were not simply a religious phenomenon, nor were they motivated by pure aggression. They were the result of a religious climate that led people of all walks of life to leave their homes and follow the unattainable ideal of heaven on earth.

Homer's masterpiece tells the story of Odysseus, the ideal Greek hero, as he travels home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, a journey of 10 years and countless thrilling adventures. Rich in Greek folklore and myth, featuring gods and goddesses, monsters and sorceresses, The Odyssey has enchanted listeners around the world for thousands of years.

The Annals, Part 2 picks up in the year A.D. 32 with the increasingly menacing and tyrannical behavior of Tiberius. With hundreds murdered or driven to suicide and many more in exile, Tiberius descends steadily into growing lust and debauchery on his private estate on the isle of Capri. Overseas, Rome is victorious in her struggle with Parthia, and as Tiberius is being smothered to death in A.D. 37 by Macro, peace at last comes to the eastern frontier.

Betrayal by friend and foe alike beset Sir John Hawkwood as he enters the murky world of Italian politics. He will emerge from the experience as a true leader of men but first he has to outwit his enemies of which there are many. With Montferrat secured from the Savoyards and with the White Company now firmly in his hands, Sir John Hawkwood leads his men to Pisa where they have been hired to fight the Florentines. The hero of Poitiers is about to enter a world of treachery, intrigue and double dealing for which he is quite unprepared.

In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves.

Millions love the hit television show Vikings - but how many fans know that its main character, Ragnar, is based on an actual Viking king whose ambitious and terrifying exploits have been legend since the ninth century? The Legend of Ragnar Lothbrok presents fascinating new translations of ninth, 12th, and 13th-century writings - including sagas, poems, and historical accounts - that describe, in vivid detail, the adventures of Ragnar, his sons, and his formidable wives.

Edward Courtenay, the last Plantagenet, has a claim to the throne of England that he must never be allowed to make. Courtenay has already tried to bolster his right to rule by backing Wyatt's failed uprising, and then by trying to wed the Princess Elizabeth, embroiling her in his treasonous plots. Richard, his conscience torn by what he must do, returns to Italy to find Courtenay. Once he completes his task he intends to hand himself to the Order and secure the release of Lizbet and the rest of his men.

A rousing historical novel that rescues one of England’s forgotten heroes from the mists of early medieval history and brings him to brutal and bloody life in 1062. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood. The ravens of war are gathering. But as King Edward’s closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward.

A novella from the Company of Archers saga. Arrows fly, swords clash, nobles and church men are gulled out of their coins, and the French and Venetians are successfully blamed for things they did not do. "The Empire Has No Gold" is exciting novella in Martin Archer’s action-packed saga of Cornwall’s Company of Archers, a free company that began operating transports and shipping posts at the dawn of Britain’s military supremacy and the beginning of its great merchant companies. It is an enjoyable and witty read that sticks pins into the church and nobility along the way. The on-going ...

England in the Age of Chivalry … and Awful Diseases covers the events, personages, and ideas most commonly known as “medieval.” This includes Geoffrey Chaucer, the peasants revolt, the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Great Famine of 1315, the Black Death, and the 100 Years War. Central to this time is King Edward III, who started the 100 Years War and defined the concept of chivalry, including England’s order of the garter. His legacy continues to shape our view of England’s history and is crucial in understanding the development of Europe.

Strangled by shadow, the human world is gasping its last breath. General Warren Northwright vowed to save the realm from the Darkness or stand trial for his past—he didn’t expect to fail. Invading monsters from the Darkness realm have slaughtered his armies, and no matter how badly he wishes to exchange his life for the soldiers he’s lost he can’t. As he prepares for his final battle he learns this may not be the end. Upon a recently discovered parchment penned by the dead god of the Ajoiner Realm is a spark of hope. The beacon. A construct rumored to be capable of vanquishing the ...

Here Geoffrey Hindley serves us the history of military sieges from every angle, tracing the development of fortifications and equipment (offensive and defensive), penning vivid portraits of the weapons involved, exploring the psychology of laying siege, and even describing the role played by women and camp followers in battle. He shows siege tactics in action through real-life case studies of famous sieges that changed the course of history in medieval Europe and the Holy Land.

In 1119, the people of the Near East came together in an epic clash of horses, swords, sand, and blood that would decide the fate of the city of the Aleppo - and the eastern Crusader states. Fought between tribal Turkish warriors on steppe ponies, Arab foot soldiers, Armenian bowmen, and European knights, the battlefield was the amphitheater into which the people of the Near East poured their full gladiatorial might. Carrying a piece of the true cross before them, the Frankish army advanced, anticipating a victory that would secure their dominance over the entire region.

When Commander Charlie Cass, the bastard son of the Duke de Maris, returns from five years in a squalid Syndonese POW camp, he finds that little has changed in the Realm. As always, the King and the nine Dukes are conspiring against each other, but now some of them are plotting with Charlie's old enemy. And as interstellar war looms, they certainly don't need Charlie Cass messing up their delicate plans. Unfortunately for them, that's what he's best at.

The Knights Templar has established itself as the most popular military organization of medieval times. Everyone has heard of the order, and everyone is familiar with the image of a medieval Crusader knight with a red cross on their white uniform. But who exactly were the Templars? What was their purpose? And are the rumors about their secretive nature true?

AUTHORS NOTE: The remaster of Forlorn Raider Book 1, Genesis: Lightfall is live as of October 2023. I've worked hard on this rework, so please enjoy. Series Overview: Expecting things to be harsh due to known issues, such as poor leadership, combating demon aggressors, and solving supply chain issues, General Raider has found himself in much more dire straits than he could have ever anticipated after his recent graduation from the Royal Military Academy. He has been thrust into a high-ranking military position that has pressure mounting from all sides. Raider must gain control of the ...

1264. Storm clouds are gathering as Simon de Montfort and the barons of the realm challenge the power of Henry III. The barons demand reform; the crown demands obedience. England is on the brink of civil war. Adam de Norton, a young squire devoted to the virtues of chivalry, longs only to be knighted, and to win back his father's lands. Then a bloody hunting accident leaves him with a new master: the devilish Sir Robert de Dunstanville, who does not hesitate to use the blackest stratagems in pursuit of victory.

A devastating plague; rampant inflation; propaganda for the masses; breakthroughs in innovative technology; rumors of civil war; racial and ethnic tensions; nefarious conspiracies; class struggles and street preachers yearning to overthrow the nobility. The Sendyne Empire is at the height of its power, but it has never been in a more precarious position…and it is about to reach a boiling point. General Rotilla Voxinus and the teenage Emperor Kwisus continue their relentless campaign to destroy Bovir of the Woodlands, and lock down their colony in the Three Rivers. Amidst the mayhem, bold ...